With our wide-open schedule, we hopped on a bus in Saigon and made our way south to Vinh Long in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. Most tourists sign up for and begin a Mekong tour in Saigon. We didn’t know what we were getting in to but it turned into an awesome experience.

We noticed on the bus we were the only non-Vietnamese and when the bus arrived, we didn’t know where to tell the taxi drivers where to take us. We assumed this would be part of a well-worn backpacker trail but we were very wrong. The taxi just dropped us off in the town center and we wandered around for a place to stay and some food. We also found the tourist office and signed up for a two day tour of the region with our own personal translator too.

The delta is the final leg of the Mekong River that originates in China and ends in the South China Sea. In this region of Vietnam, the river fans out all through the area to form a patchwork of mini rivers and islands. Our first night we stayed in a guesthouse in Vinh Long (that had bats in the entrance room) and the next day we met our wonderful tour guide, Tony.

Tony took us all around the region to a traditional music performance, artisan workshops, traditional boating along the rivers, bicycle rides and finally to our guesthouse on a fruit orchard.

We stopped and had an awesome lunch before riding some bicycles.

There was a shop selling all kinds of snake wine

After a long day we ended up at the guest house where we would stay a couple nights. We were the only ones staying here and the couple who run it made us a delicious dinner both nights. Fresh fish spring rolls and their homemade rice wine were the first night’s meal.

Our rooms were pretty basic but the hospitality was amazing. After a couple days in the Mekong Delta we said our goodbyes and took a bus back to Saigon.