Bassac Boat Mekong Delta Cruise: Anyone been?
 

Hi,
I'm looking at the Mekong Delta 1 night cruise on the Bassac that leaves from Cai Be and ends at Can Tho. Has anyone taken this and what did you think about the itinerary and the boat accommodations/food?

Thanks for any insider knowledge.

I took the Bassac 1 night cruise in October. We were on the reverse itinerary, departing Can Tho and ending in Cai Be on the Bassac II. I booked through Vietnamstay.com and they arranged for transport from our hotel in HCMC to the boat in Can Tho and then for pick up in Cai Be returning to our hotel in Cai Be.

The boat was made of a beautiful wood and was quite sturdy. The rooms were small, but with adequate space for two people plus luggage. Twin beds were comfortable, could have used a blanket, but that's because we were blasting the AC! AC was a wall unit in each room with controls in the room. The bathroom was small, shower was a handheld faucet from the sink that could mount on the wall in between the sink and the toilet. I used it and it worked out fine, my travel companion decided to wait for the hotel. Shared spaces had comfortable lounge chairs.

The food was quite good. Some of the more notable were some incredible prawns in coconut milk at our first lunch; sauted pumpkin (?) flowers; jack fruit. The food was plentiful and good. Alcoholic drinks were extra and there was a full bar although the selection wasn't extensive. The food was served on the upper deck in a covered outdoor area. At night there were quite a few bugs swarming around the lights on the boat, but the tables were moved away from the lights that were on. I wore insect repellant and only got 1 bite on the boat... My travel companion didn't get any bites on the boat.

We departed HCMC around 8 am and arrived in Can Tho just past noon and departed on the Bassac II immediately. In the evening we visited a local village and sampled some of the local fruit. It was a small group from the boat, just 7 of us with the boat manager, Ann, serving as our tour guide.

We anchored in the night and didn't have any issues with noise. In the morning we transfered to a smaller boat, visited a floating market - which really didn't have much activity going on. It wasn't a tourist market though, and it was interesting to see the trade and life on the delta. We then went to Cai Be and visit a number of local industries - candy, rice crackers, fish sauce, etc. Very interesting to see the methods of production and get a feel for the area. We were picked up for our trip back to HCMC around 10 or 10:30 - I had originally thought the trip was longer.

If you're in the US and watched the Amazing Race this season, they had a stop on the Mekong - they stopped on the Bassac III, so you can get a glimpse of it on the show. I'm going to post some photos from the boat on Kodak Gallery and I'll come back and post a link.

The Bassac was one of my favorite parts of the trip and in hindsight, I wish we could have done 2 nights rather than 1.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Some of my photos from the Bassac are at this link: http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/...03%3A855959717

Includes some photos of the boat, bedroom and bathroom, food, photos on the Mekong, etc.

Dreaming,
Thank you, thank you, thank you!! It is hard to find detailed information about this cruise, so I really appreciate the time you took to provide it. Your photos are wonderful and the food looks delicious! I could take the same itinerary as you and depart from Can Tho....I don't know is there's any advantage to taking that one over leaving from Cai Be. Either way, you have to make the drive to or from Can Tho. I didn't realize they visited the local industries on this trip....I though that was just with day trips and I didn't think I wanted to do that. However, I 'll take your word that they are interesting. We will definitely book this cruise!

The local industries are very small mostly family owned & operated family businesses... so the picture of the woman making the rice shell and the girl wrapping the rice candy is one of the local industries. The buildings are small and all within a short walk of each other.

I think the itinerary is only slightly different depending on your direction of travel. In my case the direction was decided for me as the day I wanted to leave was the Can Tho to Cai Be direction trip day. The only thing I'd do differently is leave HCMC just a bit earlier so we might have some time to dawdle just a bit by the docks and look at the shops there & maybe have a drink at the restaurant there - just absorb some of the activity in Can Tho. As it happened, we left HCMC, made a short stop (10 minutes?) at a roadside tourist restaurant for the restroom & a cafe sua da (oh my, I'd like one of those right now!) and then direct to Can Tho. We ran into a back-up at the ferry in Can Tho so once we got to the dock we were loaded directly onto the boat and the boat departed immediately. I think the bridge might be done by the time you arrive, so you may avoid the ferry back up.

I hope you enjoy the trip as much as we did!

Dreaming, I've talked to Exotissimo about booking this trip, and based on your suggestion, asked about the possibility of spending a couple of hours after we get off the boat in Can Tho for sightseeing. They said we could do this on our own,but recommended that we go with their guide (which didn't cost much more) to avoid anything "pitiful" happening. I think it's a good idea to have a guide there because we won't have much time and wouldn't know where or how to see things along the waterways. Also, want to eat lunch at the Victoria Hotel before we go back.