Another memorable experience in Vietnam was our Mekong Delta Tour. Located in Southern Vietnam region, we drove along provincial roads. We booked the tour at our hotel and they referred us to Kim Travel Co., Ltd. An airconditioned tourist bus picked us up at the hotel by 7:30 AM. There were 20 of us in the tour, all foreigners. Tour inclusions are all entrance fees and Tommy, our English speaking Vietnamese guide.

Mekong Rest Stop - with almost 3 hours travel time, we had to stop here for 30 minutes for a restroom or snack break. The restaurant is surrounded with beautiful gardens. Free wi-fi connection is also available here.



Upon arrival in My Tho, in anticipation of the rain, our group bought our Vietnamese conical hats first then rode a local motor boat to start the tour along the Mekong River. The river is wide and the waters were in light brown color. We passed along Dragon Island and Phoenix Island and stopped at the famous Unicorn Island.

Unicorn Island - locals here need not to go to the market for food because all they need for a living can be found here in the island. They plant fruits and vegetables, raise poultry animals and they have the river for fishing. The island is also famous for their honeybee farm and they let us see and touch honeybee combs.





Aside from bottles of honey, they also make royal jellies. It's edible and can also be used as a beauty regimen.



Orchard Garden - our second stop, they welcomed us with tea and served us with tropical fruits such as dragon fruit, papaya, pineapple and longgans. The locals here were wearing traditional costumes, they played musical instruments and sang for us. We enjoyed listening to Southern Vietnam's traditional music. I suggest to prepare some tips for the performers.



Rowing along Mekong Delta -  this was the highlight of our tour. We passed along the small canal surrounded by small coconut trees. This is also part of the local's daily life as they pass here when going from one place to another. Most Vietnamese women are rowing the boats and you can witness how strong they are. During our tour, a nice woman rowed for us in front while a man rowed at the back. A maximum of 4 passengers were allowed in a boat. The rain poured down during our rowing adventure but we didn't felt that it was heavy because along the canal was a canopy of coconut leaves. At the end of the canal, we felt the heavy rain and immediately went back to the motor boat. We gave tips to the locals that rowed our boat, it was a way of giving thanks to them for a wonderful service.



Coconut Candy Factory - on our fourth stop, we visited how local candies were made from hard coconut meats. The candies tastes like 'coco jam', a local jam in the Philippines. Aside from the original coconut, they produce coco candies in peanut, cocoa, pandan, ginger and coffee flavors too. One pack contains 40 pieces and they sell it for 30,000 VND (60 PHP). They gave 1 free pack for every purchase of 5 packs.



The rain poured heavily while we were at the candy factory. There was a stall there that sells plastic raincoats for 10,000 VND (20 PHP). We immediately bought for ourselves, we conquered the rain and walked several steps at the back away from the factory. A carabao waited for us at the main road of Ben Tre province. The caretela dropped us to a restaurant for lunch and restroom break. We were served with rice, chicken, spring rolls and vegetables. We bought for additional Elephant Ear fish and sodas. This was the last part of Mekong Delta Tour. After our lunch, we rode the boat again to transfer us to the motor boat, then to our bus and went back to Saigon via Express way.

Our second day in Vietnam was filled with another set of fun adventures. This time, we availed the Cao Dai Temple and Cu Chi Tunnel Tour from the hotel. They referred us to Luxury Group Tours and our call time was 8:30 AM. As far as I can remember, we paid 750,000 VND per person for this tour. Package includes private van and Rio, our Vietnamese tour guide.

Handicapped Handicrafts - Before we head to the Cu Chi Tunnels, we first stopped at the handicrafts factory. This place was built to give jobs to handicapped people victimized by Agent Orange poisoning during Vietnam War. We saw sacks of egg shells which they pound and paint to create colorful lacquer paintings, vases and jewelry boxes. They display the finished products in their gallery, all the pieces are of good quality but as much as I'd like to buy one, they were pricey for me and I didn't have much baggage allowance.



Cu Chi Tunnels - located in the Cu Chi District and 70 kilometers North West of downtown Ho Chi Minh City. Entrance fee is 110,000 VND. We were welcomed by the collection of guns, rifles, and bomb shells.



These huts were actually entrance to the level 1 of the tunnels. The roofs are made of a special leaf that won't allow fire to spread to other leaves when burned.



I was lucky to have a small frame, I was able to fit to this secret entrance to the tunnel (which is no longer a secret! :p). The cover must be topped with dry leaves for the enemies roaming the jungle not to recognize it. I didn't see anything when I went down inside, it was totally dark.



Heavy tanks were left here by the Americans. It was destroyed by Vietnamese soldiers by flushing water to its engine.



We've experienced to fire a Carbine rifle in the shooting range for 25,000 VND per person, I was hesitant to try it at first because of the recoil but our guide assured us that this type of gun is the best for beginners. We wore ear plugs as the gun shots were so loud and can be deafening. Out of the 5 bullets given, not even once I was able to hit the target. I heard they will give special prize to visitors who can hit at least 2 targets.



We explored 60 meters of the tunnel but there was an option given to explore up to 100 meters. The man in green uniform served as our guide. The passages of the tunnel were small so we had to walk while sitting inside. It was made that way during the war so that only Vietnamese people can pass since they have petite frames. Enemies like the Americans before have bigger frames and cannot fit inside the tunnels. The weather was warm when we were there which was perfect because the underground tunnels were made of clay and can be muddy during rainy days.



