Exploring The Mekong Delta from Can Tho
Exploring The Mekong Delta from Can Tho is, in my opinion, the best place to explore the river from.
If you’re traveling in Vietnam you’ve probably thought about seeing some of the Mekong River. Exploring the Mekong Delta from Can Tho is a great way to do this. Trust me, there will be plenty of people trying to scam you, but if you know a few basics before you go, You’ll be totally fine.
At the end of this blog post you’ll find all of my photos from the Mekong Delta. These are my favourite photos from the entire trip.
What is the Mekong?
From the Tibetan Plateau, the Mekong river runs through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.The Mekong Delta is the part of the river that runs west of Ho Chi Minh City and is considered to be the “rice basket of Vietnam”, contributing more than half of the nation’s rice production!
How to see the Mekong Delta in Vietnam
If you’re planning a trip to see the Mekong Delta you would have heard of a place called Can Tho. Can Tho is the main city of the Mekong Delta, it is home to floating markets, rural canals, and even a rice paper-making village. While we were visiting Can Tho is seemed to be a relatively sleepy town, however, in peak season, there are plenty of travelers ready to explore the Delta.
How To Not Get Scammed in Can Tho
There are many companies offering tours of the river. You can either go on a large tour boat or a small wooden local boat. We chose the small wooden local boat as we wanted to experience the true hustle and bustle right in the middle of the local floating market.
They offer the price per boat, generally, on the small wooden boats, you can seat 4 people comfortably. It doesn’t matter whether there are 2 or 4 people on the boat it should be a fixed price for the boat.
During our time in Can Tho, we were staying at a hostel. The owner seemed warm and friendly until he started giving us crazy prices for a boat tour. So, of course, we decided to take matters into our own hands and organize our own tour.
How To Organise Your Own Tour on The Mekong Delta
Set your alarm for 4 am. Yes, you heard, 4 am. If you want to see the floating market in all its glory with locals throwing watermelons and bread rolls into each other’s boats whilst waving and shouting at passers-by, you need to get up early. Remember in Asia the world comes alive before the sun comes up.
So we woke at 4 am, walked down to the river in town and saw a lady and a man standing on the riverbank. This hadn’t been preplanned at all, we weren’t even 100% sure there was going to be anyone to take us. The man spoke good English and pointed us to a boat where the driver was already waiting.
We asked to be taken to the floating market, the green leafy canals and the rice noodle village, this took 3 hours in total. If you ask to be taken to these places they’ll know exactly what you mean and you’ll get a really good trip!
Floating Market - @sheisthelostgirl
Green Canals - @sheisthelostgirl
Rice Noodle Village - @sheisthelostgirl
How much should I Pay For A Mekong Delta Tour?
400,000 VND for one small wooden boat for 3 hours. The pre-organized tours quoted us 4x this price and the man at the reception of our hostel more than doubled the price. In my opinion, it’s best to go straight to the local people, to the local boats and not only have a better price but an authentic experience.
I hope you found this helpful, have a great time exploring the Mekong Delta from Can Tho! If I could go back right now, I would.
Travel safe and far,
