Three days deep in the natural Mekong Delta — flower villages, a Ramsar-listed wetland, and a stilt house farmstay over the water, with no fixed group and a fully private guide and vehicle.
Depart at 8:00 AM for Sa Dec (approx 2.5 hrs from Ho Chi Minh City). The town’s riverbank is lined with flower nurseries producing roses, chrysanthemums, and ornamental trees for markets across the south — it is most colourful before Tet (Jan–Feb), but the nurseries run year-round. Visit the Huynh Thuy Le Ancient House — the residence of Marguerite Duras’s Vietnamese lover, preserved as a museum and one of the finest examples of Sino-Vietnamese architecture in the Delta. Walk through the heritage town centre, then transfer to Viet Mekong Eco Farmstay on a river island — a working farm with wooden stilt bungalows over the water. Afternoon kayaking or cycling through orchard paths at leisure.
Meal: Lunch.
Early morning boat into Tram Chim National Park — a 7,500-hectare Ramsar Wetland of International Importance in Dong Thap Province. The park protects the last significant habitat of the Eastern Sarus Crane in Vietnam; flocks of several hundred are visible Nov–Apr at dawn. The wetland also shelters painted storks, black-headed ibis, and spot-billed pelicans year-round. After the wetland, visit Gao Giong Eco Forest in the same province — a flooded cajuput forest where you can canoe under the canopy and look for kingfishers and jacanas. Return to the farmstay for the night.
Meals: Breakfast at farmstay; Lunch at Dong Thap local restaurant.
After breakfast on the river, travel back toward Ho Chi Minh City with a stop at the Xeo Quyt Ecological Reserve — a preserved area of ancient cajuput forest and wetland used as a Viet Cong base during the American War, now a peaceful nature walk with elevated boardwalks over the water. Arrive Ho Chi Minh City mid-afternoon with drop-off at your hotel.
Meals: Breakfast at farmstay; Lunch at local restaurant.
