Mekong Delta

An escape out of the city to the southern side of Vietnam, from Ho Chi Minh to My Tho is around 2 hours. We followed a tour recommend by our hotel management which cost US 10 per person.

We depart from our hotel at 8.15am. Along the journey, we can see rice paddy field on our left and right. 

Our first stop is the Vinh Trang Pagoda. The architecture here is nice, if not mistaken, heard that is the same person who built the Saigon post office. It have giant size statue of laughing buddha, sleeping buddha and guan yin. There's also monks in the temple praying in the hall.

We continue our journey to the Mekong river island hopping. We are arranged to sit on a medium size motor boat which can fit 30 people. Below is the motor boat I ride following with the view along the ride.

Binh Hoa Phuoc is the first island we visited. We had our lunch there, which the lunch is included in our tour fee but they served only steamed rice with pork and fried egg, the portion is quite small. They have extra order and the famous ones being the fried elephant ear fish. This island is planted full with longan and pamelo trees. I spotted a small dragon fruit tree too. The chicken here is free to walk and run around.

The sky get darker, pretty back weather to sail. The wave get stronger and hit harder to the boat each time. For a safer journey, our tourist guide remind us to stay calm and not to shift place just to avoid the rain cause he need to make sure that the boat is stable. They drive the boat nearer to mangrove for a calmer experience.

We continue our journey to the next island Ben Tre to watch the making of coconut candy. All self made from the squeezing of coconut oil to malting it and forming it to shape not to forget the wrapping. It's all run by a family. After that, we are served with a shot of coconut wine which contain 29% of alcohol. I didn't try that as I never tried shot, I drink beer or wine bit by bit. I don't want to put myself into something insecure, I probably will be drunk by then and delay the whole journey, haha!

We continue our journey by riding on a small boat sail by the local Vietnamese. The small little boat can ride up to 4 European or 7 Vietnamese, it's actually depends on the total weight of the people. The boatman is kind of thin but strong enough which include also lady. Here is the chance where I experience sitting on a small rowing wooden boat and wearing this conical Vietnam hat. It's raining all the way until we reach the land. An awful experience, as my clothes is all wet moreover I'm wearing legging. Guess we can count this as YOLO?

The third island we visit is the Unicorn Island, this is where we visit the bee farm. It's actually a few bee hive surrounded by bees. We are served with a cup of honey tea. A plate of fruits which contain rambutan, papaya, watermelon, pineapple, dragon fruit and banana. After that, there's a few local Vietnamese perform different Vietnamese local folk song with their traditional music instrument.

This end our Mekong delta journey, a one day trip. Another 2 hours of travelling back to Ho Chi Minh and we reached our hotel by 6pm.