Here's an example of a huge bomb crater. The last time I saw a huge bomb crater was in Corregidor, Philippines made by World War II.


Cao Dai Temple - After the Cu Chi Tunnels, it took us almost 2 hours of travel to reach the Cao Dai Temple (a.k.a Holy See). Caodaoism is a religious movement founded in Vietnam. We were instructed to leave our shoes, hats and caps outside the temple. Upon entering, we were guided by a Caodaoist on where to step inside the temple. He cannot speak English and was only pointing on the sides, I believe, they won't allow us to walk in the middle because that's where they pray/meditate. We can take pictures inside the temple but make sure to exclude ourselves. We were prohibited from taking selfies inside the temple as they believe it will bring misfortune. This was the last itinerary of our guided tour, we went to a restaurant for a late lunch after this. Our lunch was not included in the tour so we paid for it separately at 120,000 VND (240 PHP).



Saigon Skydeck (Bitexco Financial Tower) - At around 6:00 PM, we were already at the hotel. We rested for a while and to cap off our night, we went straight to Bitexco Financial Tower to see the stunning 360° view of Ho Chi Minh City. Saigon Skydeck is located at 49th floor and we experienced the elevator ride with speed of 7 m/s. Admission fee for single entry is 200,000 VND (400 PHP). I've learned that the shape of the skyscraper is inspired by a lotus, Vietnam's national flower. It is the country's first and only International Class A building.

When we booked our flight to Ho Chi Minh City (a.k.a Saigon), I had this thinking that the Vietnamese countryside is just similar to the Philippines and I may not enjoy the trip much. I was expecting the same weather, that Vietnamese people looks like Filipinos too and they eat rice as well. However, after staying and exploring the culture of Southern Vietnam for 4 days, I can tell that my initial thinking was wrong. The weather is the same but the air in Ho Chi Minh City is a lot more fresher than Metro Manila. Some people look like Filipinos but a lot of them have chinky eyes and fairer skin and not all of them can speak English. Yes they eat rice but unlike the Filipinos, they eat veggies a lot.

We landed in Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport on Sunday at 3 AM. We went straight to Hoang Lien Hotel in Bùi Thị Xuân Street via taxi and had to sleep until 9 AM. By the way, we booked the hotel through Agoda. We had our breakfast at the hotel and went out to explore the city at 10 AM.

On the first day, we had the Walking Tour. Literally 'walking' and using the map we got from our hotel's reception area. We didn't book for any assisted tour on the first day. It was hot but there are a lot of parks and trees in Saigon, we really enjoyed sight-seeing by ourselves even if we got lost several times. The air is fresh probably because there are fewer cars. Motorbike/motorcycle is the primary transportation in Vietnam and as per statistics, there are 7 million units registered. Vietnamese people keeps complaining too about bad traffic situation but when we were there it's not as heavy and nothing compared to our daily burden in Manila. One funny thing also is that when crossing their streets, you have to walk confidently and without hesitation as it is difficult to avoid too many motorcycles so just let them avoid you. They don't have foot bridges but there are pedestrian lanes and traffic lights.

Benh Thanh Market - We got lost finding the famous Benh Thanh Market because our map was so confusing (or we just don't know how to read the map! :p) only to find out that it is just near our hotel. They sell goods of different kinds like clothes, dried foods, souvenirs and there are even food stalls inside. The vendors easily recognized that we are Filipinos, they keep calling us "ate" and "kuya". It was already lunch when we got there and we ate our lunch in Pho 2000, a famous restaurant beside the market, we ordered the famous Pho noodles.



Ho Chi Minh City Museum (Bảo tàng Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh) - Built by French colonizers from 1885-1890. It was first used as French Commissioners' residence office. Now, this building serves as a revolutionary museum displaying different exhibition themes such as archaeology, history, culture, industry and revolutionary struggles. Entrance fee to museum is 15,000 VND (30 PHP).







Saigon Opera House (Municipal Theatre of Ho Chi Minh City) - another magnificent product of French colonialism. Like the Committee Hall, the theatre's façade is amazingly beautiful. We bought tickets for the AO Show (8 PM schedule) at a discounted rate of 945,000 VND (1980 PHP) because we reserved it early, originally a ticket costs 1,050,000 VND (2205 PHP). We just returned at night to watch the show. Before it starts, we were given complimentary refreshments, I had 2 cups of Peach and Lemon Grass Tea, it tastes so good. The show started at exactly 8 PM, it's an acrobatic show by a group of talents showcasing Vietnamese culture using bamboo poles and woven baskets. Taking pictures during their performances was not allowed. We were only allowed to have pictures taken with the performers after the show.





Notre Dame Cathedral (Basilica of Our Lady of The Immaculate Conception) - also known as "Saigon Church", it was built for Roman Catholic French colonizers. It is really beautiful and noticeable because of the bright red-orange colored bricks which were imported from Marseille, France way back 1863. There's an ongoing mass when we went there.



Saigon Central Post Office - this is the city's central post office located near the Notre Dame Cathedral. There are also ATMs, pay phones and money changer inside. If you wish to exchange US dollars to Vietnamese dong, I suggest to do it in Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport instead, based on our experience, they give the best exchange rates. If you'll notice, all the landmarks we've visited were built with French influences. This is the reason why Saigon is also known as the "Little Paris of Asia". The Central Post Office was our last stop for the day. Seriously, our feet hurt after long walks but we're so happy with all the places we've visited. After this, we went back to the hotel, take a rest and a quick shower,dress up and head to the Saigon Opera House for the AO show.