Our Kids LOVED The Mekong Delta!

We spent the weekend in the Mekong Delta and got an excellent taste of local country life in Vietnam. We could not have done it without the help of Mekong Rustic, a tour company that is committed to sustainable tourism and authentic homestays that support the community. This is very important to our family as we travel and love to find amazing partners like this.

So, here’s what we did:

DAY 1:

We got picked up at 7AM on a Friday morning from our apartment in Ho Chi Minh City and drove about 3 hours in a private van to Can Tho. From there, we were greeted by a very bubbly and kind woman who would be our tour guide for the next 2 days. She helped us out of the van where we took our kids bikes (we brought our own kids bikes) and our small bag and we boarded a ferry where we took a 10 minute ride across to an Island. The ferry was very interesting as it was packed with motorbikes as the locals use it to go back and forth from work to home. The kids especially liked the motorbikes that were packed with 4 or 5 family members as well as the ones that had produce stacked upon them (fun thinking about how they balance the bikes).

We then biked (and motorbiked) to our homestay at Mekong Rustic. Our room was in a cute little bungalow, which we had to cross a little bridge to get to. It had 3 queen beds, each with mosquito nets, a bathroom and AC. The room was very clean and was perfect for what we were looking for.

We had a delicious lunch prepared by our hosts and then took a bike ride around the small streets on the Island. The kids loved seeing the stray dogs and meeting other kids along the road, who would smile and wave at us and bring us fruits.

Our tour guide then took us to a woman’s home where we learned how to use the water hyacinth (Bèo tây or Lục bình in Vietnamese) plant to make bracelets and baskets. The kids each got to keep their bracelets! After that, we visited with a local family that owns a huge orchard and learned about how they grow over 20 different fruits. We even got to cut down sugarcane. This ended with us trying all the fruits and being serenaded with a beautiful song by the owner of the orchard.

Finally, that evening we celebrated a birthday with the family of our tour guide. We went to her home, where there were about 50 people, doing Karaoke, drinking beer, eating delicious homemade food and dancing. It was a bit loud for the kids, but there’s no better way to see local culture than to be invited to someones home — what a treat!

DAY 2:

The next morning we had a delicious breakfast of homemade Pho and we boarded a traditional long boat, down the river to a smaller boat. There was a lady, who looked to be about 80, who powered the small boat that we got in. Each kid also got a traditional Vietnamese hat to wear. Our guide then took us to handicraft workshop of making fruit biscuits and candies. After that, we had lunch at the ancient French colonial house in Cai Be town. The name of the restaurant was Ut Kiet’s house. We asked for a vegetarian lunch, as we don’t each shrimp or pork (kosher), so we didn’t get the full experience but we had some nice vegetable stir fry noodles and rice.

We went back to our homestay and got changed into traditional Vietnamese farming clothes and then we learned about ditch fishing: using our hands and some traditional fishing baskets to catch fish in the muddy river. Two of the kids enjoyed it and 2 didn’t but all in all, it was a memory we surely won’t forget!

We ended the afternoon with the same family at their orchard, where we learned to make jackfruit leaf cake (bánh lá mít in Vietnamese) - a steamed cake made from rice flower and dipped in this amazing coconut sauce. This was our favorite part of the trip — we felt like we got to really get to know a local family and learn to make a delicious new food. Of course, we also had more fruits from their orchard.

That evening, we had dinner at our homestay and left the next morning. The best way to learn about a new culture is to experience it in a non-touristy way, which is exactly what we did with Mekong Rustic. Sometimes it can be daunting to go to the countryside and stay somewhere super local, but we find that the best memories are made that way.

To see our whole trip in video, check out our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib6woEayMoY