[Day 1] SAIGON - CAI LAY - CAI BE
Meals: lunch and dinner | Accommodation: Mekong Ecolodge (bungalow)
8.00am We depart from your hotel and make our way through Saigon traffic. We exit the bustling metropolis and enter the Mekong delta and its rural sceneries. At about 9.30am, we reach Cai Lay town and visit its market. We discover a colorful array of products, and stop by the fruits area to buy some for our dessert later today.
We then hop on a boat and transfer to our cycling playground. It is a narrow lane of about 12 kilometers going along waterways and traditional houses. Many “hellos” on the way, some stops for pictures, at crafting and rice processing workshops; and to visit a family. Our hosts will show us how to bake their local cake and give us a bite of it. We take the time to wander around and try catching fishes in the very traditional way, using the “vo ca”.
We then get back on the waters of the mighty River and cruise at easy pace along the rice fields and other agricultural scenes. We reach a local home about 1pm to enjoy a home-made lunch (and the fruits we bought earlier). Follow a digestive stroll around and the visit of carpenters in their workshop. It’s time to say farewell to our hosts and head to Cai Be. We have a last stop on the way to visit the Cao Dai temple and learn a bit more about this mysterious religion.
It will be so amazing to bike or walk on village paths to see the local farms, houses, real life and the ancestral ways to pick up fruits in Mekong Delta.
Evening, join cooking class with the host and enjoy lovely dishes then. Spend comfortable night in quiet dark
[Day 2] CAI BE - VINH LONG - CAN THO
Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner | Accommodation: Mekong Rustic Can Tho (Bungalow)
Today, we have more time to enjoy peaceful breakfast before we get a bike for riding on village paths to see the local daily life: orchard, school, church, pagoda, traditional houses...On the way, we can make some stops to see how they make rice-net for spring rolls, sewing coconut-leaves for cottage roof and specially see how they make many products: baskets, bags, hats, wallets, shoes....
Then, the rowing boat will take you deeper into the countryside on smaller canals to enjoy the peaceful time. Back to the boat to go across the Mekong river to come to An Binh Island. Travel on handmade canal to local house for relaxing lunch. After lunch, we can walk around this orchard and enjoy cups of tea when listening to the traditional music at ancient house. Continue to walk in the local village to visit local workshops to see how to make rice paper, coconut candy, pop-rice...enjoy some sweets with a cup of hot tea. Then, visit the brick kilns where producing beautiful potteries from clay. Boat will be disembarked in Vinh Long.
We hop on car again and drive to Can Tho. Take a rest and have dinner right at your stay place. Spend comfort night with standard room.
[Day 3] CAN THO - CAI RANG FLOATING MARKET - SAIGON
Meals: breakfast and lunch
After an early breakfast, we start a boat cruise to head to the bustling Cai Rang floating market – the largest and most colorful in the Mekong delta. Feel free to take photographs, talk or bargain while our boat glides slowly through the market mayhem. There are fantastic
photo opportunities amidst the huge variety of agricultural bounty on sale here. Farming boats big and small trade seasonal fruits and an array of other goods in a chorus of sights and smells that you won’t soon forget.
We then spend some time in the surroundings to visit a local fish market, a noodle workshop. Next, we take a leisurely stroll through the farms and houses of a nearby village to see fragrant tropical fruit orchards, cross over quiet streams on monkey bridges, and pause for a cup of tea with friendly locals. Last stop of this morning is an ancient Khmer pagoda.
We then make the short drive back to Can Tho for a relaxing lunch, and we start the drive back to your hotel in Saigon around 5pm.