Pedal off the beaten track By Ivar Schout, TODAY | Posted: 29 May 2008 1121 hrs
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The mighty Mekong River reaches the sea in southeastern Vietnam, forming a fertile delta of islands, estuaries and waterways. The country’s rice basket — Vietnam is the world’s third largest exporter of rice behind India and Thailand — the delta is a place rich in tradition and scenery, where visitors can see the Vietnamese way of life on swirling brown waters and amid emerald green rice paddies.
Many travellers take a one-day tour to visit the floating markets, honeybee farms, coconut workshops and pagodas that dot the land here. Another option is to explore the area slowly, and take in the fascinating sights and sounds of the delta on a bicycle.
To do this, I booked a two-day, guided tour in Ho Chi Minh City. (The myriad canals, bridges and narrow roads in the delta can easily baffle the unwary adventurer.) The trip from the city took two and a half hours by mini van, so when we alighted, I was raring to get on my bicycle, a comfortable mountain vehicle, to start the tour.
We cycled through a lush landscape of rice paddies, orchards and ever present waterways, through canopies of coconut trees to island villages where tourists are rarely seen. Along the way, I ate with the locals and enjoyed their barbecued catfish, fried spring rolls and cold local beers.
After pedalling for 45km, I arrived in the city of Can Tho and suddenly had to share the road with hundreds of motorcycles. Here was urban Vietnam — noisy, vigorous and enterprising.
The locals, four or five squeezed on one motorcycle sometimes, rode by flashing their biggest smiles. A few paces from me, a man sat, repairing an old Vespa in front of his workshop. Next door, in a trendy cafe with free wifi, a group of students were practising their English with some tourists from Singapore.
Across the street, a packed restaurant with people sitting on long benches was serving steaming bowls of pho for S$2. The scent of the kitchen mixed with the musky smell of incense from the Buddhist temple next door.
The scene was a classic picture of Vietnam. There were old men playing Chinese chess, bent double on their low plastic chairs, and slim girls in flowing ao dai pedalling equally dainty bicycles.
A woman in a ubiquitous conical straw hat selling mangoes and dragon fruit explained that she buys her fruit fresh every morning at the floating markets.
I visited these the next day, my bicycle stowed at the back of a small wooden boat. To advertise their products, the traders at the market would hang a sample — one of each fruit and vegetable — on a long pole. Others sold large catfish, pangasius and carp. Once the sale was done, the goods were transferred from one boat to the other and taken away on flat bottomed sampans or stand-up rowing boats.
I cruised through the narrow canals flanked by palm and banana trees and escaped the hectic markets in the tranquil estuaries before mounting my bike again.
The mode of transport is slow going and if you’re not accustomed to riding bicycles for long stretches of time, hard on the bum. But the tour allows access to nooks and crannies in the delta that most travellers don’t see, and that’s a worthwhile experience any day.
Getting there: Ho Chi Minh City is a popular entry point into the Mekong Delta.
Adventurous travellers can rent bicycles in Ho Chi Minh City and make their way to the delta themselves. Bicycles can also be rented in the Mekong Delta from hotels, cafes and travel agencies. Buses and boats make travelling within the area an easy journey.
There are affordable hotels starting from S$13 a night.
For less hassle, there are organised cycling tours — inclusive of guides — that can be booked in Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta.
Sinhbalo Adventure Travel offers one day Mekong Delta cycling tours from S$90. Four day trips start from S$350. Price includes transport, hotel, tour guide, meals, bottles of water and bicycle.
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