After our day exploring the floating markets we decided to continue our stay in the Mekong Delta region at a homestay on An Binh Island. Our hotel in Can Tho arranged a shuttle to take us to the ferry station in Vinh Long where we boarded the ferry to An Binh. We wandered off the ferry looking confused and were quickly accosted by moto-taxi drivers offering to take us to our homestay. We were a little hesitant about jumping on the backs of motorbikes with all of our belongings on our backs but there aren’t many cars on the island and our phones weren’t working so it seemed like our best option.

The moto ride was actually pretty fun. I wasn’t offered a helmet and was holding on for dear life the whole time but I think if I hadn’t had to focus so hard on balancing the heavy pack on my back I could have really enjoyed it. I was definitely glad we saved our first moto-taxi experience for the island instead of braving one in Ho Chi Minh City.

We arrived safely at Ba Linh Homestay where we were greeted by our host and shown to our room. A Vietnamese homestay is basically their version of a bed and breakfast. In the case of Ba Linh our host started the homestay by renting out the spare rooms in his home and, over the years, built additional buildings on his property to expand the homestay. He and his family still live there and and do all the cooking and cleaning and care for their guests.

Our time on An Binh was a lovely and peaceful break after the bustle of Ho Chi Minh City. Our first evening there we collapsed into hammocks and read until dinner time. After dinner our host offered us rice wine and showed us a tree filled with fireflies. It was my first time ever seeing fireflies and they are truly magical. Clustered in the tree, they looked like tiny twinkling Christmas lights.

The next day we borrowed bikes from the homestay and took off to explore the island. The bikes were pretty rickety and we ended up getting very lost but it was still a great way to spend the day. An Binh isn’t an island out in the middle of the ocean but is a part of the delta that is surrounded by rivers on all sides. It also has numerous rivers running through it which we were contantly crisscrossing as we rode around. The main business on the island seems to be small fruit farms and almost all of the homes we passed had fruit trees and herb gardens surrounding them. Small children waved and yelled ‘hello!’ at us as we biked past.

That evening we took our host up on the offer to help cook dinner with his family. We learned how to roll and fry spring rolls and how to make papaya salad. Afterwards we sat down to enjoy a delicious meal which, in addition to the dishes we helped cook, included deep fried elephant fish, stewed chicken, corn soup and dragonfruit for dessert.

After we sat down to eat the food all came out beautifully presented- check out the little cucumber man riding our fish!

Overall it was a perfectly relaxing couple of days and it was nice to take it easy after being constantly on the go for the previous few days. This type of balance, between seeing and doing a lot and taking time out to relax and just enjoy ourselves, is something we’re hoping to achieve throughout this trip.  The only downside was the mosquitoes, which were prevalent and apparently very hungry!

Next we are heading back to Ho Chi Minh City to catch an overnight train north to Da Nang where we’ll catch a bus to Hoi An. Stay tuned for a full report on this epic many-modes-of-transportation adventure.