Mekong Delta

When Kevin & I travel independently, we do usually join on a group tour if it allows us access somewhere we simply couldn't reach.  We took a group tour in Halong Bay, to Bac Ha market, and now a two day affair with Sinhbalo tours biking through the Mekong Delta.  I highly reccomend them!  Plus, the cost decreases as more participants sign on.  Tours are expensive if it's just you, or a couple.  If you create or tack onto a group you can pay about what you would traveling independently.  

For the sake of clarity, you can travel independently in the Mekong.  However, without handling logistics ourselves, we were able to quickly get on bikes & experience the farms, factories, and markets of the Mekong.

We spent the first day biking through villages, farms, and small factories.

Bananas waiting to go by boat to the floating market

Hungry hog

Jackfruit

Monkey bridges offer people water crossing

Pepper vines

Salty sampan

This family wove thatch to create roofing material.  Their daughter scampered around, pulling mangoes off the nearby tree.

Workers roasting longon berries

Little girl playing in longon berry factory with her family

Workers shelling longon berries

Kids in the Mekong were so fun!  They play a game where they yell "Hallo!" & wave frantically whenever a tourist passes.  It never got old.

The following morning we visited floating markets.

Boatside breakfast

Eyes to keep evil spirits at bay

A pole to advertise your offerings

Sugar cane

Sinhbalo dropped us in Rach Gia to catch the ferry to Phu Quoc island the following day.  We were debating finishing our trip at the beaches in Phu Quoc or Can Tho.  Can Tho can only be reached by flight from Ho Chi Minh City.  We didn't want to travel north through the Delta when we were already so close to Phu Quoc.  We settled into the final journey of our trip.