We woke up early after our less than comfortable, though admittedly interesting, hotel experience in Kien Tuong and jumped onto the bike for another day of driving and exploring. Our goal was to sleep in Vinh Long, stopping at as many sites as possible on the way.
The first stop was “khu di tích xẻo quýt”, a nature reserve on the way from Kien Tuong to Sa Dec town. As with the nature reserve yesterday, we had no expectations or idea what to expect here, so were pleasantly surprised by the lilypad ponds woven with wooden walkways. The site didn’t have as much to offer as Tan Lap but was worth visiting and breaking up our trip to Sa Dec.
📍 Xẻo Quýt Nature Reserve (Khu Di Tích Xẻo Quýt – Ấp 4, Cao Lanh, Đồng Tháp) 💰 10k per person (extra if you wish to take a boat ride, but they weren’t on offer when we visited).
⏰ 1hr
Another place that you could stop at is Nông trại Ông Bà Tư, a Lotus farm where you’ll find fields of lotus flowers that you wander through (the flowering season is around June). We didn’t stop here on this trip but did on our 10-day road trip through the Mekong Delta, which meant we missed the flowering seasons. However, it’s still a beautiful place to visit with lush rice fields as far as the eye can see and board walks among them.
After the nature reserve, we headed back on the motorbike for the short drive south to Sa Dec. We stopped off at “Nhà Hàng Kim Trang” restaurant for lunch, where you sit in cute cabins overlooking a (man-made) lake. The skies started to turn after lunch so we made a quick dash to explore the flower village, the main reason for our pitstop in Sa Dec.
📍Làng Hoa Sa Đéc (Đường Hoa Sa Đéc, Tân Qúy Đông, Sa Đéc) 💰 free
⏰ 30mins
At Sa Dec flower village you will find hundreds of flower farms, with rows upon rows of floating flowers. It seems that this village is mostly for people coming to buy flowers and other plants, but it was really interesting to see how the farmers tend to their rows of floating flowers via boats. Unfortunately for us, it was at this point that the skies took a turn for the worst and we had to dash to the safety of a nearby coffee shop to wait out the monsoon downpour.
Still intent on our plan to stay in Vinh Long, we grabbed some ponchos and hit the highway, trying our best not to skid out in the dark, monsoon rain. We booked to stay at Mekong Riverside Homestay* on An Binh island just across the Mekong river from Vinh Long city. To get to the island you take the local ferry, which would be a really cool experience (similar to the ferry to Can Gio) if it weren’t for the torrential downpour we found ourselves in.
An Binh island is covered in lush greenery, making it a great place to explore Vinh Long while also relaxing in nature. Unfortunately, the rain put a damper on our evening and we decided to unwind at the homestay, but we did come back to explore Vinh Long more on our next road trip.
✍️ How to Spend a Day in Vinh Long
✍️ Exploring Vinh Long Pottery Village