Mango Day Cruise: Ben Tre Exploring

08.00. Transfer from the hotel in Ho Chi Minh City to Ben Tre, which is called the kingdom of coconut with over 500.000 tons of productivity per year (Read more about Ben Tre here). Go along the highway, pass Rach Mieu Bridge to reach to Huu Dinh hamlet. 
10.00. Arrive at Huu Dinh hamlet in the center of Ben Tre city, passengers take a tri-motor cycle (xe loi) for wandering into the backroad. Ben Tre, in the first imagination, appears as a rural countryside with immense rice-fields, vegetable farms and fruit gardens with the silhouette of coconut trees everywhere. 
 

Ben Tre greets you by the green of million coconut trees.
 

Continually, embark to Mango Day Cruise, enjoy welcome drink by a fresh coconut juice. This is time for releasing your mind to the natural wind & scenes of Ben Tre’s river. After listening the introduction of Ben Tre Province and products from coconut trees, passengers start visiting the factories along the river. Firstly, we go on ashore to experience a local business of coconut processing. You will hear to way to make coconut candies, rice paper, or husking, dividing a coconut. Subsequently, return to the boat for sailing to brick producing family, visit a brick family with handy method that is transmitted from generation to generation. From here, we take a bike trip to explore Phong Nam village. Following the wheels, we will admire the luxuriant nursery and authentic life style. After 4km riding, we stop at a “hu tieu” (a kind of noodle) factory, then learning the steps of ‘hu tieu’ making as powder mixing, flour milling, etc. Take a short walk to go to the house of Mrs. Huong, where you can experience a typical home of Mekong farmer with fishing, shrimp and farming for living. The host will invite passengers some seasonal fruits and honey tea that are grown in her orchards. Let enjoy the bewitching taste of Mekong, than taking a rowing boat for slowly streaming into the scanty canals. Siting on board, experience the friendly faces of locals and high palm-creeks covering your way.
 

Amazing boat excursion into the narrow canals covered by leaved of water coconut.

  
Meet Mango Day Cruise in the larger branch, embark for proceeding to Mango Home restaurant. Enjoy the delicious lunch.
5 course lunch:

Afternoon: 
Do a bike riding in 4 minutes in the off-road for a refreshment with the lust garden, small houses of native. Stop for visiting the house of Mr. Sau Tuong who is a soldier of Vietcong. He will tell you the survived story after fighting Khmer Rouge in 2 years. He also bring you to his process off rice-paper making (one of the most popular specifics of Mekong). Let taste the savory rice-paper from the hands of his wife. Later, we continue biking to a sticky rice making family. The host is Mr. Hung. He will share you his recipe and method to make great sticky rice. Walk around his garden, you will meet his catfish farm. Try feeding them if you want. End of village excursion, we return to the boat in pier. Mango Day Cruise takes us to the city. After that, private car will take passengers back to Ho Chi Minh City (2 hours on bus). End of Mango Day Cruise in Ben Tre.