An Binh island
– Means of transport: scooter
– Duration: 5 – 6 hours
– Departure time: flexible
– Destination and activities: Huynh Thuy Le ancient house, École De Jeunesfilles School – Trung Vuong school (present), Sa Dec market, An Binh island.
— Price: 40 USD/pax
This tour departs from Can Tho city by scooter with your tour guide to Sa Dec district, Dong Thap province. To avoid the crowded main road, we plan to go on small roads. Along the journey, we can enjoy the small canals, fruit farms, rice fields as well as can see the Vietnamese people’s life in countryside. Arriving at Sa Dec after 1.5 hours or 2 hours of driving, you are going to visit the most famous ancient house in Sa Dec named Huynh Thuy Le.
Huynh Thuy Le ancient house is an architecture which was combined from three cultures – Vietnamese, Chinese and French. The owner is a rich Chinese merchant in Sa Dec. In 1895, he built the house by precious wood based on the traditional southern Vietnamese architect. However, in 1917, the owner restored the house by wrapping bricks around wooden frame. Therefore, the surface looks like a French villa, but inside, it shows a Chinese architecture.
Beside the original orient- western combination in architecture, the ancient house is very famous because of the out-of-border love story of the owner’s son named Huynh Thuy Le and a French named lady- Marguerite Donnadieu. Marguerite wrote a novel about her love story and it was rewarded and very famous in the world. In addition, the love story of Huynh Thuy Le and Marguerite Donnadieu was made into a film named “The Lover”.
After visit the ancient house, we are going to visit the school where Marguerite’s mother worked as a principal. Then, we have a chance to explore a traditional market of Vietnamese located in Sa Dec. In this market, we can experience the typical life style and activities of Vietnamese in the South.
Next, we take the scooter to Vinh Long province and then take the public ferry to go to one of the beautiful island, dotting the Tien River, named An Binh. This island is as known as the key dedication agriculture, especially the tropical growing of tropical fruits such as pomelo, rambutan, longan, to name just the few, which are shipped to markets in HCM city and others province in the Mekong Delta. The best transportation to enjoy and explore the life in island is bicycles; we will about 1 to 2 hours on bicycle tour. Finally, we will end the tour and go back Can Tho city.