Mekong Delta Part 1: Vĩnh Long & Cần Thơ

When we first started talking about this trip we did as we usually do and reached out to anyone we knew that was familiar with the area to get their perspective. As it turns out, Alicia’s Aunt Teresa & Uncle Doug have spent substantial time traveling throughout Asia and so were a fantastic resource during our initial discovery. In an added coincidental bonus, they had already been planning to go to the area during the same time, which meant a prime opportunity to meet up!

As the planning evolved, they suggested we do a 5 day cycling trip with them in the Southernmost part of Vietnam, the Mekong Delta. They had done a similar ride before and we were eager to try something new outside of the city, so we happily committed to it. The decision was among the best we’ve made in our travels.

Over 5 days we visited countless little towns and cities, met all sorts of unique people, and covered over 150KM. The sights, sounds and smells of this portion of the trip were unparalleled. We’ve broken the trip into two different posts to try to cover as much as we can.

Day 1 – Take off to Vĩnh Long

The first day was a 37.5KM ride from our drop-off point 2 hours south of Saigon to a homestay nestled right along the side of an off-chute of the Mekong river.

We were fortunate to have a fantastic guide, Trang, who was born and raised in the Mekong, and has spent the last several years running bicycle tours in the area. He was an amazing host and liaison, allowing us to converse with locals and learn much more than we’d expected about local culture.

The atmosphere throughout the ride was brilliant. The below video is a small glimpse into some of the beautiful and intersesting sights.

We started off along mixed terrain trails partially covered with large plants and coconut trees. Dotted throughout the trails were various little homesteads, each with their own unique way of drawing yield from the rich, wet soils of the lowlands. The Mekong is actually a relatively wealthy part of Vietnam because the growing conditions are ideal and it means that agricultural productivity is high.

We were almost overwhelmed with how friendly all of the locals were. They would constantly shout “Hello!” at us as we rode by, and if we took the opportunity to stop for a few minutes we would find ourselves very quickly becoming the center of attention.

Nothing exemplified this better than the invite Teresa got to play cards with a few people sitting next to one of the ferry ports. None of us really understood the game but there was plenty of laughing and Teresa wound up winning a bunch of hands and leaving with some of the locals cash!

The fruit in this area was amazing. Everything was so fresh, so sweet, and wonderfully juicy. Everywhere we rode we saw groves and orchards of watermelon, pineapple, rambutan, jackfruit, mango, etc., etc. It really brought out a new love and appreciation for fruit from both of us. Also – for Vietnamese coffee!

The river breeds a form of life very foreign to us. Despite limited drinking from or swimming in the river, locals rely on it heavily as a source of food, transportation, agriculture, and once in a while, as a wash basin. We took a quick detour to see a coconut processing building and caught this woman cleaning a couple of ducks by the riverside.

We stayed at a quiet little homestay just a stone’s throw from the river. It had about 10 rooms, most of which had window openings but no actual glass, allowing the cool evening air and the sounds of the forest to reverberate throughout the night. It was a beautiful property covered with rich foliage and a variety of vibrant bushes and flowers.

We had an opportunity to cook part of our dinner as a group at the Homestay. They gathered together the seven of us staying there that night and brought us into this really cool old school kitchen. All ‘appliances’ were powered by fire, including a rather precarious wok filled with oil for frying.

We rolled up some really nice spring rolls and then they brought us over to the wok where we dropped them into the oil for frying. They are masterful in their ability to control the temperature of the frying oil and other kitchen elements using only these very small logs.

Over the course of the trip, we saw so many people like this execute their craft at such an expert level, you couldn’t help but stop and watch. A great example of this is the woman below making Banh Mi at such an insane pace. We thought it was worth a video!

We found some of the famous whiskey that is fermented with a cobra and a few scorpions. Unfortunately we didn’t get to try it but it certainly was quite the sight.

Day 2 – Vĩnh Long to Cần Thơ

We started Day 2 with a short cycle around the little island our homestay was on. It was an interesting ride through a number of little intersections and villages, and brought some more challenging terrain and trails.

These chicken seen below were a common sight throughout the island. It’s been butterflied and is then covered in chile paste and dried chiles and spit roasted over coals. It wasn’t quite as spicy as it sounds and the chicken was pretty lean, but it was new and unique for sure.

We took a quick ferry across the channel and into Vĩnh Long where Trang brought us through an amazing local market and we sampled some market fare.

Trang bought quite a bit of fruit for us from this market. There were so many new and unfamiliar fruits, vegetables and greens to discover in the market and it made for a really interesting place to walk around and take photos.

We had a great lunch in the market, too. We stopped and sat down at a little stall and had a meal of Vietnamese pancakes and grilled meat, followed by some caramelized bananas with a coconut dipping sauce. Having Trang there to navigate ordering and choosing the right place to eat was a blessing!

The merchants in the market were a wonder to watch. These ladies were butchering whole sides of pork down into smaller, more workable cuts. You can see it was really hot, and the market is open air so it makes for a pretty daunting working environment. Regardless, the people are happy and the work gets done with great efficiency and care.

We stuck out pretty noticeably in the area around the market. They don’t see very many tourists around here and were constantly asking about my beard and Alicia’s ‘white skin’.

We rode by an elementary school and stopped by the fence, causing quite a scene. As soon as the students saw us there, literally the whole school yard ran over to the fence to see us. They were yelling like crazy and really excited to see us. It was a special moment for everyone.

We arrived in Cần Thơ, the largest city in the Mekong (1.5M population) after a short drive, and went for a really interesting dinner with Trang. The below is a totally vegan Hot Pot, with different vegetables playing imitator to the traditional meat-forward Hot Pot contents.