Day 1: HoChiMinh City - CaiBe Floating Market - Delta Home Stay
Drive from Saigon to CaiBe, stopping en route at a drive from Saigon to CaiBe, stopping en route at an elaborate CaoDai Temple. From CaiBe, take a boat trip along the mighty Mekong River and its tributaries to view the daily lives of people who work and play on the waterways of the Mekong Delta. The trip includes a visit to the unique "floating" market at CaiBe, and to a family-run business producing rice paper - a key ingredient in VietNamese cuisine. Lunch is on an island mid-river, in a local house set amongst fruit orchards and bonsai trees, and then followed by a performance of traditional VietNamese music. After lunch, continue on to VinhLong. (Seasonally, on the way to the Mekong Delta, we can enjoy peaceful scenes of farmers seeding, ploughing, and harvesting the rice crop.) We spend the night in a typical VietNamese local house.
OVERNIGHT AT LOCAL HOUSE IN VINHLONG (Lunch, Dinner)
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Day 2: VinhLong - ChauDoc
After breakfast, drive to ChauDoc. On arrival, visit Sam Mountain, a favourite pilgrimage spot for ethnic-Chinese. Visit the Tomb of Thoai Ngoc Hau, a mandarin who founded the ChauDoc in the 18th century. Also visit the Temple of Lady ChuaXu, built in the 1820s. There is an optional 2 km hike up to the summit of Sam Mountain to enjoy the sunset before returning to ChauDoc.
OVERNIGHT AT VICTORIA CHAUDOC HOTEL
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Day 3: ChauDoc - ChauGiang Island - CanTho
Take a boat to ChauGiang Island to visit fish farms and floating houses. Stroll through a village of Cham people, visiting a mosque and local weavers. In the afternoon, drive to CanTho, then take a 2-km walk through the BangLang bird sanctuary.
OVERNIGHT AT VICTORIA CANTHO HOTEL
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Day 4: CanTho - Floating Markets - HoChiMinh City
Take a morning boat ride from the NinhKieu dock in CanTho to visit the teeming floating markets at CaiRang. Cruise through small canals and stop at a fruit orchard to taste some of the succulent fruits of the Mekong Delta. Return drive to HoChiMinh City.
End of services.
(Guests have the option of returning to HoChiMinh city by hydrofoil
