Around the World in 80 Posts: ...on recon in a steaming Mekong Delta.

After winding through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia - the Mekong River ends in a magnificent Delta in southern Vietnam. It is an incredibly fertile region, hence its nickname "the rice bowl of Vietnam". A sizeable population of some 17 million people live there, and most are farmers and fishermen.

Mekong Delta rice paddy

The waterways are the lifeblood of the region. Not only do they provide drinking water, bathing water, irrigation for crops, lots of fish and edible plants like the water hyancinth, but they are also the main mode of transport and commerce in the Delta.

Vietnamese row boat

Local woman picking water hyacinth

Bassac River, Chau Doc

Farmers sell their crops to boatmen, who then congregate at various points along the Delta, where other middle-boatmen can go from boat to boat, buying fruit and vegetables wholesale and then transporting them to markets in town. Vendors advertise their wares by hanging a sample from a tall pole on the front of the boat, so buyers can easily tell who is selling pineapples, or watermelons, or sweet potatoes etc.

Floating Market vendors

Watermelon buyer

Where the produce ends up

I go to spend two wonderful days in the Mekong Delta, cycling through the rice paddies and cruising the various waterways, eating fruit right off the trees and enjoying the numerous floating markets. My trip was organized by Sinbahlo Adventure, and included a night at a homestay in Can Tho. Cold showers and an early-morning rooster wake-up call notwithstanding, I had a lovely time, and even learned how to learn how to cook Vietnamese mung bean spring rolls. And the cycling was sublime, a great way to see local life up close.