The Mekong Delta,
often referred to as Vietnam’s rice basket, is the biggest rice-growing region
in the country, the rich alluvial soils producing three harvests a year. Despite
being a predominantly rural region, the Mekong Delta is one of the most densely
populated areas in Vietnam and most of the land is under cultivation. Other
delta products include coconut, sugar cane, fruit and fish. The main towns of
the delta are My Tho, Vinh Long, Can Tho and Chau Doc. Driving south from Ho Chi
Minh City, My Tho is the first major Mekong
Delta town
you come to. Its proximity to Ho Chi Minh City has made My Tho the most popular
destination for day-trippers to the delta looking for a taste of authentic delta
life. Here visitors can take a sampan along the waterways, visit tropical fruit
orchards and try the local delicacy, Elephant’s Ear Fish. The other popular
destination for day-trippers from Ho Chi Minh City is Vinh Long, another 65km
deeper into the delta. It is the islands in the Mekong River rather than the
town itself that is the highlight of a trip to Vinh Long. Most of the islands
are given over to fruit orchards and the narrow canals are often straddled by
flimsy-looking wooden bridges made from the trunks of coconut palms or bamboo
and known as monkey bridges. An early morning visit to near byCai
Be Floating Market offers
great photographic opportunities as all manner of produce is traded from boats.
To make shopping easier the boats suspend a sample of what they sell from the
top of a long pole. On the way back to Vinh Long it is possible to stop off to
visit small riverside workshops including blacksmiths, rice huskers, thatchers
and coffin makers! Just over 30km and a ferry ride away from Vinh Long is Can
Tho, the bustling commercial centre of the Mekong Delta. Can Tho is one of the
more attractive delta towns but as in the rest of the Mekong
Delta the
best sights are on the water. The delta’s biggest floating market, Cai
Be Floating Market ,
is 6km from Can Tho and well worth an early morning visit. For a memorable boat
trip the Victoria Can Tho Hotel operates sunrise and sunset cruises on the Lady
Hau, a renovated traditional rice barge. A spectacular sight outside of town is
the stork garden at Thot Not where hundreds of egrets, herons and cormorants
gather in the treetops to roost late in the afternoon. Chau
Doc,
nestling at the foot of Sam Mountain on the Cambodian border, has a real
frontier town feel to it. This busy little riverine town has large Cham, Khmer
and ethnic Chinese communities and the distinctive architectural styles of each
community can be seen in their places of worship around the town. A boat trip on
the river is the best way to see the unusual floating fish farms, houses with
wooden pens suspended underneath where live fish are kept. Chau
Doc’s Sam Mountain is
home to dozens of temples and shrines and is a popular pilgrimage site for
ethnic Chinese as well as Vietnamese.
