Summary:

• Duration: 2 days 1 night
• Start time: 7:30 on the first day (customizable)
• End time: 16:30 on the second day (customizable)
• Departs: Saigon - Ends: Saigon

Highlights:

• Phong Dien & Cai Rang floating markets
• Cao Dai Temple
• Local market
• Bike/scooter ride crossing paddy fields
• Authentic Vietnamese food
• Boat trip & sampan cruise on Mekong River
• Local people and their hospitality
• And more…

Overview:

Let’s join Water Buffalo Tours travel to some untouched areas of the Mekong Delta where you will definitely get an insight into the locals’ daily life.

You will enjoy some fantastic boat rides through the narrow channels amongst the Delta’s incredible scenery and observe the locals’ life goes by while visiting the real floating markets of Cai Rang & Phong Dien. We ensure you will be amazed by lots of the locals’ activities on the rivers, orchards and at the local markets.

The locals’ strong sense of ancestral worship can be felt and seen everywhere. The locals’ hospitality and their simple but healthy food will surely make your trip even more enjoyable

We were honored to host April's family from the Globetrotting Grommet Blog who presented an amazing review on our 2-day tour to Mekong Delta and Cu Chi Tunnels tour.

Also, we have recently been featured in a cover story of Tiger Tales - a Tiger Airlines inflight magazine. Please click on this link to jump to the article.

Itinerary:

DAY 1: Can Giuoc – Go Cong – My Tho – Ben Tre – Can Tho (L)

Pickup: 7:30 - at your hotel in Saigon Downtown

• Enjoy a pleasant drive on the secondary road 50 (not the Highway 1!!)to Go Cong County (60km) where we will visit its local market – a stunning rural market on its informal setting and friendly market goers
• Head for Tan Hoa (7km), where you will enjoy a stunning and easy bike ride (10km) through some remote villages dotted with coconut palm trees stretching along the paddy fields (alternatively you can choose to enjoy the ride from the back-seat of a scooter driven by our driver)
• Savor lunch at a beach-front seafood restaurant at Tan Thanh beach (muddy beach, not for swimming)
• Drive to My Tho pier (45km) where we will enjoy a fantastic cruise crossing the mighty Upper Mekong River, then get transferred to a smaller sampan to wind through some green, lush, picturesque and Amazon-like creek of Tan Thach.
• Drive through Rach Mieu suspension-bridge for a breath-taking view of the Upper Mekong and its islets.
• Follow the Highway 1 to Can Tho (100km) and check in your hotel.

Lodging: Nam Bo bouqique, deluxe

*Five-star accommodation is available (Sheraton Can Tho or Azerai Can Tho). Please contact us for more information and cost.

**We don't have a homestay option. You can choose to exclude the hotel booking and arrange your own accommodation in Can Tho (within 10km of the city centre).

DAY 2: Phong Dien & Cai Rang Floating Markets – Saigon (B/L)

• 5:30: roll out of your bed, hop on your car and drive to Phong Dien district (15km)
• 6:00: hop on an arrow-boat and cruise to the unique and stunning floating markets of Phong Dien and Cai Rang.
• Sit back on your boat and enjoy the morning coffee served by a local coffee boat. You will be surely driven back to the yester-centuries by the sounds of whole world of trading going on from boats to boats.
• Saying goodbye to Phong Dien floating market, our boat will speed up through green and beautiful channels of the Mekong River stretching along rural villages and arrive in Cai Rang floating market. This will complete a special picture of million floating traders, who have been happily living the floating life and earning their living on some 50,000km of waterways in the Mekong Delta
• Get back to your hotel for a late breakfast, have a short rest and check out
• 10:00: enjoy a beautiful drive back to Saigon via a newly established road. This is one of the most untouched and original country roads of the region with scarce traffic and lots of photo opportunities. You will have a chance to see the signature spider-web-like irrigation system of the Delta. The route is only recently accessible due to the construction of new bridges in the area. 
• 12:00: witness Noon Ceremony at a local Cao Dai Temple (10 minutes)
• 13:30: stop for lunch at a restaurant with authentic local dishes.
• 14:30: head off for Saigon via the Freeway

Drop-off: 16:30 – at your hotel in Saigon where our service ends

*Rates are in USD per person. Your payment will be converted into VND in accordance with Vietnam's Commercial Law.

  Please click here for Vietcombank's current exchange rates (updated daily)

**Online transaction/wiring/banking fees are NOT included in the tour prices.

Included:

• Accommodation as specified, based on twin share room - single rooms are subject to extra charges
• Modern air-conditioned private vehicle
• Meals as specified: (B)= Breakfast; (L)= Lunch
• Private boat trips and sampan cruises in Ben Tre and the floating markets
• All entrance fees for specified stops
• Gearless bikes or scooters with drivers
• Fresh tropical fruits
• Professional English-speaking guide
• 2 bottles of mineral water per person per day

 Not included:

• Drinks, meals and any other incurred expenses, that are not mentioned above
• Personal travel insurance
• Tipping – tipping is optional. If you enjoyed our guide’s and driver’s service and decided to offer a tip, we would really appreciate your effort to hand over the tip to our guide and our driver separately so they both could appropriately express their thanks to you at the same time

Disclaimer:

• Due to tourism boom in recent years, there are many tourist boats at the floating markets. Also, the rapid growth of cellphones and social media has changed the way middlemen and dealers do their job - it is now much easier for them to purchase directly from the farm, which resulted in the shriveling size of the floating markets.
• For safety reasons, we do not provide small bikes for young children of 12 years and below. They will sit either on the back of your bike for the ride; or on the back seat of a scooter, in between the driver and one of the adults. The ride is safe on flat and quiet villages’ paths at the speed of no more than 25km/h
• Please take your passport(s) with you for the hotel check-in.
• There will be a bit of driving on this tour as we need to reach the floating markets in Can Tho
• The new road (return trip) may get bumpy at some parts. Also, it may be hard to find clean restrooms at times because the new route is not that much populated as yet. Clients should inform the guide around 10 minutes ahead if they got the call 
• Some parts of Mekong Delta are not that green during the dry season which goes from January to late-May
• The weather can be very hot and humid from April to early-June
• Please bring along a good brimmed hat and sun-cream for the bike/scooter ride
• Proper sandals are required for the wet season (May to late-November) and shoes for the dry season as you have to get on and off the boat quite a few times
• We will visit a local Cao Dai Temple on this tour. Wearing shorts is ok, but not too short. Also, you are advised to get your shoulders covered while visiting the temple
• There will be no shopping stop on this tour!

Extra notes:

• To all future visitors to Vietnam: please keep in mind that tap water is ABSOLUTELY NOT safe to drink whether at homestays, hotels or 5-star resorts.
• We only run private and customizable tours. There isn't a group tour option nor do we team our guests up for a group.
• We offer free pickup and drop-off from District 1, 3, 4, 5, 10 and Phu Nhuan. Pickup/drop-off outside of this area and airport transfers are subject to extra charges.
• Some of the stops can be slightly changed, depends on actual time of travel
• While traveling with us, your luggage will be safe in the car with our driver. However, we are NOT responsible for your money, jewelries, cell phones, and any other valuable belongings

For more information on our services, please have a look at our FAQs page or contact us.

To know what our customers say about our service, please visit our TripAdvisor page!