INDEED MEKONG DELTA

We leave the bustle of the city behind for a day of exploring scenic rice fields, waterways and colorful markets of the Mekong Delta area. Upon Caibe arrival, we embark a local boat and start the excursion with a visit of Cai Be colorful floating market, the market run approximately 400 to 500 boats filled with fruits, vegetables, and other products are anchored along the banks of the river waiting for customers and traders, from 5 am to 5 pm every day. Visiting the market give you a better understanding of the villager’s daily lives and more.

After the Cai Be floating market, pay a visit to local factories where you will learn how pop rice, pop corn, rice paper and other local products/crafts are made. Enjoy the local flavor with a delicious home hosted lunch at a 100-year old Mandarin house, where at least four generations of the family have been living. After lunch, enjoy a walk around the orchard to get to know about the family’s livelihood. Return to the main boat by a rowing boat ride through a peaceful canal before taking 50 minute upstream cruise on the Mekong River. En route, some possible stops at the local fruit orchard or bonsai for better understanding about the local life. Upon arrival at the home stay located on a small island, take some rest on your own or make some further own exploration of the village before returning for dinner. The family will be your host this evening and they are happy to share with you in details about the typical life in the Mekong region. Optional activity is to join with them in the kitchen for part of the cooking process if you like.

After an intimate breakfast with the family, follow a small village path along the river to see the daily life of the locals with the stop are village market which is just held early in the morning for the so busy farmers to buy things for the day. Immerse in the cultural interaction with the locals before going back to the family to bid farewells to your hosts and cruise back to the mainland. Stop on the way to visit Mr. Tam Ho (No.8 Tiger) family and take a walk around his nursery garden to learn how the seedlings of several tropical fruit trees are grown in order to provide to almost all farmers in the area. You then continue the excursion to the handicraft village to visit a ceramic tile factory, a tofu and fish sauce factory, a blacksmith’s, a roof Thatcher’s and a rice husking factory which are all run by the local families and also one of the places where some local people can earn their living.

Return to Ho Chi Minh City where you will arrive in the late afternoon.

After breakfast, we commence a day tour with a visit to Cuchi Tunnels, located 70km northwest of Ho Chi Minh City, built and used by the Viet Cong during Vietnam War. It took 25 years to construct this tunnel and it stands today as a symbol of struggle of the Vietnamese. This Tunnel consists of more than 200km of underground tunnels, many branches connecting to underground hideouts, shelters, and entrances to other tunnels and home to more than 16,000 communist guerillas and sympathizers during the war. The underground network provided sleeping quarters, meeting rooms, hospitals, and other social rooms. Visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels provides a better understanding of the prolonged resistance war and also of the persistent and clever character of the Vietnamese.

Back to Ho Chi Minh for lunch, then take a city tour with a visit to the Independence Palace, formerly the Presidential Palace, the home to the last 3 President of South Vietnam; before taking a stroll to the major sights of colonial Ho Chi Minh City as the Old Saigon Post Office, Gothic-style Notre Dame Cathedral, Dong Khoi Street (formerly Rue Catinat), Opera House and City Hall. We end the tour by visiting Ben Thanh Market, the city’s central market that is packed with all kinds of local wares and souvenirs famous for wholesaler trading where you can take a long stroll around the market’s expansive grounds and watch the hustle and bustle.

Overnight in Saigon.

After breakfast, free and easy until the time to transfer to the airport for your flight out.

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