Another day in Saigon, another tour. We had limited time in the south of Vietnam, and I do wish we’d had more time to go further and explore at a more leisurely pace – both the Mekong Delta and also go to the beautiful Phu Quoc. But, having full time jobs, we had what time we had… so, next time.

We had booked a full day tour to Cai Be floating market. It was a very reasonable price and seemed to pack the most into the day, including what sounded like some very lovely ‘free time’ in the afternoon to go for a walk, bike ride or just chill in the hammock reading.

We had a repeat of the morning before, starting early with a delicious pastry, amazing Vietnamese coffee and a collect and walk from the hotel. We went to the same place as the morning before and got on an identical bus. Sadly, Slim Jim didn’t make an appearance this morning and instead we had a guide who was loud, brash and insisted on repeating everything 5 times. In perfect English.

We had another couple of hours on the bus so we settled down and read our books before finally pulling up in a car park on the river. After a quick loo visit, we got onto our boat and headed out to see the infamous floating market. We had given the markets in Bangkok a miss as we’d heard that the Vietnamese ones were better, so we were excited to see what it would be like for people who literally live their whole lives on the river. The result was… not as magical as I’d hoped. There were some bizarre sights, including ‘shops’ selling fruit, veg, textiles and most bizarrely, a petrol station, but I think it lacked the traditional feel that I’d been naively expecting. The boats were modern and run down. The water was murky. It may have been to do with the weather – it was a grey day that day, but it was just completely off my expectations.

We pulled up to the bank and disembarked, and were informed we were going to see some ‘traditional crafts’. These stops were exactly what I disliked about daily large inflexible tours – having to go to somewhere obscenely touristy and stay a designated amount of time there, normally whilst being pressured to buy something. Don’t get me wrong, watching rice paper and coconut candy being prepared using traditional methods was fascinating, and it really was very tasty, but the 20 minute wait around the gift shop annoyed me somewhat.

After this we moved down the path to the beehives – an area I darted through, being petrified of bees and wasps! We sat down and had some delicious honey tea, whilst again trying to have some sold to us. Luckily a trio of Americans on the trip were buying everything in sight, so they filled the quota of the group!

We piled back in the boat and set off again. We were told that we’d now be getting into small traditional Vietnamese boats to be paddled down the river by local Vietnamese. We were strongly encouraged to tip given the amount that the women were paid for the work, and I didn’t mind tipping them at all. We were given traditional hats to put on and warned not to stick out hands over the sides as the crocodiles would come and snap them off. So of course, we spent the whole ride looking closely at the banks for any potential crocodiles! One of the really fascinating things I noticed on this part of the tour was the state of some of the bridges to the side of the main river, over the smaller tributaries. They were practically cardboard boxes taped together in places, and motorbikes were going speeding over them! You can’t beat Vietnamese health and safety…

After precariously wobbling off the boat, we followed a muddy trail around to the main road – a trail that at times was covered in puddles and our attempts to avoid our flip flop clad feet getting wet nearly resulted in a lot of people tumbling into (allegedly crocodile filled) water. We trekked up the main road for a few minutes until we came to our restaurant on the right hand side. The first thing we all noticed was the HUGE snake in a cage by the entrance, luckily with a padlock on and luckily asleep.  We went to our table and were served a delicious lunch – barbequed chicken with veg and fish that we had all pre-ordered and decided to pay extra for. A local fish, it was fried in a light batter, and between 2 people you flake off the meat to wrap in a spring roll with noodles, cucumber lettuce and sauce. It was fresh and absolutely divine. My mouth is watering thinking about it!

After lunch, we had our ‘free time’ which equated to 20 mins of going for a bike ride if we wanted, or lying in a hammock by the tables. As it had started raining, no-one was really up for the bike ride, particularly as it was actually on a fast road, and not the quiet idyllic path I had envisioned. So I settled in with my book on a hammock before being told that we should head back to the boat early to try and miss the worst of the rain.

On our way out, the owner got the snake out of the cage and a few people had a hold, including my OH. The result is this hilarious photo, of which you can actually feel the fear palpitating off him! The snake got more and more awake, and actually tried to go in the trainer of one guy.

So, we headed back to the boat. On the way, I fell in love with a monkey playing bongos that was carved out of a coconut, and was keen to get it until we realised that Indian customs probably wouldn’t be that keen on us bringing it into the country. As we sat on the back of the boat and sped back to the bus, we had an.. interesting moment when we came to a bridge too low to fit under. As a result, we all had to rush to the front of the boat to weigh it down, then to the middle and finally to the back to get it under!

I had mixed feelings over our tour to the Mekong Delta. I’m glad we got to see that part of Vietnam, but my feelings of tours like that haven’t changed. It felt like we wasted a lot of time not seeing the real Mekong Delta. I understand that people have to make money off tourists, and in fact it is a lucrative way of life for many, but spending time hanging around gift shops just annoys me. Perhaps if the weather had been better, or if we’d had a tour guide that I warmed to more, I would have had a different opinion. I would definitely recommend if you are thinking of visiting the area, spend a couple of days in the region and try and do smaller tours rather than an all encompassing 1 day tour.

Can’t complain though…

Happy new year!

CatDog xx