Day Trip to Cai Be – Mekong Delta

The Mekong Delta

Seven of Vinalearn’s teachers all agreed to have a wee day trip away from the hustle and bustle of the city. I was well needed after the 3 weeks of moving home, ever-changing class schedules and medalling teachers in addition to arduous and challenging children. The rough plan was made at the beginning of the week – that we would be taking a day trip to see floating markets somewhere on the Mekong Delta. Various people had suggested different places, and it was eventually decided to get a local bus to Cai Be instead of paying for a fancy, expensive tour; we were going to do it by ourselves. That was all good and well, thinking that at least one person of the group knew what they were doing, but in reality we all shared the same thought. Resulting in the fact that in reality, nobody had a clue what we were doing other than getting a bus to Cai Be. But what comes after that?

The Journey:

To set the scene, we all met at 7:30 am on Sunday morning at Mien Tay bus station in District 1 in Ho Chi Minh City. We walked up to a desk and asked for 7 tickets to Cai Be which is on the way to Vinh Long along the QL1A Highway.

The ticket cost 84, 000 VND each; seemed a bargain up until the point when we were told to get off after a 2hour journey, on a busy street with no rivers, never mind floating markets in sight! The seven of us stuck out like a sore thumb looking hopeless and lost in a small Vietnamese town away from the comfort of our big city. Randomly, five or so men on motorbikes approached us, rambling away in Vietnamese. We showed them where we wanted to go – a 3km walk away under the humid heat. Call it luck or a pure coincidence, the men recruited more drivers and offered to take us towards the river for a price 100, 000 VND – ridiculous price for a 3km journey. When we refused they immediately cut the price in half, offering 50, 000 each. Unsure what else to do, we all reluctantly hopped on the bikes, armed with massively loose helmets towards our destination. An odd turn of events that worked out well in the end.

We eventually saw the river! A pier surrounded by various tour buses and sales people. By this point we realised that nobody knew what they were doing. How did we get to the market? Do we hire a boat ourselves? Do we risk talking to the sales people and get ripped off? We decided that we should at least ask for some information.

A Vietnamese woman in traditional dress explained the tour to us; a large boat would take us to a smaller river where we will then board a small row boat down a small, tropical, winding creek, back on board the larger boat which then takes us to a village that makes coconut candy, banana wine, rice paper and other typical Vietnamese goods, then to another island to try its tropical fruits and then back to the pier – a 2. 30/3-hour trip. It sounded amazing and we were all expecting a ridiculous price when in fact she quoted us only 190, 000 VND each! (under £7) We accepted without hesitation. The only drawback was that the only guide available spoke French and Vietnamese with limited English. I was one of the two who had to step up and translate for the group despite my rusty French, but it was a great opportunity to get back into practice!

The seven of us boarded the boat, almost like a private tour. Our guide pointed out various islands and taxi-boats and explained that many of the boats have eyes painted on them to scare away the few crocodiles left in the delta. The rainy season left the water murky and brown but the air was cool and it wasn’t raining for once!

We reached a curve in the river where we were greeted by two long boat, rowed by women in straw hats. Slowly and shakily, we boarded the tiny boats and were given the traditional straw hats to shield us from the sun. we set off down the creak and a slow, relaxing speed accompanied only by the sound of the water whooshing by and the wildlife found in the surrounding jungle. I haden’t heard such silence since before I moved to Saigon. It was so peaceful and nice to get away from the craziness of city life.

Half an hour down the river, we tipped our drivers and got back on board the larger boat. We set off for the village on the island that made various Vietnamese goods. We were show how they make rice pops, a kind of pop cron made from rice. The rice is mixed with sand above a burning fire and is mixed around. The shells and sand are then sieved out leaving the popped rice. This rice is then mixed with various spices such as ginger, sugar and other various flavours to make each batch unique.

We then got to witness the mini Coconut Candy factory. Shavings of coconut are boiled down with sugar to make a kind of caramel which is also mixed with various ingredients to make different flavours. The Caramel is then left to set on a mould. Once hardened, women cut up the strips into small squares and wrap them in rice paper, creating mini parcels of coconut candy! I bought a pack of peanut flavour, but there are many other flavours to choose from!

We then were allowed to try Rice Wine of varying flavours. The first being from a jug that had dead snakes inside. It didn’t taste like wine, nor was it made from grapes. It was like a spirit or liquor with an odd aroma. The ‘wine’ in a jug surrounded by bananas tasted much the same but I’m sure a more experienced palette could decipher the differences.

The we saw the making of Rice Paper, the material used for Spring and Summer Rolls and many other foods. The mixture of steamed rice water and flour is laid out like a crepe on a home-made heat plate, left to cook for a few seconds before being left on a stand to dry.

After having experienced the differing mini factories of the village, we were given jasmine Tea and samples of the goods we witnessed getting made. A mini shop allowed us to buy these foods in addition to other home-made products and remedies.

Back aboard the boat we set off to a different island to taste the tropical fruit. In a local restaurant, we tasted lychees, watermelon, bananas, pineapples and guava fruit whilst listening to a traditional Vietnamese band and singer. Then the rain started.

We waited it out for a while but it was clear that it wasn’t going to end anytime soon. We ran under the downpour under the roof of our boat back to the pier. We were back by 1:30pm, we thought we would have to get the bus at 4pm but we managed to get everything down in a very timely manner! Again by chance or complete coincidence, a mini bus was going back to HCMC and offered to take us to D1 for 150, 000 each - much less faff than finding a motor-taxi to the closest bus station 10km away then another ticket back to HCMC. Again, we accepted without a second thought and were off back to Saigon! We got to D1 at around 4pm. So we decided on the Indian restaurant Baba’s, which was recommended to us, found on the famous Boi Vien street. We were starving and not disappointed. Would 100% recommend.

Back home and which meant back to lesson planning for the next week.

Despite the lack of organisation, it was a great day and a trip worth doing again!

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