Mekong Tour Day 1

Nancy really wanted to include Saigon and the Mekong delta (pronounced "Maykong") Delta as she had heard so much about it growing up when the Vietnam War was still on. As the one day Mekong tours sounded like a lot of driving to get out to the delta and quite touristy being ferried about to various islands where the locals produce certain goods (honey, coconut candy, puffed rice, fruit growing), she decided on an overnight trip. This would take us into Vietnam’s sixth largest city, Can Tho, and to the last remaining floating market in Vietnam, Cai Rai. She was a bit skeptical about the floating market given that there is ongoing decline in these with the development of more efficient means of transport and marketing but rationalized that if such was the case, might as well see what remains before it is completely gone. We signed up for a 2 day "Mekong Delta and Cai Rai Floating Market tour" by a company called Joy Journeys (about $450 CDN).
We were picked up exactly on time at 0730 hrs by our young guide Tom and driver Fung. We joined three pleasant young German women. We stopped at a service center after an hour and reached our first stop, Cai Dai Pagoda, after two hours. Along the way, Tom provided a lot of details about the area and answered a variety of questions we had about Vietnam in general.
The first day had many changes in transport and experiences. On arrival at the Mekong river, we boarded a boat that took us across the Mekong and into the delta. We transferred to smaller 3 passenger sampans to navigate a tributary with a rower lady standing at the back with intermittent use of a motor to overcome currents that were too strong to row through. There are over 1000 tributaries that cut through much of the delta supporting small village communities. Then, back on the larger boat, which took us to various islands that specialized in the production of one product or another. We then did the typical Mekong delta activities, including a stop for lunch, which featured the deep-fried whole gourami fish. Our hostess removed the spine, flaked off the fish, and wrapped it with greens and rice paper to be dipped into fish sauce - it was tasty despite its looks!Read more