2 day Mekong Delta option 1

SAIGON – CAI BE – VINH LONG – CAN THO – SAIGON

Highlights of the trip:

• Get interactions with the real locals
• Beautiful boat trips passing by local areas
• Get the true feel of the local way of life

DAY 1: SAIGON – CAI BE – VINH LONG – CAN THO

Inclusions: Private car, English speaking guide, boat trip, fruits, lunch, hotel rooms     

Estimated timings:

• Saigon to Cai Be boat station: 2 hours
• Cai Be boat trip : 3 hours
• Cai Be cruise to Vinh Long: 1 hour
• Vinh Long to Can Tho : 1 hour
  Detailed activities:
  At your chosen time, our guide and car pick you up and then drive towards the Mekong Delta. The chosen tourist attraction is Cai Be town of Tien Giang province. Enjoy the green and peaceful sceneries and lively daily activities of the local people.
  Upon arrival at Cai Be boat station, our guide will take you to enjoy the private boat trip around the Mekong river passing by local places.

The boat trip will take you to visit the following places:

• A traditional handicraft village where you witness how the locals produce Rice Paper, Popped Rice, and Coconut Candy. This is a great time for you to understand the real local culture and way of life.
• Stop at a local family on Tan Phong island to enjoy some tropical fruits and Don Ca Tai Tu, which is a kind of folk music and a UNESCO intangible heritage of Vietnam.
• Visit a local family’s fruit garden to witness in person how some common fruits are on their trees.

• NOTE: 
  • we don’t promise exactly which type of fruits you will see. It depends on the season but there are usually durians, jack fruits, pomelos, rambutans, mangoes, guavas.
  • You can pick the fruits and pay a fee but this won’t be promised in advance. You will get to know one day before or on arrival.
• Enjoy a 15 minute sampan ride along a small canal to get the true feel of the real locals’ way of life. Sampan is a small boat made of 3 wooden panels and manually rowed by the locals.
• After that, get on your private boat and move to Vinh Long province in about 30 minutes. Enjoy lunch at a local family with great Vietnamese cuisine food in an open air fruit garden.

• After lunch, get back to the boat and continue the cruise to Vinh Long city boat station in about 30 minutes.
• Upon arrival at Vinh Long boat station, get in our car and drive to Can Tho city and check in the hotel/homestay.
• Evening time is on your own.

DAY 2 – CAN THO – FLOATING MARKET – CON SON ISLAND – SAIGON 

Inclusions: Private car and guide, small boats to floating market, entrance fees to visiting places, set menu lunch, water.

Early bird catches the worms. Travelers come to Cantho for the Floating Market and the best time to see it is as early as possible, usually 6.00 AM – 8.00 AM.

Let’s get up early and leave the hotel at 6.00AM and get in our car. Then our driver takes you to An Binh market in 20 minutes. Right here you will be boarding a small boat (4-6 people) to explore the floating market.

The sampan cruise slowly moves along the floating market while you are enjoying the early day activities of the locals alongside the canals and rivers. Enjoy the scene of how the buyers and sellers make their deals on the water market. It can’t be more interesting to witness small boats selling coffee/bread right on the river and to enjoy their happy faces on the boats. 

Stop at a random boat to enjoy some fresh pineapples on the boat while enjoy the view of the market from above.

Visit a rice noodle factory to see how the locals make rice noodle in an interesting process. 

8.30 AM, Get back in to the car and gets back to the hotel for breakfast.

10.00 AM : Check out the hotel, get in the car and drive to Con Son Island in 30 minutes. 

Get in a boat to move to the island. Make a first stop at Mr Bay Bon’s floating fishing raft. Learn about his fishery career and enjoy some activities with fish: fish feeding, fish massage. 

Get back to the boat to move onto the island. Once you are on the island, join some interesting activities : visit a local fruit garden to learn about fruit growing and taste some; visit and witness the MOST UNIQUE FLYING FISH show in Vietnam, visit a PINK buffalo which is rare in Vietnam. 

Enjoy lunch at a local restaurant on Con Son island. 

After lunch, get back to boat and back to our car. 

Get back to Saigon in 3 hours with a toilet stop.

Arrive Saigon at 5.00 PM – 6.00 PM

The trip ends. 

TRIP INCLUSIONS: 

• Private 7-16- 29 – 45 seater bus with professional driver 

• Guide is guaranteed to speak great English, to be intensive in history, to have pleasant and friendly manners.

• Boat trip and lunch in day 01 and day 02

• Basic 3 -4 star hotel rooms with deluxe room type (2 persons/room) with buffet breakfast.

• 02 bottles of water each day per person

• Entrance fees to all places

• Travel insurance at 3.000 USD per case

TRIP EXCLUSIONS: 

• Tips for guides and drivers – suggested for Vietnamese customs
  •  Big group from 10 travellers : 3 USD per person per day for both guides and drivers
  • Small group under 10 travellers : 10 USD for driver per day and 20 USD for guide per day

• Ordering drinks during included meals 

• Dinner for day 1

• Other expenses

*** AGREEMENTS AND COMMITMENTS:  

• The trip is promised not to be much touristy and to focus more on local experiences
• Included lunch/dinner  is a set menu with 5-6 courses cooked in Vietnamese style (steamed, stir fry, braised, soup, salad). The commonly served dishes are vegetable salad, deep-fry elephant ear fish with rice paper, steam shrimps with coconut juice, simmered fish in clay pot, sour soup with fish, braised pork, chicken with lemon grass and chicken, steam rice, ice tea and fruits for dessert.
• Set menu meals can be adjusted to meet all guests’ strict dietaries and vegetarian foods.

• The timing and order in the daily plan for private tours is just suggestion, please feel free to change/adjust as long as it doesn’t cause extra costs.
• The order of daily visiting sites can be reordered and changed due to subjective conditions like river tide, traffic and weather