Ben Tre Mekong Delta Day Tour: The Finale – Sampan Boat Ride!

In 2016, the day after Christmas Day, my parents, my sister, and I went to Saigon / Ho Chi Minh City for a week’s trip. It was a city trip but we wanted to taste the country as well so we booked a Mekong Delta Day trip to Ben Tre which is approximately 2 hours down south. Our group was relatively small, all of us fitting in a small van. I like it this way especially when you are travelling with parents that have mobility issues. The tour guide is able to focus well on each of us.

The day trip was jam-packed with activities about daily life in and around the Mekong Delta. We visited an old Kiln factory, sailed on a motorised boat on the wider Mekong river, and entered into narrower and quieter parts. We visited a candy fruit workshop and had some sampling of fruits, candies, and local spirits. Then we walked around a village and checked out a weaving artisan shop as well. Afterwhich we loaded ourselves in a mini-trike and rode to a lovely open restaurant with thatched roofing set in the middle of the village river reserve where we had our lunch. 

Our last activity is the Sampan boat ride as we finish off the day trip and go back to the motorised boat that will bring us back to our van and then back on the road to Saigon / HCMC. This is what the post is about. 

You can find the other articles I wrote about the Day Trip here: Ben Tre Mekong Delta Tour

Here we are leaving the restaurant as we follow our tour guide to the riverside where the Sampan boats are waiting for us. This part of the day trip was really cool; it was an adventure on its own. 

The village river reserve area is filled with Nipa palms growing on water which we are very familiar with. We have many plants like this growing in the Philippines, even near where my parents live. The place is very rustic and nice. The little stroll from the restaurant to the boat is well planned and well thought of.

SisterJ and the parents boarded the Sampan boat first and I am the last passenger. The parents were a little bit wary that the boat might tilt but with the help of the boat rower, they all managed to get in safely. I have a view of everyone before me. Perfect for taking pictures.

I have no idea how deep the river is but the Sampan boats were fitted with lifesaver vests.

In the Philippines, we have a different kind of boat, we call it a Banca, which is like an outrigger canoe with lateral supports made of bamboo. They are mainly used by fishermen and larger versions are used for shuttling people short-distance to islands.

My father and SisterJ changed positions and we were given the Nan lo, the Vietnamese cone-shaped straw hat which everyone gladly put on, but later ditched off as it was distracting their vision and there was no sun anyway. 

We slowly sailed through the inner parts of the Mekong Delta in the direction of where our motorised boat is docked. I am sure it is docked nearby and our tour guide probably got there on a trike, and you never know, perhaps on foot but it was nice of them to create this little Sampan boat journey for the finale of the Mekong Delta experience.   

We do not have this in the Philippines so this was somewhat a treat. 

There were a few other groups being transported by Sampan boat as well. It wasn’t busy at all, perhaps 3 other boats with tourists sailed with us. It was a pleasurable experience sailing through the quiet waters with the occasional sound of the oars splashing against the waters and being surrounded by the lush Nipa palms around us. 

This is a fish trap. We saw them everywhere in the Mekong Delta. Catfish are the most popular fish found in the Mekong Delta.

The ladies here are on a roll, what a lovely sight to see. The waters may be murky brown but they do not smell at all.

We have arrived at our motorised boat and as you can see we are all placing our hands here, with precision kind of, on the sides of the bigger boat. We were told how to alight and transition safely from the Sampan boat to the bigger one. The process is quite simple but if you do not know, you would worry about tippling off and getting into the water.

All aboard the motorised boat, we jetted off to the mainland. Our van will be waiting for us to bring us back to our hotel in HCMC. 

We had to pass by a few low-hanging bridges and interestingly the canopy of the boat can drop very low to accommodate the height of the bridge. We were told to dock really low and be patient in the process. As you can see we are all sitting on a chair on the boat which made it a bit awkward, hence the patience needed. This comedy of course created a lot of laughs and giggles and I managed to take a few photos!

The last few sceneries we captured as we sail to the mainland.

It was a fun and adventurous day trip. We learned a lot about the Vietnamese rural countryside and the people, although not enough, it has given us a little peek into what local life is like outside the city. We were happy to experience the Mekong Delta, even for just a day. 

In the below picture, you will see houses floating on the river we saw as we drove back to HCMC. Upon close look, they may not be houses, but warehouses to store boats or fish they have caught.