Mystic Sampans

Our services

TransMekong offer day cruises from our restaurant on the Can Tho river, the Sao Hom, in the old market hall, which is the most comfortable base for tours to the floating markets and around Can Tho. Please see our Mystic sampans picture gallery.

The cuisine served on board day cruises departing from Can Tho, be it for breakfast, lunch or dinner, is entirely prepared and cooked by our care, and in the morning, the bread, croissants and chocolate bread are hot off the stove.

The Mystic sampans are all able to run the medium-range cruise and to link the cities and towns of teh delta through the maze of canals and tributaries to the Mekong, with visits on shore.

Two floating markets: Phong Dien and Cai Rang

We are operating four large sampans with a total capacity exceeding 100 passengers at one time. Contact us if you wish to go on journeys a la carte.

Staying in Can Tho?

As you are staying in Can Tho, we can recommend restaurants and a hotel. All are right on the pier, and you will find there the same attention as on board the Bassac and Mystic sampans. Read more

Let us take care of you when you are in Can Tho: here are some of the better ports of call for the discerning traveler.

from restaurants...

With our double culture, we are happy to be able to offer Vietnamese, but also European quality meals.

Nam Bo restaurant

The oldest family restaurant, established in 1998. Vietnamese classic and Mekong delta cuisine, and for the travelers weary of Vietnamese food, western cuisine and espresso.

1 Ngo Quyen, Can Tho
restaurant@nambocantho.com
0710 382 3908

Sao Hom

Right in the middle of the old market hall, facing the river, the Sao Hom: classic Vietnamese cuisine and Mekong specialties, and also western cuisine and pizza, a must if you have kids.

Nha long cho co, ben Ninh Kieu, Can Tho
saohom@transmekong.com
0710 381 5616

l'Escale

l'Escale, the port of call, our gourmet restaurant on the terrace of the Nam Bo hotel. Breakfast, coffee, jazz bar, and a breathtaking view.

1 Ngo Quyen, Can Tho
lescale@nambocantho.com
0710 381 9139, ask for l'Escale

...to the Nam Bo Boutique Hotel

The family's latest venture, the Nam Bo Boutique Hotel is a tiny 7-suite hotel, focusing on caring hospitality.

1 Ngo Quyen, Can Tho
reception@nambocantho.com
0710 381 9139

The sampans [up]

17m Mystic sampans, 26-30 passengers [up]

The 17m, 56'-long Mystic sampans accommodate 26 and some of them up to 30 passengers, seated at their tables with a buffet service for breakfast, or even for a service at the table on the occasion of a lunch or dinner. The roof is made of light bamboo thatch, and the sampan provides warm lighting for a party cruising at night. We brought attention to every detail, to the best marine tradition.

TransMekong operates three large sampans.

The sampan is built so as to allow the passengers a level access to the sellers and buyers at the floating market, in comfort and with utmost stability even in high wind. The hull was designed for speed, the framework is rugged and strong to fend into the floating market and offers a wide view to the outside, whether sitting or standing, and the inside volume allows the passengers to stand and move freely around the sampan.

A toilet cabinet and stylish washbasin are available at the aft, extending the comfort of a hotel room throughout the excursion, making short cruises available to elderly passengers or l en join-inarger, inexperienced groups.

The large sampans were designed with short-to-average leisure stroll in mind, yet have proven very efficient in middle-range cruising, being able to reach with a full party from Can Tho to Cai Be in half a day.

Mystic Cai Rang, 13m, 16 passengers [up]

The 13m, 42'-long Mystic Cai Rang comfortably accommodates 16 passengers, free to stand and move around the sampan to the aft and buffet, or sit at their table to taste their breakfast. It follows the traditional shape of the floating market carriers, yet is open enough for everyone to enjoy the sights freely.

The whole hull and framework are made of wood and built according to tradition, making the Mystic Cai Rang into a multi-purpose sampan, designed for buffet and service, but also fit as a heavy-duty shuttle or as the carrier for kayaking parties.

Its flat, low-shape bow and flanks allows even elder passengers to board the sampan and disembark at unprepared banks, making it easy to face program changes and pick up the party or bring it to shore at unscheduled places.

Cruises and promenades [up]

Cai Rang [up]

Breakfast cruise to Cai Rang floating market 07:00 - 10:00

Breakfast is available as soon as the sampan departs at 7 AM from the Can Tho old market. It blends some vietnamese tasty dishes like banh bao, banh cuon and the Western menu with home-baked breads, chocolate breads, croissants, croque-monsieurs, ham, cheese, sausages, crepes, and grilled tomatoes. For drinks, we offer hot tea, milk, coffee, juices, mineral water and fruits for the dessert.

During breakfast, you can enjoy the scenery of local daily life on the banks comfortably, thanks to the broad view and the spacious accommodation on the Mystic sampan.

After the breakfast, the Mystic sampan cruises into the heart of Cai Rang floating market. There you will see a maze of boats loaded with fruits, vegetables or groceries for trading. You may also join the market by calling for fruits or a drink.

Leaving the floating market, the Mystic sampan takes you to a husking factory where you have a chance to discover how rough rice is made into white rice in Vietnam. Or we may pay a visit to a local ochard instead for fresh fruits. Then the Mystic cruises back to Can Tho city to arrive at the old market before 10 AM.

