Cai Rang floating market, Cacao & hidden small canal

Chris was our personal tour guide for this 5-6 hour long tour. It was long but we never felt tired and it was worth every penny! Chris (Minh Nhật) is a local enthusiastic young man and we were so lucky he was our guide! He was professional, friendly, helpful and informative. The tour started with a pickup from our hotel, getting on the small boat driven by a kind older lady. She's been driving boats for 30-40 years and was very skilled at maneuvering around the river. We boated over to Chợ Nổi Cái Răng (Cai Rang Floating Market), while Chris shared various tidbits of history and meaning behind the river, the people living on the boats and the market. We enjoyed fresh cafe sữa đá (Vietnamese iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk) and fresh squeezed orange juice from a man on another boat, then got to enjoy a lovely bowl of hủ tiếu noodle (veggie or meat) for breakfast while the sun rose over us. It was magical. Chris then showed us one of the families that lives in a set of 4 house boats on the river, while enjoying fresh cut local fruit. After this we went down a small canal to check out water coconut and then another one to go to the small noodle factory. At the noodle factory we learned how noodles we were made from rice flour and tapioca starch, steamed, dried then cut. We bought some unique colored noodles here made with dragon fruit, butterfly pea flower, turmeric and pandan leaf. The tour continued with a visit to a local cacao farm where the owner and his family walked us through the process of growing cacao beans to processing them into final products. We got to taste the chocolate along the way and were wowed by the rich intensity of the cacao. We finished the tour with a lovely 1 hour-ish boat ride back to our hotel. Chris and the boat driver (Mung) made this one of the most amazing and unique tours we've been on. Would highly recommend this to anyone!!