Day 3 – Cai Be, Mekong Delta

Before meeting up with our tour guide, we ran for a quick shopping spree at the Ben Thanh Market.  The best advice I read for the market was to start in the outer ring of "fixed price" stalls to get an idea of how much to pay for goods – and then move towards the center of the market where you can bargain. Our attempt had shocking results: the center shop quoted us a price over 5 times the going rate.  Stunned into silence, all I could do was walk away. Over my shoulder I could hear the owner lowering the price, but it was still a ridiculously inflated rate. Both our hotel and guide warned us to haggle to a price of 50% on the high end so I wasn't prepared for such a gouging. We did buy some things in the center but I am not a fan of negotiating and guilt trips so found it easier to stick to the fixed price section.

Next we headed 2 hours out of the city to the Mekong Delta – the tangled network of rivers, tributaries and canals which define its people's way of life.  My intention was to see Cai Be's early morning floating market in action but our guide had different plans. First we hopped on our private local motor boat to cross the Mekong River where we transferred to a sampan (small row boat) to cruise through the maze like, narrow canals.  We climbed out at a break in the bushes to follow the pathway winding around the simple, impoverished local dwellings. At a hut belonging to a welcoming grandma we exchanged star fruit and guava to share together. She was so friendly and happy to share her meek porch with us. Her 9-year old grandson, already having to drop out of school to physically support the family, hid shyly in the shadows of the open doorway.  Although we could only eat and smile quietly with each other, we enjoyed our brief visit and insight to the local way of life.

Getting on the motorboat on the Mekong River

Rowing in the sampan

Local lady fishing

Going through the canals

"Grandma" didn't want to smile because she doesn't have teeth

We crossed the islet to get back on the motorboat to see the floating village. We stopped to board a motorboat full of native fruit.  We had a "lunch" of many different types: dragon fruit (tastes like kiwi), ripe mango (they prefer to eat it green), jack fruit (tastes like cantaloupe), custard apple (tastes like pear), longan (taste like a grape), etc which we washed down with the fresh juice of a coconut.

Floating market motorboat

The custard apple has big, black, hard seeds

Lunch plate of assorted native fruit

Part of the floating village

Our last quest in the region was to visit a local cottage industry where we watched how to make puffed rice, rice paper, and various rice and caramel candies.

Making rice paper

We tried snake wine ( tastes like tequila)