By: Andrea Ross
Our last day in Vietnam we invited Michelle, our Journeys Within Vietnam Director, Khoa, her husband and one of our top guides, and their daughter Rosie, to join us on a trip to the Mekong Delta. Using the new, elevated highway we headed to Cai Be to explore. Here is a photo diary of our day and my thoughts on each stop:
The new elevated highway makes for a much smoother ride and with no motorbikes on it, there is a lot less dodging and diving, which we appreciated!
Once in the Delta we stopped for a bathroom break at the Dong Nam Snake Farm. In the past I had skipped this stop on visits to the Delta, assuming it would be like the Snake Shows in Thailand…a shameless and shameful abuse of animals. I was wrong! Used for research and collecting venom to make anti-venom, this farm touts itself as being the largest in the region!
Khoa had to insist on us leaving the snake farm and heading for the Delta…I did not envy him trying to keep six adults and three children on schedule! We had to have ice cream!!
We now drove along a smaller road following a river and arrived at the boat dock. Our boat was quickly brought and we headed out and into the Delta. On either side of us small house rose up in line with each other, touching wall to wall with thousands of TV antennas rising above the roofs.
Once out of the river we passed cargo boats, dredging boats, and boats selling a myriad of fruit and vegetables.
Our first stop was on an island known for it’s local Mekong industries. We visited Mrs. Tu and the kids all got to try their hand at making spring roll wraps; Callie ate them almost straight off the hot plate and loved them!
We headed around the island and visited popcorn making and coconut candy making shops. Surrounding all these workshops are sellers with every kind of Vietnamese knick-knack you can think of. It was certainly a touristy stop, but since I enjoyed watching the different industries I thought it was worth ignoring the buy! buy! buy! sellers on the outside.
Back in the boat and we headed through a quieter channel and then boarded little boats paddled by local women. They kindly hand you a conical hat each…perfect for getting out of the sun (and the photo ops!).
After being paddled for a while I said those three little words that every traveler should learn, “Can I try?” It was not as easy as it looked, but I enjoyed getting to try and the amusement of my passengers. The rower herself found it hilarious how much trouble I had keeping us out of the trees on the side of the stream!
Off the boats and we headed inland for a walk, stopping at a lovely home to try a variety of fruits…and rice whiskey made from Longan fruits. The man of the house was incredibly proud of his Longan Whiskey creation and the group seemed to approve!
One final boat ride was followed by a late lunch at a family home. The food just kept coming…some amazing Tamarind pork, an entire fish and hand rolled spring rolls made with the rice paper we had earlier learned to make!
After lunch and a break in the hammock we headed back through the Delta to our waiting van and I think everyone took a nap on the way home. It was a wonderful day and while there were moments that were a bit too touristy, they had redeeming value and those moments off the beaten track made for a truly memorable experience.
