Vibrant Vietnam (Part 3): Sailing through the Mekong Delta

- December 23, 2024, Monday.

- The Mekong Delta is where the Mekong River nearly meets the sea, and is located in the southern part of Vietnam. The delta is spread across many provinces, but I was able to visit Tien Giang and Ben Tre. These provinces show the rural side of Vietnam, which is a breather from bustling Saigon. I booked yet another Klook tour to appreciate what the Mekong Delta has to offer.

- The delta was around 2 hours away from the city, so it took a while before we reached Tien Giang, specifically the city of My Tho, to visit the Vinh Trang Temple. This was the main reason why I booked this tour. The temple, built in the 1800s, is not only known for its size (the biggest in the province), but also its Eurasian style. This kind of mixing of Asian and European architectural styles is something I adore, especially if done in a tasteful and mindful manner. (Often, one can see this in countries with a colonial history, or in the case of unconquered Thailand, kings were greatly influenced by the west after studying in the west or having frequent trips there.)

Vinh Trang Temple.

With Budai, or the Buddha of the future.

Giant reclining Buddha at the back.

Inside the main temple.

I got this aodai from Ben Thanh Market!

One of the temple's gates.

Giant Buddha welcoming people outside the main gate.

- Next, we went to the dock in Ben Tre Province to ride a boat to the Unicorn Island, which is one of the four sacred islands of the province. Locals live on these islands until today and have made a living for themselves. Apart from tourism, they have locally made products to sell, mainly coconut and honey products.  

A musical performance by the family (families?) living on the island.

I'm actually not scared of snakes, I was just bothered that this one was moving too much.

Our guide Anthony showing us one of the hives in the bee farm.

The bees, they said, were stingless. I'm so glad the bees didn't really bother me too.

Riding a boat through the river.

A lot of catfish (farmed for food....either for humans or for the crocodiles.)

Hungry crocs waiting for some catfish.

Thank you Gen Z for the gift of the .5 selfie.

Thanks to my Greek tourmates for the nice photo.

Through the palm trees.

Lunch! The big spheres are made of sticky rice; it's actually hollow and they chop this up. It's actually just really thin pieces of rice-cake. (Like really flat pieces of nian gao / tikoy for the Chinese, or a really, really flat tteokbeokgi that's toasted on the outside.)

Some coconut on a boat to end the tour!

- The trip back to the city was a rather long one, but I didn't feel the distance that much because I slept through most of the ride after a whole day out. I spend the rest of the day resting and going around Ben Thanh Market for dinner and other things. I really just lay on my bed for most of the night because I really just needed some time out from my long walks and distant trips in the past days. Still, I wasn't stopping myself from maximizing my time in Saigon!