Pedal the Mekong: Saigon to Chau Doc

Today’s tour begins with a visit to Cai Rang’s colorful floating market. From Ninh Kieu Pier, you will take a boat ride along the river, passing local sampans that arrive from across the Mekong Delta, loaded with seasonal fruits and agricultural products. After exploring the floating market, you will visit local workshops that produce rice paste, rice paper, rice noodles, and rice vermicelli before starting the morning ride to Sa Dec.

The rural villages between Binh Minh and Sa Dec are rich in history and culture, offering an experience distinct from the previous days. Along the way, you will gain insight into the cultural influences of both Vietnam and China, pass family farms growing sweet potatoes, tapioca, and rice, and cycle along peaceful country lanes. There will also be a stop at a family workshop where rice and sticky rice powders are made.

Lunch in Sa Dec provides the perfect chance to visit the famous “Lover’s House,” known from the film The Lover. This house is closely linked to the life of renowned author Marguerite Duras, whose mother worked there as a school principal between 1928 and 1932. It was in Sa Dec that Duras, then a 15-year-old schoolgirl, met Huynh Thuy Le, the 27-year-old son of a wealthy Chinese family. Their relationship later inspired Duras’s 1984 Prix Goncourt-winning novel The Lover (L’Amant), which has been translated into 43 languages and sold 2.4 million copies worldwide.

After lunch, enjoy a leisurely ride along paths beside the Mekong River to Sa Dec Flower Village, a delightful destination for plant and flower lovers. After exploring the gardens, continue cycling through the scenic countryside to the Cao Lanh ferry. On the far side of the Mekong River, ride through mango orchards before arriving in the city center.

Dong Thap is known for its dramatic annual flood season, which marks the final rice harvest before rising water levels transform the landscape. After breakfast, we transfer to the cycling point, collect our bikes, and begin exploring daily life in the wetlands. The ride takes us through lush mango orchards, along stretches of the Mekong River, past stilt houses, and across the river by ferry to the Gieng Islands, home to one of the largest and oldest parishes in the Mekong Delta.

This morning’s ride leads through a fascinating area rich in French colonial architecture and bustling local markets, where tropical fruits are sold by women wearing traditional cone-shaped palm-leaf hats. We also stop to visit the first monastery built in Indochina, established in 1874 in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta.

Afterward, there is a one-hour transfer to the starting point for the afternoon ride. We continue along scenic back roads through charming villages, passing stilt houses, Cham Muslim communities, and small local markets before arriving in Chau Doc town. Tour ends.