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Our last destination in Vietnam before heading into Cambodia was the Mekong Delta. Much to my dismay, I had to accept that the easiest and cheapest way to see the Mekong is on a package tour. At $34 for 3 days/2 nights including breakfast, hotel, and taking us into Cambodia, you really couldn't beat the price. I will say though, you get what you pay for. In Saigon Pham Ngu Lao Road was lined with tour offices all offering the same tour for the same price. How to choose? Honestly it doesn't matter which tour company one chooses, because they all get funneled down to the same bus. A couple on our bus went to two different agencies and talked to the same girl! We went with the one across from the Bia Hoi 33- location is everything right? The next three days were spent experiencing Mekong life, floating markets, cheesy yet fun touristy stops, our guide Bang singing in English, boats, good food, and the best part- incredible company. Definitely another incredible part of our already incredible trip.

Cruising Down and Up the Mekong

Casey Lary
2007-04-21 23:25:42

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to the Japanese interpreter instead. Our first stop was riding on little wooden boats through a mass of waterways on an island. An old lady with the token straw hat paddled us, and gave us token straw hats to wear. Welcome to Vietnam Disneyland! Yes it was cheesy, and as other boats passed by the only thing that came out of the ladies' mouth was "give us more money." Still, I loved wearing the hat, the jungle, the meandering waterway, and feeling like 'Explorer Casey.' The next stop was lunch. We started to get to know our 'family.' A fellow tour member and future travel companion Lisa, busted out some bee wine that she had gotten from a local in Sapa. Wine is an understatement, it tasted like a spirit. One had to be careful not to get a bee in their mouth while sipping. I exhausted my Japanese with the Japanese tourists. Just the fact that I could say Konnichiwa and Watashi was Keishii desu made them grin from ear to ear. That afternoon we were all over the place- coconut candy farm, honey tea accompanied by local musicians, holding big snakes (who didn't hold a candle to Pawny in the Philippines, no transvestite either), and more boats that made it feel like Disneyland Vietnam, yet no alligators nor hippopotamus popping up to scare us. Yes parts of me were so aggravated to be doing such silly and 'tourist trap' things.

I kept thinking "What am I doing here?" Then I got a hold of myself. As I said you get what you pay for. If I just sat back, relaxed, and enjoyed it all, there were no worries! I also have a tendency to romanticize everything to appear like it does in Travel and National Geographic Magazines. Besides, I started to look past the touristy stuff and look deeper into it all. While on the boats one could glimpse into the center of the islands and see more canals, and paths leading to homes. Some of the best parts of the day were on the bus as we drove by towns. You could see down into the waterways as everyday ...