Similar to Hanoi, we only left ourselves 2 nights in Ho Chi Minh City — HCMC, or Saigon as most of the locals still refer to it. We booked a day trip to the Mekong Delta, allowing ourselves to be upsold $15 to the deluxe package, which guaranteed a max group size of 14 and a better lunch. This proved to be a big mistake, as the only difference in our 11 person group was the table they sat us at for lunch and a few so-so extra lunch dishes.

The tour was extremely “touristy” — a scripted march of tour groups between locations where locals are eager to extract dollars and dong from tourists. Looking past this aspect of the tour (it wasn’t expensive at all), the delta was a fascinating tropical area.

A 2 hour van ride to the delta town of My Tho ended at a marina where we loaded onto small boats to ride across the mighty Mekong river to some small village towns. At Unicorn Island, we were served local fruits, including pineapple, mango, papaya, dragon fruit, and longans, all while listening to some talented local folk music singers and musicians. We then boarded small 4-person canoes for a nice ride through low-hanging vegetation to our next stop: a honey and tea tasting. The honey came straight out of the honeycombs, and was mixed with tea, lemon, and pollen to make a wonderfully sweet and refreshing honey tea. Then, naturally, they brought out a python for (only brave) people to hold.

This was followed by a motorboat ride to Ben Tre, “coconut island”, where every part of the coconut tree gets used in products or the making of products (ie. coconut shells are burned to provide power). The specialty was coconut candies — very tasty! We also indulged in very our own chilled coconut (the water and the meat) –> quite refreshing. After making our way to the lunch place via horse-drawn carriage, we were separated from the main group for our “deluxe” lunch. Check out our elephant ear fish, from which fresh spring rolls were made (not worth the extra tour cost though). This photogenic water buffalo was busy bathing himself in the background during our lunch:

Near the end of our journey back to HCMC, the tour stopped at a handicapped handicrafts place. Most of the artists were affected by, or descendent from those affected by, Agent Orange. Using eggshells, seashells, paint, and laquer, they craft some very impressive works (if only we had a way to fit more stuff in our bags).