We spent about a week in the Mekong Delta and visited three towns, Ben Tre, Can Tho and Chau Doc.
Ben Tre was the first and was a very odd experience for us. We were literally the only westerners ther! This was exactly what we wanted but we didn't think of the consequenses like language barriers, difficulty getting food and , worst of all, constantly being stared at. We made things worse by visiting an even smaller village where the fruit orchards are. The experience was only a bit uncomfortable and we enjoyed the visit but we've decided not to go that far from the beaten trach again...
Can Tho was a much bigger town and although not many people travel there independantly, plenty of tours stop there so we weren't so much of a novelty. We visited the floating markets and the canal system here which (after a minor hic-up, as usual) was something I was really looking froward to and it didn't dissapoint, especially when having a 5.30am sunrise breakfast on the boat!
Chau Doc was busier again because it's the main stop off point before going to Cambodia - there were 12 of us westerners heading there on the boat, the most we'd seen in days! We rented bikes here and cycled to Sam mountain which wasn't as pleasant an experience as Hoi An because there was much more traffic on the roads but the view from the mountain was excellent which made it worthwhile.
All in all the Mekong Delta was a rewarding experience and a very pleasant way to end our time in Vietnam.
|
