Day 1
Dong Thap is closer to Saigon but to make the trip less tiring, you should go straight to Can Tho city which is more than 160 km away from Saigon. From the Western bus station, you can catch the bus of Phuong Trang, Thanh Buoi or Mai Linh with the ticket price of 100,000 VND. It takes about 3-4 hours to get to Can Tho city. Con Son is one of the famous ecotourism sites in Binh Thuy district, Can Tho city. With 70 hectares of fruit trees, visitors will feel the typical atmosphere of the countryside and the rivers here.
Watching flying snakehead fish has been an attracting tourism activity recently in Son Islet. Being here, you can have lunch with many rustic dishes such as grilled snakehead fish, field crab hot pot, etc.
At the end of the day you can explore many famous places in the city such as Ong Pagoda or Binh Thuy ancient house.
You can visit Ninh Kieu quay in the evening. There is a floating restaurant that is very suitable for having dinner and enjoying cool air. If you do not buy a ticket to enjoy the cruise trip on the river, you can take a stroll and shop at the night market. Apart from clothing and accessories, the snacks here are very diverse which attract many customers.
Day 2
You should get up early in the morning to travel to Cai Rang floating market - the most famous floating market in the Southwest Vietnam. The most vibrant market time is from 5h to 7h. In addition to agricultural products, the market sells a lot of food for tourists such as noodle soup, vermicelli and sour crab soup (bún riêu), porridge, coffee, many kinds of dessert soup and so on.
My Khanh orchard, a destination you should not miss, is in Phong Dien district and about 10 km away from the center of the city. In addition to the fruitful orchards, visitors really enjoy to take part in several activities such as dog racing, pig racing, being a landowner in one day, draining ditches for fish, sailing, crocodiles fishing, visiting traditional villages, listening to amateur music, watching monkey circus, etc. To fish for crocodile, we only have to pay 5,000 VND/bait.
In the afternoon, driving on the road to Sa Dec city, Dong Thap to rest overnight, you can visit Phuoc Kieng Pagoda in Chau Thanh district. This pagoda is famous for the lotus leaves that can withstand the weight of over 50 kg.
If you have time, you should visit Huynh Thuy Le ancient house or Tan Quy Dong flower village in the city. If Binh Thuy ancient house in Can Tho is chosen as the setting for the movie "The Lover", Huynh Thuy Le ancient house is the original place associated with the borderless love story of a French girl and a wealthy Vietnamese man (Huynh Thuy Le). The story is later recounted in the famous movie called "The Lover". The sightseeing ticket price is 20,000 VND/person.
In the evening, you should enjoy the delicious noodle soup made by Mrs. Sam on Tran Hung Dao Street. It’s only 6,000 VND/bowl. To be full, some guests have to call 2-3 bowls to eat. This dish consists of noodles, meat, bean sprouts, chives and broth from stewing meat. If you want some more noodles and meat, you will have to pay more money.
Day 3
Depending on the time, you can choose to visit the historic site of Xeo Quyt, Gao Giong or Tram Chim National Park. If you want to remain healthy to return to the city, the historic site of Xeo Quyt is the priority destination which is only about 16 km away from Sa Dec city. Melaleuca forest and mangrove forests are mainly found in this area. Visitors can explore many one-way paths (1.5 km) or take a traditional canoe trip. The specialties served here include grilled snakehead fish; grilled vole; farm eel sour soup; grilled frog; Common climbing perch cooked with fish sauce bowl and so on. The entrance fee is 5,000 VND.
After the trip, you can return to Saigon on bus with a distance of about 125 km.
Source: tourismcantho.vn. Translated by Hoang Dat