Phong Dien [up]

Breakfast cruise to Phong Dien floating market 07:00 - 10:00

see the film

Boarding near Phong Dien at 07:00 with a buffet breakfast fresh off the oven. Coffee and tea, as well as all the amenities on board, will be available throughout the promenade.

Enjoy breakfast as the Mystic sampan sets sail towards the small Phong Dien floating market that it soon reaches. Phong Dien is smaller and more pristine a floating market than the better-known Cai Rang. Here, few larger collector's boats and fewer propellers, most of the trade skiffs are rowed.

The sampan boards alongside small sellers' skiffs to complement the breakfast with fresh fruit, affording the passengers a closer contact with the ongoing trade and maybe some picture opportunities.

The sampan resumes the cruise to take the passengers to a visit on shore, maybe a nuoc mam factory, the traditional fish sauce that best defines Vietnamese cuisine, or a rice whitening factory, the remains of an old pagoda and a traditional Southern medicinal herbs apothecary.

The Mystic sampan enters the larger Cai Rang floating market against the current for a glimpse of the larger trade taking place: here wholesellers dispatch fruit and vegetable produce to be sold on smaller markets, afloat or on shore.

The Mystic sampan then heads back home to Ninh Kieu pier, to let the passengers disembark about 10:00 at the old market hall.

Please contact us if you need the road transfer from Can Tho center to Phong Dien. Depending on the day's visit, it may be effected prior to or after visiting Cai Rang market.

Lunch or dinner [up]

We are happy to accommodate parties for a lunch on board, on a round trip to greener areas. Please contact us to establish the detailed program and menu for lunch promenades: we can prepare Generic Vietnamese, specialities and even continental lunches. In this case the price may change. Beverages are not included.

The meal is prepared at the premises of the Sao Hom restaurant, just at the boarding point, and makes the best of the professional kitchen and bakery.

Sunset cruise [up]

The Mystic sampans will also take passengers at 3:30 PM for a sunset cruise til 6 PM.

Take a snack and a drink while cruising about the river through the photographer's golden hour. A stop in a shaded arroyo for a stroll gives you a unique opportunity to come near the rural life of the Can Tho area.

The cruise will take you up the Can Tho river and into arroyos, or on another route of your choice. The preferred destinations may be into the floating market as night falls, or along a lively canal in the green.

The open bar includes punch and a selection of home drinks, and of course juices. Cocktails, alcohols and beer are also available at a premium.

Inclusions, extras [up]

Breakfast cruise [up]

• Home-baked bread, croissants, chocolate bread;
• Butter, jam and honey;
• French-style crepes;
• Fruit, yoghurt;
• Ham, cheese, hot-dog sausages, croque-monsieurs, grilled tomatoes;
• Salad: tomatoes, cucumber, salad;
• Vietnamese: Banh cuon, banh bao¹;
• Hot tea, coffee, cocoa;
• Fruit juices.

Lunch or dinner cruise [up]

Set menu:

• Fish in clay pot,
• Sauteed chicken with ginger,
• Mixed vegetables soup,
• Green papaya salad with meat and shrimp,
• Mixed vegetables,
• Rice,
• Fruit.

Sunset cruise [up]

• Snacks: vegetarian or shrimp spring rolls, green bananas with shrimp, assorted snacks on bread, vegetable snacks;
• Rhum punch;
• Fruit juices.

Also available on board (at a premium): [up]

• Cocktails, alcohols, beer.

Booking [up]

Please book through your preferred agency, as we work very well with the best agencies in Vietnam.

You may also book through TransMekong or directly at the Sao Hom as your group comes on the night before if there are still available places.

Until 31 Oct 2013

2013 prices	notes	Public	price
Breakfast to	Cai Rang
Joining-in	1-4 passengers		860,000d / pass.
	5 passengers		730,000d / pass.
-
Private (Mystic 16)	1-4 passengers	3,050,000d	490,000d / pass.
Private (Mystic 16)	5 passengers	3,050,000d	440,000d / pass.
Private (Mystic 30)		4,300,000d	395,000d / pass.
Cycling option	Disembark. ~11:30	390,000d	170,000d / pass.
-
Breakfast to	Phong Dien
Private (Mystic 16)	1-4 passengers	4,580,000d	490,000d / pass.
Private (Mystic 16)	5 passengers	4,580,000d	440,000d / pass.
Private (Mystic 30)		5,830,000d	395,000d / pass.
Cycling option	Disembark. ~11:30	390,000d	170,000d / pass.
-
Lunch or dinner
Private (Mystic 16)	set menu	2,430,000d	340,000d / pass.
Private (Mystic 30)	set menu	3,130,000d	340,000d / pass.
-
Sunset
Private (Mystic 16)		2,430,000d	340,000d / pass.
Private (Mystic 30)		3,130,000d	340,000d / pass.
Cycling option	boarding ~14:00	390,000d	170,000d / pass.

Please contact us for the details and the menus for lunches and dinners.

Site map & Footnotes

Home : : en francais | TransMekong | Mekong delta | Nine Dragons | A historic Bassac | Gallery | Courtesy links |
Mystic Sampans : : en francais | Mystic | gallery |
Jobs : : en francais | management | sales-marketing |
Bassac : : en francais | our services | the ships | departures | programs | terms | availabilities | booking |