Day 18 - Mekong Delta

Today I escaped the city to the Mekong Delta, which is about two hours away. Although the delta has about 13 million inhabitants, they are spread out over a large area, so everywhere you drive by, you get the impression of a rural character. The first stop takes us to Vinh Trang Pagoda, a Buddhist temple whose exterior is heavily influenced by Thai and French styles.

We then continued to the boat dock. There we boarded a small boat that took us across the wide Mekong River to Unicorn Island. We were invited to a tasting of local honey (prepared as tea), propolis, and royal jelly, but the goal was to sell us overpriced products. At this point, I became a bit suspicious that I had gotten involved in a tourist trap.

The next stop took us to a fruit tasting. Nothing was sold to us there. However, there was a singing performance, at the end of which tip baskets were placed on the tables.

We took a ride on a flat rowing boat along one of the branches of the Mekong River to a facility that produced sweets from coconut milk. There we could also taste rice wine with snakes in it, which supposedly increases potency. I politely declined.

We then took a small motorized boat to a larger facility where lunch guests were entertained on several terraces. We had fried fish, roasted chicken, chicken soup, morning glory, spring rolls, and rice for lunch. After lunch, we were allowed to explore the grounds. Various fruits and vegetables were grown in the surrounding gardens. However, you could also observe captive snakes, catfish, porcupines, and crocodiles.

After the lunch break, we took the motorized boat back to the main branch of the Mekong River and then crossed to the other side with the small boat to our bus. All in all, this day trip was a welcome escape from the city, despite the initial tourist trap feel.

Back in Saigon, I went to yoga again and then had dinner at the adjacent café.