Mango Cruises, Ben Tre, VietnamMango Cruises is the top-rated boat tour from Ho Chi Minh City on TripAdvisor, so it seemed the obvious choice for our day trip to the Mekong Delta. We booked direct with the company and were quite surprised by the high price ($270 for 2 people, $500 for 4, $720 for 6). However, the private cruise off the beaten track sounded perfect, so we went ahead with it. Since, we have discovered that the cruise is bookable through this website at a much reduced price ($257 for 2, $346 for 4, $479 for 6) so we would recommend checking a few prices online first, especially if travelling in a larger group.
We were picked up from the Park Hyatt Saigon in a clean 16-seater van for the 2 hour transfer to Ben Tre. The van had functioning seat-belts (not a given in Vietnam) but the driving was a bit hair-raising - overtaking on narrow roads with trucks coming towards you definitely keeps you awake! After a brief rest-stop, we arrived in Ben Tre and transferred to a tuk tuk for a short ride to the boat, which was just as the pictures online show. Comfortable chairs, sun-loungers and fresh fruit awaited us and the boat had a reasonable Western-style toilet. Cruising was relaxing and felt perfectly safe, although we wished that the boat trip itself had taken up a larger part of the day. |
After 30 minutes or so gliding serenely along the mighty Mekong (during which our guide prepared the fruit for us) we made our first stop at a coconut factory. It was very interesting to see how this family-run business shelled the coconuts, washed the flesh and burnt the husks to make charcoal. From here, it was on to a brick factory (also fascinating) and then a short cycle ride through the countryside to a rice noodle factory, where we learnt how the local rice noodles are made by spreading sheets of rice pulp out to dry and then cutting into strips (so different to the process in Cambodia). After a short break with some fresh fruit, hot tea and sticky coconut candies, we boarded a rowing sampan for the journey through a narrow canal surrounded by jungle, back to our day boat. After another short cruise, we arrived at the Mango homestay, from where we cycled to visit the house of a retired soldier who had fought the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia and now makes his living making rice paper with his wife. It was great fun to have a go at making the rice paper ourselves, heating up the ground-rice paste, picking up the paper at the right moment and laying it on the frame to dry without breaking it! |
After the tour, we were served a 5 course lunch at the Mango Homestay, starting with a sweet and sour soup, then steamed tiger prawns, lemongrass tilapia fillet, stir-fried noodles with pork and chicken curry. This was tasty, but it would have been nice to have been served rice paper rolls and to focus more on the local products we had seen during the tour. Then, it was back to the boat for a cruise to the city pier and the 2-hour road trip back to Ho Chi Minh city.
The tour was very well organised and we enjoyed it a lot. However, we did feel that the company should support the locals we visited to a greater extent. We asked how much the retired soldier received for our visit and our trying our hand at rice paper. The answer was 70,000 VND or around $3.50 for each day that Mango Cruises visited, regardless of the number of visitors (we left a tip several times this amount and would recommend you do the same). When we compare to the cheaper Rice Noodle experience in Siem Reap, where the local family received $20, this feels somewhat exploitative. We would recommend booking a trip in Ben Tre with Mango Cruises but would suggest booking online through a cheaper portal and tipping the families you meet a few extra dollars a person, rather than booking direct.
The tour was very well organised and we enjoyed it a lot. However, we did feel that the company should support the locals we visited to a greater extent. We asked how much the retired soldier received for our visit and our trying our hand at rice paper. The answer was 70,000 VND or around $3.50 for each day that Mango Cruises visited, regardless of the number of visitors (we left a tip several times this amount and would recommend you do the same). When we compare to the cheaper Rice Noodle experience in Siem Reap, where the local family received $20, this feels somewhat exploitative. We would recommend booking a trip in Ben Tre with Mango Cruises but would suggest booking online through a cheaper portal and tipping the families you meet a few extra dollars a person, rather than booking direct.