3 day motorcycle tour, Loving Mekong Delta (options to Saigon, Cambodia)

Loving Mekong Delta is a 3-day tour motorcycle tour exploring the Mekong Delta. You will be driving on back roads mostly through villages away from the tourist track and discover the real life of people living along this magic river.

Highlights

• Dirt-bike adventurous tour
• Riding along narrow tracks, maze of back roads and waterways
• Local customs and cuisines

Price:
-Group of one: 250 USD/Day
-Group of two: 170 USD/Day/Person
-Group of three: 160 USD/Day/Person
-Group from four: 150 USD/Day/Person

What’s included

• Tour guide/drivers
• Saigon Riders’ motorcycles
• Entrance fees, boat tickets
• Hotels (double/twin shared) (extra $40/night for the single room)
• Lunches, dinners (other food choices are also catered, including vegetarian dishes)

What’s excluded:

• Bike damage (e.g. broken levers, heavily bent rims/handlebars/frame, burnt-out clutch plates due to improper gear use).
• Insurance, emergency transportation, related costs.
• Tips to guide.

Planned route

Day 1:
• Distance: 210 km
• Accommodation: West hotel or similar (https://canthowesthotel.vn/)

Riding pillion with our drivers to escape from Saigon to the off-road, we delve deep into the Ben Tre province of southern Vietnam and explore the Mekong Delta. Driving back roads mostly through villages away from the tourist track to discover the real life of people living along this magic river.

We take quiet laneways and dirt paths weaving in and out of villages and fields waving to kids whizzing by on their way to school. We may say “Xin Chao” (hello) to women pedaling gracefully in their traditional “ao dai” dresses. We also hop onto small ferries to cross the tributaries alongside elderly vendors carrying groceries on their bikes.

Later we board our private boat and cruise past some interesting places such as old-style brick kiln before stopping at a coconut processing workshop where you learn step by step how the locals waste nothing from the coconut tree in making a variety of products, handicrafts, and candy. Transferring to bicycles we cycle along trails under the green canopy of coconut plantation before stopping for a pleasant lunch of local specialties, including delicious “Elephant Ear fish”. After lunch, we will row a sampan along the tree-lined canals to get a closer look at life.

Day 2:
• Distance: 190 km
• Accommodation: Hung Cuong hotel (www.hungcuonghotel.vn)

We continue to explore the waterways with a morning boat ride to the bustling Cai Rang floating market, one of the biggest in the Mekong Delta. As we weave amongst the anchored boats, we’ll see vendors line up their boats and hang fruit or vegetables on a bamboo pole advertising the goods they are selling. Moving on from the floating market we will visit an inland market to compare the differences as well as noodle factory nearby.

After that it’s time to explore the land with a motorbike ride through farming villages and small laneways on the way to the border town of Chau Doc. This area is inhabited by Vietnamese as well as people from the Khmer and Cham ethnic groups. They are part of the rich tapestry of ethnic minorities in Vietnam. Their customs and traditions enrich the culture and are so often seen in their houses, pagodas, and mosques.

We will also see some of the product that is exported worldwide and that people here are proud of – rice and Basa fish. After lunch, we explore the fishing village and fish farms. The day is completed by panoramic sunset views over the Mekong Delta floodplains from the summit of Sam Mountain.

Day 3:

You could choose one of two options below, depending on your next destination.

Option 1: Destination is Phnom Penh (Cambodia)

Having breakfast in the hotel before boarding Hang Chau speedboat to Phnom Penh.

Route of this option

View Larger Map

Option 2: Destination is Saigon
• Distance: 260 km
We leave Chau Doc behind and drive along a quiet road to Tra Su bird sanctuary, low land national park with mangrove forest as far as the eye can see, interwoven with canals and many thousands of birds. We’ll have a drink and decide between climbing to the top of the observation tower to enjoy the panoramic view of the scenery below, or a cruise along mangrove-lined canals of the forest to get close to the fauna in the park. After the visit to Tra Su, we’ll stop for a picnic lunch en-route before heading back to Saigon, arriving at around 6.00 pm.

Route of the journey

Additional information

• Sturdy outdoor clothing and comfortable footwear are recommended
• Tips for tour guide/rider are highly appreciated