Published on Jun, 2024
We took a 2-day Mekong delta tour with a visit to a few islands, with a night stay in Can Tho. Our highest compliments go to the tour guide, Lee (aka. Le, Tri, or Henry) and the driver Thoi.
About the ride: The car was a Ford SUV, very comfortable seats and refreshing AC. Thoi was a very skillful driver, maneuvering the busy streets in Saigon as well as on the freeway. When he provided bottled water and wet wipes, they were ice cold, such a treat in the tropical heat. When we needed an unplanned restroom visit, Thoi and Lee did not hesitate to drive out of their way to find a clean stop, even though they had to pay additional toll and the delay sent them to the hectic traffic back in Saigon. They knew their territory well, were knowledgeable about local resources, and were very considerate for their guests. Sometimes I felt that the Vietnamese life style is laid back and the people are often not on time. But Thoi and Le were very punctual (đúng giờ), very on time for all appointments, aligned with international standards. We felt so welcome and we felt that our needs were kindly considered and accommodated within their best capabilities.
About the tour guide: His Vietnamese name is Tri Le (I believe) and the English version of it is Henry Lee. Hence the "four names" that he goes by. If you stumble upon any of the four names (Tri, Le, Henry, Lee), we highly recommend all "four guys".
Our written communications prior to the tour were all in English. During the tour, we wanted to practice our Vietnamese, so Le spoke Vietnamese to us, but translated into English when he detected our blank faces. We appreciated the tour that he designed, and the menu that he thoughtfully selected for us. All arrangements took into account our custom requests for the tour. He also gave us advice regarding cautions about local food and lodging when we were so new and still acclimating to the local weather and food. Le is a Southerner (South Westerner to be exact), and he successfully showcased the characteristic beauty of the Vietnamese people and the Vietnamese culture. When we reached Con Son (a small island with fishing farms and fruit orchards), Le invited another tour guide, Nhi, a Con Son local. Nhi was another outstanding tour guide that we highly recommend. She's only 21 years old, and the love of her island and culture showed when she guided guests. She's a college student working as a tour guide part time.
About the tour: For our private tour, we got the car to ourselves when transporting on land. Then we also got the boats to ourselves when transporting on water. Le configured his tour a bit differently than other tours, so he managed to provide very peaceful boat rides without any tourists crowding the area. Le was also very flexible so he slowed down and cut some activities from the agenda when we became too hot or too tired. We booked our own hotel, so we couldn't comment on the lodging that was part of the tour package. However, we can comment on how helpful Le was when helping with lodging options, as he provided recommendations, offered upgrades, and accommodated a flexible tour package to allow us to arrange hotel by ourselves. We enjoyed the floating market, which was a new experience for us.
Le took us to a small food place within the floating market for breakfast. We had bún riêu and bún mắm. The bún riêu was only OK, but the bún mắm was outstanding. The fruits we bought from the boats in the floating market turned out to be only OK when we got home, maybe we expected too much. Luckily Le looked out for us and only let the sellers sell us only a reasonably small amount of fruits. The fish farm was interesting, but we enjoyed the fruit orchards very much. The rambutans (chôm chôm) we got directly from the orchard were very fresh and sweet, as we picked them from the tree. The meals Le selected for us were excellent. Of all the food, the most ostentatious was the "elephant-ear fish", but it turned out to be our least favorite, as it was cold when we had them. The best meal we had was on Con Son, which Le picked the authentic dishes for us. In this meal, everything was so delicious, even the broth for the vegetable soup was so delectable. Everywhere we visited, the people were very kind and their hospitality was incredible. Though we enjoyed visiting the local businesses, in our experience, it was the Vietnamese hospitality that was the most precious experience for us. From the lady who rolled the fish rolls for us, to the boat lady who fed us water coconuts, to Nhi and her extended family's hospitality on Con Son, the experience was incredible. They were so sincere and sweet, truly a beauty of the Vietnamese culture.
Caution: The heat was intense, and the humidity intensified the heat. So make sure you drink plenty of water (Thoi and Le provided us plenty of cold bottled water throughout the tour). There were quite a lot of mosquitoes, especially in the fruit orchards. So make sure you apply mosquito-repellant to protect yourself, otherwise you can't enjoy the fruit orchards at all. Make sure to bring bug-bite topical medicines if you have any. The visits to local businesses can be quite a sale pitch. We didn't like the sale pitch at the silk and bamboo place. However, Le pointed out that the restrooms there were one of the cleanest (and he was right). Regarding restrooms, keep your expectation low. The local restrooms we visited had typical toilets, and Le had intentionally sent us to those with better accommodations, but cleanliness was not of the typical international standard. For better restrooms, visit the restrooms where tourists are expected (Le would know which ones). After all, these are rural areas.
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