Bees and Snakes and Sticky Rice, Oh My!
My Tho, Vietnam - December 2025
For some reason, when I read the itinerary and saw “islands known for producing traditional handcrafts,” I pictured authentic, quaint villages. What I experienced was perhaps the most touristy experience of the whole trip. This was one of those photo ops that looks great, if you can frame out the crowds of tourists.
We left Ho Chi Minh City and rode 47 miles to My Tho, the administrative center of Dong Thap Province. Only six months before our trip, My Tho served as the capital of Tien Giang province; however, Vietnam drew new administrative districts, eliminating Tien Giang as a separate province. The city sits on the Tien River, at the southernmost tip of the country. People have lived in the Mekong Delta region since the 4th century BC.
Along the way, we stopped by the Vinh Trang Pagoda, the oldest pagoda in the Mekong Delta region. The pagoda was home to a variety of Buddhas, including a female Buddha and a reclining Buddha.
When we got to My Tho, they shepherded us on to an old diesel-powered flat boat and we chugged across the river to “Unicorn Island.” On the island, we moved along at a fairly brisk pace from one stop to the next. First, an introduction to their bee keeping tradition. A man held a rack of bees and invited us to hold it for a photo. Then we sat in an open-air building where they served us tea infused with bee pollen and royal jelly.
From there we walked along a winding path and came upon snakes in cages. Again, they invited us to have a picture taken with a boa constrictor around our necks. Then we got into trams and they took us across the island to another open-air building with picnic tables. They served plates of fruit: watermelon, dragon fruit, pineapple, and a few I couldn’t identify. My stomach was starting to feel unsettled, so I was suspicious of anything that wasn’t cooked. A few guitarists and a couple of young girls performed traditional music and then passed a basket to collect tips.
We were herded back to the trams, which drove us to another spot to board long, narrow boats. Each boat had a rower kneeling on the bow. Our rower gestured for us to pass back the traditional bamboo hats and each of us put one on our head. I wondered how many tourists had worn the hat before me. The waterway was very narrow, with palms crowding the banks. There were a lot of these tourist boats going each way through brown, murky water. The boat was so narrow it didn’t feel very stable and it wasn’t a relaxing ride. When we got to the end, once again they passed a bowl for a tip.
For the first time in my life, I was happy to be out of a boat. We walked up the path and through a shopping area that sold candy, crackers, coconut water, and snake wine. I found some of the coconut crackers that I had liked in Hoi An and bought them to take home.
After a quick 10 minutes in the shopping area, we settled down for lunch on a nice patio restaurant by the marina. They had the best food presentation of our Vietnam visit. The server deconstructed our fish tableside and served each of us pieces of it. My favorite was the Vietnamese Sticky Rice Ball, large, round, and filled with air. It collapsed when we cut into it and turned into pieces of sweet, warm, tasty bites.
After lunch we chugged back across the river, listening to the loud diesel engine and smelling exhaust. One blogger said My Tho was “often mentioned but rarely raved about.” With its brown water and tourist shuttles, this is not a river I recommend. If you really want to visit, find a way to stay after the tourist buses have left for the day.
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Tips & Recommendations
I found myself relating to a lot of what this blogger said about My Tho, even though we had different agendas. “On page, all of that sounds charming. In reality, much of it felt staged and transactional.” “I did not mind supporting local businesses…but I grew weary of the scripted sequence of demonstrations.” He enjoyed the city more after the buses left, sipping coffee by the river.
I remember hearing a lot about royal jelly years ago. It was advertised as a remedy for just about everything. At My Tho, it was much less expensive and I bought the three-pack of royal jelly and the bonus package of bee pollen. I’m not sure if my health is any better, but the royal jelly has been great for my skin!
I looked up recipes for the giant sticky rice ball, thinking for a hot minute that I might try to make one. I probably won’t, especially after watching this video but I will definitely look for ways to taste it again. It was really delicious.