Cruising the Mekong Delta

For our exploration of the Mekong Delta we were based in Can Tho. At the risk of being derogatory, Can Tho is Vietnam's Hamilton... a farming and agricultural hub, but a wee bit boring. So it stands to reason that the highlight of visiting Can Tho was taking a boat trip on the river, even though said boat trip took nearly seven hours. Adam declared later that he would have enjoyed it much more had we been able to do the same trip in four hours and I wholeheartedly agreed. In fact, during the last hour of the trip we meandered along the same strip that we began on and I battled against sleep. However, as much as the negative points make for more interesting reading, the first five hours of the trip were captivating. The river itself it not a pretty sight; brown and full of a mysterious thick water-weed, but one can clearly see that the Mekong Delta is the lifeblood of these people's lives. Flying into Can Tho, all you can see is rich green vegetation for miles and the littles huts that edge the river tentacles like lace frills on a skirt hem. We visited two of the main floating markets, Cai Rang and Phong Dien and, only after they had made eye contact with our driver, some of our smiles were returned by the hard-working vendors. The fascinating thing about being amongst the Vietnamese people in this area is that most live a large part of their lives on their boats. The main charm of the Mekong delta belongs in the canal tendrils that snake through the countryside. We hopped off the boat to wander along the edge of these canals and we were able to see the variety of freely growing fruit trees; mangoes, bananas, lychees, papayas and durian are just a few. After lunch and a very cheap and satisfying shoulder massage at a Homestay along the way, we were ready for our next and final stop - Ho Chi Minh City!