The Mekong - Part 1

Chau Doc - January 22

In Vietnam now, having come from Phnom Penh (Cambodia) on the ninth longest river in the World (3,050 miles), the Mekong. The first stretch of what will be a multi-fragmented journey from the rivers near-terminus in the South China Sea back upstream towards it's source in Tibet. In particular, over the next week or so, we'll be in and around the delta areas south of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). Next stop, Can Tho...


Can Tho - January 24

This bustling commerce center of the region has an impressive amount of river traffic ever coursing it's numerous waterways. We rented a moto one morning and cruised out to Phong Dien for a very scenic floating market. Women were expertly maneuvering around on small boats with the grace of dancers, pirouetting as they guided the rear motor with their foot, standing like a stork, while operating both oars with their hands. As if this wasn't exotic enough, even today, many women don the ubiquitous conical hat to protect them from the sun as fair skin is highly valued here.


Vinh Long - January 27

Our first day here we took a ferry out to one of the islands that boasts numerous lychee + rambutan (fruit) orchards. We had intended to walk to a town where we'd been told we could rent bicycles, but the walk en-route was so wonderfully scenic - Along canals + under the shade of trees, watching groups of people trimming lychees for shipment + boat traffic along the numerous canals - that we were lured to continue meandering these winding paths the remainder of the afternoon instead. At dawn the next morning we were having coffee, fresh out of Vietnam's signature aluminum drip-filters, as women busily set up stalls around us at the central market. A couple cups of this jet fuel and we were wide awake for our boat ride through the canals to the nearby Cai Be floating market. This was the first market we'd seen where produce was sold wholesale from larger, wooden houseboats where families live. Laundry hung to dry + children were swinging on hammocks off the back deck while their parents loaded produce onto customers smaller crafts. Each boat simply advertised their goods with a fruit or vegetable strung up on a single, tall pole.

Check the "link" for more photos from the Mekong Delta