Mekong Rural Life 2-Day Home Stay from Ho Chi Minh City

, Vietnam

Take this chance to experience the peaceful life of the Mekong Delta on a 2-day tour from Ho Chi Minh City. Stay at a local home and join the daily activities of residents, including gardening chores such as plucking fruit, taking care of the orchards, and cooking a meal. You will also check out the floating market of Cai Be, see ancient houses and traditional handicraft workshops, and listen to Đờn ca tài tử, Vietnamese music included on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list. By the end of the tour, you'll have gained insight into the cultural values and Mekong lifestyle of the local people.

Day 1: Ho Chi Minh City – Mekong Homestay (L, D)
Your tour starts with a transfer from downtown Ho Chi Minh City to the Cai Be district in the morning. Arriving in Cai Be, you will be welcomed by your host and invited to enjoy some fresh fruits before embarking on a boat ride to Cai Be Floating Market and traditional handicraft villages. Talk with the vendors on their boats, if you wish, and then head to your home stay on Tan Phong Island for check-in and lunch.

In the afternoon, your local host leads you to his orchards, where you can learn how to take care of the garden and pluck ripe fruit, just like your host does every day. Then visit the vegetable garden and gather veggies for your dinner, which you'll prepare for yourself with the help of your host.

Overnight: Home stay

Day 2: Mekong Homestay – Ho Chi Minh City (B)
Wake up early to enjoy the fresh air of the Mekong region and take a stroll around your home stay before returning for breakfast. After breakfast, join a bicycle tour around Tan Phong Island to visit the traditional handicraft workshops, where goods like handbags, rice paper, and wooden tables and chairs are made.

Then return to the home stay for check-out before midday. Hop aboard a small boat for the transfer back to the Cai Be tourist boat wharf, from where you will be driven back to Ho Chi Minh City, arriving in the early evening.