Day 1: Ho Chi Minh - Can Giuoc - Mekong Delta regions - Island Lodge (B,L,D)
8:00am: Your guide will meet you in the lobby of your hotel and bring you by car to your boat at Ho Chi Minh City pier.
8:15am: The boat departs and you slip away from downtown Saigon via narrow canals, and enter the verdant green tributaries of the Mekong Delta. A light breakfast is served on board.
9:00am: Visit Can Giuoc riverside market full of local curiosities, tropical fruits and all manner of fish and shellfish. Great photo opportunities!
10:00am: Enjoy a brief stop at the Pagoda, while your guide explains the importance of Buddhism to many people of the Delta.
10:30am: Reach the idyllic watery expanses of the Delta itself, known as the Delta of Nine Dragons for the 9 tributaries that splinter from the main Mekong River.
Depending on the route, you will visit a traditional riverside house with huge Burmese pythons as pets, a quaint Mekong village and surrounding rice paddies, and then a traditional farmhouse where you’ll sample coconuts and Mekong whisky.
Or you will visit a local merchant and try a range of Mekong produce, and whisky and wine. You’ll walk along the banks of the river to a traditional rural Vietnamese house where 3 generations live, before exploring a charming village where you can try fresh coconuts from the tree. This variation provides fascinating insight into life in the Mekong Delta region.
Please note: Our tours are flexible. Your guide may combine parts from both routes.
12:30pm: Enjoy a traditional Mekong Delta lunch at the floating restaurant.
2:00pm: Visit a fish farm to see how the fish is raised in the Mekong Delta.
2:30pm: Arrive to the boutique hotel The Island Lodge. Relax by the river, chill at the pool or take a bike ride on the peaceful alleys of the Unicorn Island full of shady fruit trees.
In the evening have a delicious dinner specially cooked for you by a French chef.
Day 2: Island Lodge - Cai Be - Ho Chi Minh (B, L)
7:30am: Have breakfast at the hotel and depart The Island Lodge to continue exploring the Delta.
8:00am: Visit Cai Be floating market to see how locals run their trading business on the river.
9:30am: Enjoy a rowboat trip along small canals of the Delta surrounded by thousands of coconut palms.
10:30am: Visit a brick atelier to see how locals still use traditional technologies to make bricks.
12:00am: Stop at a floating restaurant to have a delicious Vietnamese lunch.
1:30pm: Take a ride on “xe loi”, a traditional transport used on the villages of the Mekong Delta. Visit rice noodle, roof and nail nipper workshops.
3:30pm: Return to the speedboat and depart for Ho Chi Minh City.
5:30pm: Arrive back in Saigon. Staff will return you to your hotel by car.
