Tag Archives: mekong delta

Travelinds, Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

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19 August 2014

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Well, where to begin? Ho Chi Minh City… this would be a good title of a film that involved elements of slapstick comedy, knee-buckling romance, perpetual hardcore action, subtle and not-so-subtle pornography, plenty of drama and some pointed horror too.  All this after only spending two days in this bustling city, previously known as Saigon!
First impressions aside, Ho Chi Minh City has the face of a true Asian metropolitan city, with all the trimmings and a handful of other aspects specific to the Vietnamese culture.  There are skyscrapers, traffic jams, thousands of bars, hotels, massage parlours, educational institutions and restaurants, imposing conglomerates and international franchises; and an excited buzz that seems to blend in to part of the background.  There are also motorbikes and scooters (apparently referred to as ‘Hondas’) on every highway, road, alleyway and sidewalk.

Ho Chi Minh CityWe stayed in the Pham Ngu Lao area (which is where most tourists end up staying and where there is an abundance of hotels, restaurants, bars and entertainment).  It’s about 40-60 minutes from the airport, traffic-dependent. Our accommodation at Ngoc Linh Hotel was comfortable and clean, we ate at Mon Hue restaurant (wow, great Central Vietnamese cuisine!), watched some rugby at The Spotted Cow (a little pricey, but great Australian-style menu), explored the market, had a wonderful dinner with a view at Duc Vuong Hotel roof-top restaurant and enjoyed a lovely massage around the corner from our hotel at Mi Mi Massage (cucumber masks and quiet privacy!).  We also enjoyed a rather scrumptious brunch at Bookworm’s Coffee, just around the corner from our hotel.

TIP: It might be a good idea to wander around Ho Chi Minh City in pairs rather than alone, especially in the evening; as in any big city, there are obvious criminal elements around and vigilance is encouraged.

Our group split up on the last day and some explored the city on foot while the rest took a day tour to the Mekong Delta. In the end, both groups insisted that their days were better.

I almost don’t feel qualified enough to write more about the city because what can two days really tell you about any place? You will have to go and experience this city for yourself.

 

Travelinds, Vietnam

The Mekong Delta – Day Tour

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16 August 2014

Mekong Delta, Vietnam

Only having a short visit to Ho Chi Minh at the end of our trip, we chose to do a full day tour to the Mekong Delta (My Tho to Ben Tre) on our last day in Vietnam.  The tour bus was scheduled to pick us up around 8am and we were back at our hotel in Pham Ngu by 5.30pm. The tour company turned out to be TNK travel, the company we had seen advertised a lot, but we didn’t know this until we got on the bus as we had booked through our hotel.  It was a good surprise though.

The day consisted of lots of bus travel and boat rides, as you would expect visiting the complex system of rivers and tributaries in the Mekong Delta.  The guide, Yen, regaled us with tales of world-renowned rice production, Vietnamese culture, life on the rivers and general facts about Vietnam and its history.  He was quite a character and enjoyed some witty banter with the mostly young, backpacking-type crowd on the tour bus, us included (about 25 people in all).

Ben Tre
Paddling through the mangroves along the Mekong Delta at Ben Tre.

The itinerary for the day consisted of:

  1. Bus trip from Ho Chi Minh city to My Tho, with one rest stop where you can sleep in hammocks, buy fruitshakes or sip on Vietnamese coffee.
  2. Vinh Trang Temple – a Buddhist Temple complex where there were huge Buddha statues, a beautiful pagoda and temple gardens.
  3. Boat trip to one of the four islets in the middle of the river, for lunch (islets are named Unicorn, Turtle, Phoenix and Dragon).
  4. Boat trip over to the Ben Tre to see a handmade coconut candy factory, drink honey tea and have photos with a rather large (and heavy) Burmese python draped on your neck!  Read more about Ben Tre’s famous coconut candy industry. and google Ben Tre coconut candy for some great images.
  5. Mini boat trip through the mangroves with four people on a wooden paddle boat, powered by the oar of a hard-working lady and experienced while wearing the classic conical Vietnamese hats.
  6. A short walk to a place where the local musicians perform on ancient Vietnamese instruments and sing of life in Vietnam (don’t expect them to look happy about it either).  The tropical fruit snack was delicious.
  7. Walk back to the bus and sleep the rest of the way back to Ho Chi Minh city.  On the way, there is a long bridge and a good view (with family fish farms built under the floating houses on the river).
Mekong Delta
Yen, our tour guide did a great job of entertaining our group.

All in all, not a bad day (especially for only about R 100.00 / $ 10.00).

The highlight for me was certainly the coconut candy stop – watching how the workers cook, mould, cut and package the toffee was the most interesting process. Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of the product because, despite purchasing six packages, most did not even make it back home (too delicious!).  It is a soft toffee, wrapped in edible rice paper before being put in a wrapper; with slightly different flavours available like coffee, chocolate, pandan and peanut. Vietnamese Food really is delicious.

Other reviews on TripAdvisor for TNK Travel.