Day 14: The Mekong Delta and Ho Chi Minh City

We wake up in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and meet our guide Youm. Today we'll join a brit couple and tour the Mekong Delta. I feel like we've experienced almost every form of land/water transport in a day including minivan, motorboat, bike ride, horse cart, and sampan.

It's about an hour drive from HCM to My Tho, and from there we board a motor boat to head to Xuan Dong Islet. We enjoy a bike ride around the village on the island. It's been over 10 years since I've really ridden a bike and it's a little nerve-racking with narrow paths and sandy patches, and oncoming locals on scooters.

Above: We stop at a coconut candy factory and see a demonstration of how it's made.

Below: Rice paper drying in the sun.

We're delivered to a restaurant for lunch and get to sample a Mekong Delta specialty: Elephant's Ear Fish. It's served upright to bring good fortune to the fishermen. If the fish stays upright, their boats will also stay upright and not tip in the waves.

On the way back to HCM, we stop at a buddhist temple.

Back in HCM City, we have dinner at Pho 2000, a chain restaurant. Even Bill Clinton has been here!

As we walk out of Ben Thanh Market, the streets are suddenly filled with people racing down the road, pushing carts, folding tents and kiosks. Where did they all come from? In a very short time, the night market is set up and ready for business!

We walk by the People's Committee Building, HCM's City Hall. The Vincom Center Shopping Mall glows behind it. Unlike Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City feels very modern and almost like any other western metropolis. There are boulevards filled with luxury brand stores, grand buildings and a bustling night life.

© Amy Lee 2013