Luxury Cruise, and Overnight Stay, on the Mekong Delta with Mekong Eyes

Luxury Cruise, and Overnight Stay, on the Mekong Delta with Mekong Eyes - Vietnam - January 2016

31/1/2016

Can you spot Issy & the non la Noir. Dining in the Dark, Saigon gave us?

The night before my luxury Mekong Delta cruise I had dinner in El Gaucho - an Argentinian steak place by the Park Hyatt, Saigon. Krug, Cristal & Dom Perignon champagne were on offer and I was shocked by the size of my eventual bill, mainly caused a mediocre steak that was far too big for me to eat. I had to go to Saigon, Saigon, on the roof of the Caravelle hotel, again for martinis to recover from the shock of this.

I had to be ready at 8am for my Mekong Eyes pick up and the journey to the boat took just over three hours, with a rather nice 20 minute stop at the Mekong Rest Stop 1/2 way for refreshments, I got some postcards I love there.

Boarding

When we got to the landing I was shocked we had to cross three, relatively, thin and wobbly high up planks to get to the ‘launch/shuttle’ taking us to the Mekong Eye. Not for the fainthearted and I was impressed people older than me were willing to do it and we all achieved it, with the help of crew, without anyone falling in.

My Cabin

On the boat I was shown my spacious double cabin and impressive private ‘marble’ bathroom with shower - with 14 cabins, Mekong Eyes is the largest boat in their ‘fleet’.

After settling into our cabins we headed upstairs with a glass of wine to meet other passengers and introduce them to Issy. Another passenger used to have a bunny toy who undertook a similar role. It was bliss just to take in the views on the desk.

Lunch

We dined at communal tables with assigned seating. I was seated by a brilliant couple, who split their time between Seattle and LA. Just as in Phuket, it was worth paying extra for ‘luxury’, if only because of the interesting passengers you get to meet. These two explained cruises in Ha Long Bay were more luxurious than this one. I will do this cruise after I return to Vietnam from Cambodia & Laos.

Lunch started with pumpkin soup, another (non-noddle) Vietnamese soup I was not keen on. Then it was some standard spring rolls that were rather good. This was followed by some grilled prawns that were excellent with a green chilli & lime dip.

The ‘main course’ was sea bass, with all the pineapple etc on top it was ‘TV dinner’ like, with rice. The stir-fried string beans with garlic that also came with it were crispy and delicious.

After a post-lunch rest/snooze on the deck, we had our excursion.

Village Visit

We got another shuttle to our village visit. Our guide showed us various vegetation and explained how many of them are used. He was jokey & friendly and it was interesting to hear his local knowledge.

The tour ended with tea and fruit, it was an idilic way to spend part of the afternoon and we were even shown a snake.

Cocktails at Sunset

After a freshing up, ‘free’ cocktails were served as we watched the sunset and I chatted to a fun Scottish couple from Aberdeen.

Dinner

After a shower, I was with the same US couple again for dinner but they were so easy to talk with that I was pleased about this. We started with green mango salad with shrimps, rather good.

Next it was fried catfish. My new US friends were horrified by the idea of this 'cheap bottom feeder' but we all agreed it was rather good in the end. The eggplant dish it came with was not pan fried, as described on the menu, but was OK. The next course was some rather good BBQed pork ribs (if a little fatty) with rice.

The meal ended with chocolate cake with tomatoes carved as little rabbits!!

I ended the night on the deck with another glass of wine working on www.sifrew.com and chatting to our fun guide from earlier.

Second Day

It started with breakfast on the deck at 6:45am. The boat moored while we slept but I was awake as soon as its engines started again around 6am and so got to witness the stunning sunrise from the deck.

The pho (Vietnamese noodle soup) at breakfast was great.

Cai Rang Floating Market etc

Having not visited the Bangkok floating market, I was excited about this excursion.

We got a high speed boat and toured the floating markets, before visiting the land market and then a rice noodle 'factory'. It was a very interesting morning.

Journey Back to Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon

The drive back took 4 hours but there was a stop for a hot lunch in Vinh Long City included in my package.

There was another (non-noodle) soup in Vietnam I was not keen on and then sweet & salty pork that was rather good and a charming Polish group to eat all this with.

🐻🐻🐻🐻 (4 out of 5 ‘teddies’) - I was impressed by the boat, and its excellent crew, but not by the way we boarded or left it and this, combined with poor WiFi, lost them a ‘teddy’. My tip: you do not need to return to Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon at the end of the trip. Having already travelled that far, I would have been better continuing my journey, if I had not been promised a Bollinger champagne evening, at the InterContinental, Saigon, on Wednesday this week.

Mekong Eyes' map, with the route we were due to take. Caibe - Cho Lach (via the Tien Giang River) - Cai Nhum (via the Many Thit River) - Tao On - Cai Rang floating market - Ninh Kieu Pier in Cantho

The beautiful, and stunningly clean, Mekong Rest Stop. This was where we broke our journey to the boat.

My spacious cabin on the Mekong Eyes.

My impressive private 'marble' bathroom on the Mekong Eyes.

Would you guess there was sea bass under all this?!

The sunbeds on the desk of the Mekong Eyes were a perfect place to snooze and watch the world float by.

On our trip to the village we were shown banana flowers, which explained my delicious banana blossom salad at Hoi An restaurant, Saigon.

In Vietnam, if you do not want your family to sell their rice paddy fields, you ask to be buried right in the middle of them,

The Caodaism Temple in the village. Founded in 1926 the symbol of this religion is the Left Eye of God.

The tea with fresh fruit etc we ended the village tour with. Note the carved pineapple, the watermelon with a carved 'handle' and the moreish rice crackers with sesame & coconut.