Mekong Delta stands above the other tourist destinations in that it makes its visitors feel not just like a mere guest, but more like a family.

Phong Dien District in Can Tho City is one of the favorites among tourists because it is an eco-tourism area. This means that the place is abundant with fruit gardens and its world-famous floating markets. While guests can check in and enjoy the comfort of commercial hotels during their visit, some prefer the adventure of a “home-stay” arrangement wherein visitors stay for a day or two, or even longer, at a local resident's house.

Unlike staying in hotels wherein guests may feel supreme comfort but receive technical, impersonal service, choosing a home-stay arrangement makes one experience traditional life in the rural area first-hand. One such popular house at Phong Dien is that of Lam The Cuong, or more locally known as Muoi Cuong among the residents in the area. His house is located at the banks of Ong de Canal, a complex of several houses and developed into an “eco-tourism road” because it leads to the famous fruit gardens.

What makes Muoi Cuong's house different from all the other “home-stay” houses in the area is that it is home to not one, not even two, but three generations of Cuong. Thus, aside from his wife, son and daughter, his daughter-in-law and even grandchildren live under one, single roof. Moreover, the house has a big, beautiful garden guests can appreciate and relax in. In fact, the garden is big enough to have a cocoa plantation which guests can actually participate in during harvesting and processing.

The Cuong family makes chocolate and cocoa juice from their garden, an experience visitors will always remember. Guests at the house also get to taste the local food, vegetables harvested at the family's garden itself, and fish bought at the famous floating market. Rice, noodles, tofu, soup, shrimps, and Vietnamese spring rolls are just some of Phong Dien's specialties. Dining at the family garden while listening to the hosts tell local tales, it's a treat the hotels can never offer.

Other well-known home-stay houses in the area are those owned by Nguyen Van Xinh, Hai, and Mai. At the former's house, tourists get to taste Moringa oleifera leaves which residents believe grow from a magical tree, locally known as “chum ngay;” red Tilapia; and frogs and toad porridge. Xinh's family also grows Burmese (dau Ha Chau) grape, Phong Dien's specialty. The family's guests can also experience fish and turtle feeding while staying at the house.

Hai is a 70-year old man popular for making fruit liquors manually. His specialty is ambarella, though he claims he can make liquor from any kind of fruit. While the latter made her name by cooking and selling tofu, soya bean milk, and sponge cakes (banh bong lan).

Most tourist destinations offer commercial service and accommodation vacationers may easily forget because of their impersonality. But experiencing traditional, provincial life first-hand at Phong Dien District is one unique adventure tourists will surely remember for the rest of their lives.