Tour Of The Mekong Delta In Vietnam
My first trip to Vietnam last fall was a short one of only two nights in Ho Chi Minh City. I decided to return to this country for my next Asia trip to take in a tour of the Mekong Delta as well as spend a few days in Da Nang, a small coastal town. The full day tour of the Mekong Delta would be out of Ho Chi Minh City where I flew into once again to marvel at the crazy motorbikes traffic and awesome Vietnamese cuisine (unfortunately there was no time for another super fun scooter food tour like last visit).
One of my first stops was my favourite place in Ho Chi Minh City which is Ben Thanh market where I bumped into the same gorgeous food vendor lady from last trip. In return for eating at her food stall again, I got this nice photo with her where she did the Asian finger heart sign. I just love the look of these Vietnamese women who are the most elegant looking ones in Southeast Asia in my opinion.
The Mekong tour started with an early morning pickup as our destination was a few hours outside the city. First stop was a Buddhist temple site which was okay but not nearly as impressive as those in Thailand as you will see in upcoming articles.
Then more stops to sample different exotic local fruits and honey candy while being treated to some local music performances. Again, I personally wasn’t all that interested in these stops since I was waiting for the main highlight of the Mekong tour which is the paddle boat along the canals.
When we finally got to the paddle boats of which most have at least one local middle age Vietnamese village mama as one of the paddlers, I finally got to experience something right out of a jungle scene from Apocalypse Now. This experience on the water alone is worth the time and tour price as it’s the main highlight of the Mekong Delta tour. Yes the canal boat ride is a bit touristy but still lots of fun.
It was also interesting to see where one of the fish I normally buy back home in Canada, namely basa, comes from which our tour guide confirmed. Although not basa, I saw a crazy scene with lots of catfish at a holding tank which I caught on video below.
After this Mekong Delta tour and time in Ho Chi Minh City, I caught a domestic flight to Da Nang which is a small coastal city that is becoming very popular with tourists and digital nomads. But just before I take you to Da Nang, if you think that Vietnam is just some 3rd world communist country, wait until you see the short video below taken on Bui Vien Street which is the tourist party street in Ho Chi Minh City!
