Inveterate Travellers: The Mekong Delta

The ONLY way to see the Mekong Delta in its proper perspective is by small boat. The Mekong River is some 5000km long reaching up into China, through Burma, Laos and Cambodia, but the important part of it, in a Vietnamese sense, is the first 100km or so. The delta is vast, with hundreds of tributaries and canals, many of which are only several metres wide and others many kilometres wide and 40 to 50 metres deep. The trip from Saigon to My Tho by bus, by itself is interesting but once you get on the canal and river system, the waterways are busy, crowded with hundreds of boats, mostly working, and thousands of homes and businesses perched on stilts on the side of the river, to avoid them flooding during the rainy season. The area is mostly rural and intensively farmed and there are areas where tourists rarely visit.

Keeping the canals clean is a major problem as ALL refuse is dumped into the water but many organisations are now working with the residents to educate them on environmental programs. Reduced flows from dam-building up-river has also created many problems including reduction of fish numbers and disruption to breeding cycles, as well as increased salinity which could have a catastrophic effect on rice production.

Our boat tour consisted of only a dozen or so in the group, on a small boat with a captain and a tour guide – the best way to see the area. The sight of waterside dwellings hanging over the canals, industry depending on the canals for transport and hundreds of ferries, small taxi-boats for river crossing and supermarkets on water, is a real eye-opener. Most of the larger canals are regularly dredged to keep them from silting up and huge silt barges ply the waterways to keep them clear, the silt being used for building works on roads and levees. Most of the boats use small diesel or petrol motors mounted on a swing-arm with a propeller attached, the arm used for steering as well as propulsion – very simple but very effective. We spent about 7 hours travelling through the canals and waterways, including several stops to see some industries and markets along the way and a lunch break at a great little waterside restaurant.

We spent the over-night stop at Can Tho, a quite large city in one of the busiest ports along the river and loved the great street market there. There are also several very highly regarded restaurants and the one we chose was extremely good – great food and a terrific atmosphere right on the river-front. The following morning we set out for the huge floating market up-river from Can Tho and the experience was incredible – almost anything was available from fresh fruit and vegetables grown by small growers up and down the river, to meat, fish, crabs, poultry and other essentials available in the city market. After our visit to the markets we bussed back to Saigon to spend a further day exploring this vibrant and exciting city.