We started the day early as we booked the My Tho - Ben Tre Mekong Tour with theSinhTourist (at 299,000VND per person, before credit card charges). We had a quick breakfast at Sanouva and started walking towards De Tham street at Pham Ngu Lao. The walk took us less than 20 minutes. The Tour was to depart at 8.30am. As we were advised to reach 30mins before, we were at theSinhTourist around 8am.
TheSinhTourist was full of people waiting for their respective tours when we reached. Quite a few tours leave at 8am. At about 8.15am the place felt a lot calmer. If you (like us) booked your tour online, you have to go to the cashier counter (walk into the premises, towards the end, in the middle) to get your ticket. Thereafter, head to the check in counter (to your left when you enter). You will be given a seat number and the tour bus number. As we were there during Vietnam long weekend (Vietnam celebrated Liberation Day on 30 April 2015) there were 2 tour buses for our tour.
At about 8.30am, we were off. After leaving the city area, we reached My Tho. My Tho appears to be a rather sleepy town, with just a few guesthouses that we could see. Below is an extract of the itinerary, from theSinhTourist website (https://www.thesinhtourist.vn/tour/mk/tg-sgmt-01/my-tho-and-ben-tre):
8:30AM: Departing from TheSinhTourist office for My Tho city by air-conditioned bus. At My Tho, boarding the motorboat at a pier and cruising on the Mekong River. Here, overlooking floating houses where fishes are farmed beneath the house (viewing from the motorboat).Continuing the journey on the river until reaching Cồn Thới Sơn (Unicorn Island), from here taking a horse cart to reach a performance site where Vietnamese traditional music (Intangible Cultural Asset of Humanity accredited by UNESCO in 2013) can be heard and seasonal tropical fruit can be tasted (included).Afterward, being on a small hand-rowing boat (the main mean of transportation in My Tho & Ben Tre) and slowly cruising through a small creek with beautiful overhanging coconut trees. Lives from both sides of the creek can be observed.Before heading to lunch, passing through bee-keeping farm and enjoying honey tea, a typical Mekong house can be viewed here. Then, it is lunch time after a short walk.After lunch, boarding the motorboat and heading to learn coconut candies making process from a workshop. Sample of candies can be tasted.03:00PM: Returning back to bus and going back to Ho Chi Minh City.
Some comments:- The order of the tour as we experienced it was different from what is stated above but we were showed everything stated. - some of the horse carts were drawn by horses that looked rather thin and frail. We felt sorry for them. - We were also shown the making of rice paper but this was not stated above.- The tour guide speaks rather decent English.- We would have appreciate more commentary but it would have been rather difficult given the narrow lanes and the sheer number of tourists.- The tour was not exceptional but it gave us a glimpse of life outside the city. I intend to do a proper mekong stay at a later time.
After the tour bus dropped us back at theSinhTourist office, we walked to Co Giang to get pork ribs on vermicelli at Chi Thong. Food was alright but I have to say, we didn't think it was exceptional.
On our way back to Sanouva, I saw "Che My", a shop selling desserts and we decided to drop in. The menu was in Viet and of course we couldnt read a word. I also didn't know the name of any Vietnamese dessert. I ended up walking to the counter (where many cups of desserts were being prepared) and pointed to something I thought looked interesting. It turned out to be Che Thai. It had durian paste/puree, jackfruit strips, coconut strips and some sweet sauce. I liked it. We would have gotten another dessert if we thought we could stomach it.
I also got an eye mask that says "charging" -- i thought that was too cute to pass up.
On reaching our hotel, we dropped by the dessert stall next to it and just ordered one of the fruit bowl looking thing the stall owner was selling. There were three parts to the dish - the fruits, ice and yogurt. We saw her sprinkle sugar and splash some syrup into the bowl of fruits as well. We had the fruit bowl in bed. It was again rather nice. Perhaps the sugar was unnecessary but I do like vietnamese yogurt. I already tried some at breakfast that morning. They are more gooey and less heavy than what we usually get at the stores. Very light and easy to drink.
That is our second day. No shopping we didn't feel like being harassed and we were tired from the long day.
[photos to come ]
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