Out of many surrounding places to explore when you visit Ho Chi Minh City, including Vung Tau, Cat Tien National Park, Da Lat City, Cao Dai Temple, and Phan Thiet City, the Mekong Delta is believed to be the best for a pleasant boat trip even probably lasting only one day. Ever wonder how the trip is and if there is anything good to draw you? While you are hungry for charms in culture and people of rural areas in Vietnam, the Delta reached by a boat trip never lets you down. Not only that, the trip is convenient and wonderful to take it; for instance, you can book such a tour right at your hotel, enjoy activities which are very close to the local life and understand more their culture.
Departing from Ho Chi Minh City
Most trips to the Mekong Delta will depart from Ho Chi Minh City – a metropolis of Vietnam. When you land at Tan Son Nhat airport and then take a taxi to the heart of downtown, you will realize suggestions on Mekong Delta tours are always abundant even right in accommodations where you stay. Therefore, it is really easy to make a trip to the Delta region by some tour operator in Ho Chi Minh City. However, if solo travel is what you prefer, keep in mind that transport there is mainly by boat, which requires your careful research before you go. To have a pleasant boat trip to such a typical water area, everything arranged by a professional operator will make you more confident.
Cruising on the Mekong River
Ever wonder if there is anything stimulating to cruise on the Mekong River? In fact, no noisy sound and modern architecture are found in the water region. While cruising on the Mekong River, you can dip into tranquility of the locals’ life. The idyllic scenery along the riversides will calm your spirit and seemingly takes you to a totally different world. The Mekong Delta is exactly a water region in Vietnam, so no matter which operator you go with, you still take a leisurely cruise on the river. It is possible to say that the perception from the cruise is supposed to be a medicine to help recover energy. The bustling prospect is almost absent from here. Instead, a picture of calm river, lush gardens, fruits, trees, boats and cottages are around you during the trip.
Doing fascinating activities in the Mekong Delta
In a boat trip to the Mekong Delta, surely there are plenty of fascinating activities to engage in. First, take a sightseeing trip around lush gardens, family businesses, bee farms, and fruit orchards as you will realize countless exciting features in the life of locals. The family businesses entitle you to gain more understanding of the Vietnam’s rural area; it opens your mind to some aspect of an Oriental country. With reference to fruit orchards, the Mekong Delta is home to a variety of tropical fruits, enough to get you excited; even some Mekong Delta tours allow you to pick and eat ripe fruits right at the local orchard.
Another activity to experience is traveling on small canals by a wooden sampan with the breeze and the shadow of palm trees bending down on the water. If you are fond of gardening and working as a farmer, draining ditches for fish is surely a plus point in the Mekong Delta tour in Vietnam. Fresh fruits are not always abundant in the region, but if you go there in the right time, it is sure that it pays off.
Enjoying specialty dishes in the Mekong Delta
The Mekong Delta is home to varied specialty dishes that will get you excited at any cost. Perhaps, the cuisine of the Delta carries unique elements forming a yin-yan balance whereby people who have ever taken a chance to savor food here never forget that feeling. For a Mekong Delta boat trip, it is surely incomplete if such specialty dishes are ignored. You will be surprised by grilled coconut mouse, banh bot loc – a kind of rice flour stuffed with shrimp and roasted pork, Sa Dec Noodle Soup, banh hoi – a kind of noodle with roasted pork, Luc Si’s Nem rice paper, gray eel-catfish, Cho Moi’s sticky rice, etc.
Even there are weird dishes you never imagine before; some of these things may really challenge you at the first time of seeing it. For instance, a coconut worm which has not been cooked yet will be served with fish sauce, making up a horrible prospect. It may give you the creeps while you see the worm wriggling in a small bowl of fish sauce, but it is for your meal. Not as frightening as the coconut worm, but grilled ricefield rats also get some people annoyed to see the dish at the first time.
Having a homestay experience to get closer to the indigenous culture
The best way to get closer to the local life in the Mekong Delta is to have a homestay experience. If you are interested in cultural traditions of Vietnamese families, the trip to the Delta especially with such an experience is really meaningful. Also, there is more than one activity to do when you stay in a local house. For example, you can prepare a dinner with the host since this activity lets you live as a local get a taste of what the family life is like. For the Mekong Delta boat trip, relaxing next to the riverside and being told about exciting stories revolving the local life are an indispensable part.
Although the Mekong Delta tour Vietnam is a quite common tour found from various tour operators in Ho Chi Minh City, you will not take a pleasant boat trip if not finding any reputable brand. In the case that you prefer solo travel and desire to go on a boat trip to the Delta independently, careful research is necessary since traffic in this region is very complicated.
