Mekong Delta

The Mekong Delta covers an area of 67,000 square km in the Southernmost region of Vietnam and often referred to as Vietnam’s rice basket, is the biggest rice –growing region in the country, the rich alluvial soils producing 3 harvests a year and delta products include coconut, sugar cane, fruit and fish.

Mekong Delta is periodically flood so the traditional transport station is by boat, along a vast network of canals. A cruise along these canals with their floating market always proves to be a fascinating and rewarding experience for travelers.

Off the eastern coast of the delta in the Gulf of Thailand, nearer Cambodia than Vietnam, is the island of Phu Quoc, the largest island in Vietnam and is also called the Emerald Island because of its natural treasures and infinite tourism potential. The island is well known throughout Vietnam for the production of black pepper and its fish sauce.

Floating Market

Floating markets are held every morning from 5:00 to about 11:00. Phung Hiep market is the biggest since it is located at the intersection of 7 major canals. It is also a photographers delight because it can be seen above from a bridge. Cai Rang and Phong Dien are two other notable floating markets in the delta.

Boats loaded with produce from nearby orchards of the Mekong Delta converge to the floating market. They carry mostly fruits but also coconuts, vegetables and fishes.Buyers are local traders with bigger boats snapping everything by the bushels and resell at local markets or to wholesale dealers from big cities, often for a handsome profit. Large floating markets are not complete without its floating restaurants, floating gas stations and an occasional tour boat filled with tourists.

Source:Vietnam Travel

Mekong Delta

Arghhh, I should have wrote this first!
vietnam travel
But I don't know how to slot this entry in front! *faint*

When you look at the map, Mekong Delta is SO big. In Vietnamese, Mekong means Cuu Long, which means Nine Dragons, as the river branches into nine mouths that empty into the sea.

I printed my Mekong Delta map off ReidOn Travel's website. To travel from HCMC to Ha Tien or Chau Doc in the delta will take up at least half of a day. Thus, we need to plan our route carefully and to decide how much time we want to spend at each place.

After reading through countless blogs online, I thought I'll just concentrate on two or three places in the Mekong Delta. In the end, M and I narrowed down our choices to Chau Doc, Vinh Long and possibly My Tho. It's still considered very ambitious because we do not have a private vehicle. Anyway, we decided to play by ear =P We'll just go wherever the bus can go and sleep wherever we can sleep and makes the best out of it. Sounds super exciting right? I'm super excited the night before that I can't sleep!

Frankly, there's SO many places I've not been to........but do I have to cover everything... after this trip, I think I'll still go back to Chau Doc again if I have the chance and maybe explore a slightly different route...