Sunday, 23 November 2025: farewell to Saigon and on to the Mekong Delta

We fell into bed right after dinner so we were up in the middle of the night to pack.  Yes, jet lag is winning here.  They say one day for each time zone to adjust. If that’s accurate, and since we are 13 hours difference between here and where we started… I’ll give us a couple of more days.  

By the time we finished breakfast and bid farewell to our hosts at Ben Thahn Retreats Hotel, our driver was waiting.  

After less than 2 1/2 hours, we were in Cai Be where our Mekong Delta cruise would begin.  First, Justin went for a bicycle ride with our guide, Tai.                          

Then, lunch at a beautiful colonial villa, Le Longanier Restaurant.  Delicious food and spectacular gardens.  

 After a quick orientation tour of our Song Xanh Sampan, we were on our way.  The river is busy but quiet; barges laden with rice, clay, stone, who knows what else.  Fishermen young and old.  We stopped to see rice paper making and candy making from coconut and rice.  We also stopped to see clay making.

We had a pretty significant rain shower this afternoon.  I was glad we were on our boat instead of out in it.  We lost a bit of our view and some of our ventilation, but it was short lived.  

We docked for dinner in Sa Dec, home of the wealthy Chinese man who was the subject of the now famous French work L’Amand (the Lover) by Maarguerite Duras.      

After a brief walk to, and a quick visit of the famous house, we enjoyed a great dinner of vegetable soup, pork and bok choy, shrimp and mushrooms, fried tofu, steamed rice, and lychee nuts for dessert.  

Back on board we settled in for the night.  Actually, we settled in until football started at 1am.  Justin and I were wide awake and ready to help the Packers defeat the Vikings!  Yes, we did our part.