Mekong River Delta

Friday (4 September) was an early start for our bus trip down to Can Tho, the largest town on the Mekong Delta.We had to be at the bus ticketing office by 8am and from there transported out on a local bus which took 40mins to the bus station on the outskirts of the city.No problems with our bus, a fairly new Hyundai, complete with seatbelts, curtains and large flat screen TV above the driver which played a variety of local entertainment.The trip took 5 hours and stopped for 30 mins half way through at the bus company's service centre which reminded us of the UK motorway services as it was quite new and built for a crowd - one main difference of course were the food prices which were about 20 times cheaper!!

Our bus arrived in Can Tho but then had to queue for nearly an hour to be able to get on the ferry to get across the river into the town centre.There is a new bridge which is currently under construction and due for opening in May 2010.The riverside area of Can Tho is very entertaining with some good cafes to sit and watch the locals as well as the variety of boats which constantly go past along one of the many tributaries of the Mekong.

On Saturday (5 September) we were in our small boat on the Mekong Delta by 6am together with guide Nu and boat driver Ngoc.We did a 7 hour trip through large and small canals and visited a couple of the floating markets where the locals sell their wares on their boats.These are mainly fruit and vegetables but also bread and drinks so we were able to grab a welcome cup of coffee.Incidentally, the coffee here in Vietnam is some of the best we have ever tasted!Ngoc was able to meander the boat in between the sellers so that we were right next to some of them - great for picture taking.

We also called in to visit a family who operated a small rice noodle making business - they mix rice flour with water (no shortage in supply of river water here!) to make a batter then ladle it on to a round drum type object (just like making pancakes), quickly cover and steam it, then scrape off onto a rack made of bamboo and lay into the sun to dry before being thinly sliced up and bagged to sell as noodles - very interesting but constant work!

We have included a photo of a boat full of cat fish - these were being farmed by a family who live right on the river and feed the fish until they are 3 months old then sell them at the local market.As you will see in the picture, there must be thousands of fish all on top of each other, fighting for survival - not an attractive sight!!! We thoroughly enjoyed ourtime on the Delta and must have covered over 20kms on the water - this is nothing compared with the size of the whole area! There was a distinct lack of wildlife - no doubt due to the results of the chemicals used during the war, not to mention the pollution being pumped into the water. Plastic bags are a major problem!