Mekong Delta: Tuk Tuk, Sampan & Vinh Trang Pagoda Day Trip

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Free cancellationExcellent quality

1/7

Duration9h

GroupUp to 25

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

Rowing through coconut groves, tasting bánh khọt and folk music in My Tho

You’ll drift along quiet waterways by sampan, explore Vinh Trang Pagoda’s incense-scented halls, taste bánh khọt with locals, sip honey tea during live folk music, and cycle through coconut groves on this Mekong Delta day trip from Ho Chi Minh City. Expect laughter, warmth, and moments that linger long after you’re back in town.

Step-by-step itinerary

Mekong Delta tour from Ho Chi Minh City

Travel from Ho Chi Minh City to My Tho
Explore My Tho's agricultural landscape
Visit Vinh Trang Pagoda

The Experience

“You ever try balancing on a sampan while the river smells like wet grass and sweet fruit?” That’s how our Mekong Delta day trip from Ho Chi Minh City started to feel real for me. Our guide Minh handed me a little conical hat — not sure if I wore it right — and we drifted past coconut trees so close you could almost touch them. The water was brown but alive, with kids waving from the banks and old men fixing nets. I didn’t expect the quiet; just the soft splash of oars and some birds arguing overhead. Minh pointed out how every family here seems to have at least one boat. Makes sense now.

We’d stopped earlier at Vinh Trang Pagoda, which is even older than it looks in photos. There was incense everywhere — not overpowering, just this gentle woody smell that stuck to my shirt for hours. A monk nodded at us as we shuffled past a laughing Buddha statue (Li laughed when I tried to say the name in Vietnamese — probably butchered it). Then came the tuk tuk ride through narrow lanes, bouncing over potholes while women waved from their porches. Someone was frying something that smelled like onion and coconut; later I found out it was bánh khọt, which we got to make with a local chef (mine looked sad but tasted good anyway).

I still think about sitting under thatched roofs drinking honey tea while a group played folk music nearby. The singer’s voice was soft but carried over the chatter — she smiled at us like she knew we were tourists but didn’t mind. We tried fresh fruit (dragonfruit is way better here) and watched as they made coconut candy by hand. Cycling around the coconut garden after lunch felt slow in a good way; no one rushed us, not even when I lagged behind staring at the river light flickering through palm leaves. So yeah, if you want a Mekong Delta tour that feels less like checking boxes and more like wandering into someone else’s afternoon — this is it.

What’s included

Your day includes hotel pickup from central districts in Ho Chi Minh City before heading out by air-conditioned minivan or bus toward My Tho.
Entrance fees are covered for all stops including Vinh Trang Pagoda.
You’ll enjoy motorboat rides on the Mekong River plus hand-rowed sampan journeys through small canals.
There’s a tuk tuk or electric car ride through village lanes and time for cycling among coconut gardens.
Tastes along the way include bánh khọt cooked with a local chef, honey tea with seasonal fruit tasting (four kinds), coconut candy samples and a full Vietnamese lunch set menu — vegan options available too.
Traditional music performance rounds out your visit before drop-off back in District 1.

Good to know

Easy physical levelPublic transport nearbyNot for heart conditions

Operated by KIM TRAVEL