Leave Ho Chi Minh City by air-conditioned coach, getting an early start to catch the best of the morning market in the Mekong Delta—hotel pickup is included at selected hotels. Enjoy classic scenery during the 3-hour drive, which passes through low fields and villages.
Board a motorized riverboat in Cai Be to join the crowd of fisherman and produce vendors at the colorful floating market: see barges piled high with ripe, tropical fruit and watch locals bargain for their weekly groceries. Stop by a local factory to taste coconut candy, then navigate to quiet Tan Phong Island. Pause for lunch in a lush fruit garden, then explore the shady canals that zig-zag off the main river and slip beneath rustling coconut trees and foot bridges in a small rowboat.
Continue by boat to Vinh Long to visit a rural marketplace; this is the perfect place to interact with local people, learn the names for Vietnamese vegetables or shop for souvenirs. Finish the day with a return transfer to Ho Chi Minh City, arriving at your hotel in the evening.
