Mekong Delta - The Do Che Diaries

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A bus ride one and a half hour from Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon as the dwellers call it, across the green rice fields, we reached the rural My Tho city to be transferred on the motor boats that would take us on a sail across the Tien River. There are four islands to visit in this trip although we managed to complete only two. The islands are called the Dragon, Unicorn, Turtle and Phoenix by virtue of their shapes and also adding an attractive nomenclature for foreign tourists. 

Thom, our tour guide was really informative in terms of explaining the cultural aspects of the trip and how the food, amateur music, local small scale industries and the way of living of this predominantly fishermens’ hamlets in the southern Vietnam has evolved over the last two decades. As our steamer left the fishing wharf and sailed towards the Phoenix Island, Thom told us about the itinerary. We would later visit the Unicorn Island (locally called the Thos Son Island).

The muddy water foamed and bulged making a group of smaller motor boats in the backdrop look timid and hapless. However, there is not much that you can soak in terms of sombreness as the smile that remains all-pervading on the faces of these locals will make you seek for life amidst wilderness and modesty. It was September and the monsoon was still quite omnipresent in the air. The occasional rain, the humidity and then the sun playing a mystic hide and seek behind the cloud set up a perfect atmosphere before our captain decided to drop the anchor at the jetty on the Phoenix Island. 

Sampling local fruits and candies

The tropical fruits of this island are quite popular amongst international visitors. Thom took us to a local villager’s shack that had a very simple setup of chairs and tables and we were served dragon fruits, honey tea and freshly-prepared coconut candies. And as we walked in to the factory of the coconut candies, our local guide showed how the people on the island use various techniques to extract the coconut pulp and then boil it with sugar solution and prepare a concentrated mixture for the candies. The packaging of the candies in rice paper is also an interesting thing to experience. The Ben Tre province is famous for these coconut candies and coconut oil.

Sampling a local drink made from fermented rice extract was another memorable experience. The locals preserve the drink with dead snakes in glass bottles and serve them in small tequila glasses. The island has a small, yet throbbing, local market selling indigenous Vietnamese paintings, jute bags, and a unique handicraft made out of coconut are sold by local women.

Tom Grond, a travel blogger (www.Traveltomtom.com) from Amsterdam was visiting this island for the second time. Sharing his excitement to get back to something so remotely natural, Tom said, "It’s incredible to be back here. I remember my trip here last time only by virtue of some images of those narrow canals with boats paddling across. Sitting in the boats being rowed by ladies with those typical Vietnamese conical hats was a super cool experience. Honestly, I am back to experience it once more."

Thom, our guide was following my activities for a long time now and wanted to share his thoughts with me. He was elaborate in explaining how the locals would endure the extreme climate and still remain attached to their traditional occupation. “The Unicorn Island that we will go is another example of sustainable tourism that we are trying to promote. However, we never try and intrude in their private space it is important for them to realise the economic dependence on tourism,” he added.

Cai Be Floating Market

It takes a while from the Cai Be pier on a motor boat on the Mekong River to reach the Cai Be Floating Market. We were there on a Sunday morning and most of the market was closed. However, from my last visit and how Tam, one of our local tour guides explained, you be sure that you will get almost everything that you would need in your kitchen every day. 

From fruits, vegetables, meat and fish to daily commodities, the floating market has it all. It is another very different experience to see the locals selling and buying pop-rice, pop-corn, coconut water, fresh fruits; I sampled the coconut and mangoes from one of the boats with an eager lady shopkeeper waving her hand fanatically with excitement. It was Sunday as I said, and business was not so good.

Sailing on a Do Che

An iconic experience of Vietnam is to be found on the narrow boats and their journey through the thick mangrove forests that connect two islands. We were now in the Unicorn Island. We witnessed a local family’s honey-bee farm (the Diem Matong Sinh Thai Eco Bee Farm) and sampled honey tea before lunch in another local shack. There was a host local musicians who hailed us with some traditional tunes and later a couple of Christmas carols. The instruments were custom made and resembled western instruments such as the violin or a guitar but the sound were quite different. 

We then headed to get a unique horse cart ride in the Unicorn Island to reach the Do Che boat stand. A Do Che is the narrow boat that you see in the image and is rowed by two people ideally, and allows a sitting capacity of four travellers. The initial swing was scary but the trip across the canopying trees and us donning the traditional Vietnamese hat was mesmerising.

“I am absolutely blown away by how amazing and how surreal the villages are in the Mekong Delta. One of our favourite things is to understand how a culture started and being on a boat like this was an amazing experience," said Fahima Marissa Anwar, a traveller from Canada as we rowed our way through to our next destination.

As we were reaching our wharf, the sun was coming down; the brown water was slowly turning yellow. The lady rowing our boat turned and as she smiled at our caprice – the world seemed like a better place once again.

As a quintessential Indian traveller, who is looking to adapt to local experiences and spend more on nature than luxury, the varied glimpses of this delta has more to offer than just these activities. A poet can express his melancholy, while an artist can draw a smile, a singer can soak in the fresh air to hum his tune to the trees and a wanderer can just sit back on one of those hammocks found frequently along the delta, to reflect on what he has to shuffle and what he has to put together when he is back to a city life all over again. I presume and I yearn to be in the Mekong Delta once again; for redemption of my otherwise tired soul very soon.

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