The fertile plains of the Mekong Delta offer relief from the buzz of Ho Chi Minh City, AIDAN REYNOLDS watches the world float by on Vietnam's mighty Mekong River.

Written by Aidan Reynolds on 31 Mar 2005 with 0 comments. Be the first!

As much as I love the trappings of modern urban life, it's always good to get away, and that's the primary appeal of the Mekong - its accessibility. The lush and fertile flood plains of the Mekong Delta offer a welcome relief from the noise of the buzzing metropolis that is Ho Chi Minh City.

Setting out on a bright, sunny Monday morning we head out of the city in search of peace and tranquility. As anyone who has ever been to Saigon knows, trying to leave the city in the rush hour is anything but peaceful or tranquil. Still, within an hour we've left the madding crowd far behind.

Our first destination is the small town of Cai Be, about two and half-hours away, where we will rendezvous with our longboat. Passing through several towns en route, we witness scenes of great activity. There are men loading and unloading large sampans laden with rice, scores of schoolgirls clad in pristine white Ao Dais cycling to school and people lining every spare inch of the roadside selling pineapples, watermelons, dragon fruit and the rather potent Ruoi Nep, or rice wine. All of this is set amid the unfaltering backdrop of rice paddies stretching as far as the eye can see.

Once on the water the pace of life slows markedly. As we float down one of the myriad canals created to transport everything from human cargo to exotic fruit, an old lady in a small rowing boat passes our bow. Inside the boat there are seven or eight people, but they are not family, as I have first assumed. Instead, they are customers and the old woman is ferrying them from one side of the canal to the other. She stands at the back of the boat and flashes a big toothless grin as she rows effortlessly past us.

Further on, the canal widens as we approach the mouth of one of the main tributaries of the mighty Mekong River. We slow down, not to admire the grandeur of one of Asia's largest rivers but to stop and buy some fruit! Cai Be, like so many other towns in the Mekong has a floating market. This amazing spectacle begins at sunrise when hundreds of small sampans, most of them floating homes, congregate here to sell fresh fruit and vegetables.

The first boat we encounter sells pumpkins - this we know as the boat's mast has a large pumpkin hanging from the end. A young woman leans precariously out of the boat, smiling and waving a sliced pumpkin at us whilst an elderly woman simultaneously dangles an infant over the edge - the child is not for sale, merely relieving itself! We decide to give the pumpkins a miss and settle for some delicious coconuts instead.

Leaving the floating market behind, the immensity of the Mekong River becomes apparent. This giant surging mass of water begins its life nearly 4,500km away in Tibet. Now as it approaches the South China Sea, it splits into nine tributaries known locally as Cuu Long - the nine dragons. The murky brown waters are rich in nutrients and is the reason the farmers are able to produce fruits with wonderful names such mangosteen, rambuttan and longan.

All this talk of food has made us hungry so we make for Binh Hoa Phuoc Island. The island is essentially a huge sandbank in the heart of one of the Mekong's tributaries and as such has some of the richest and most fertile soil in the delta. Here, a number of homestays have cropped up in recent years catering to the Saigon day-tripper, all offering excellent food in the wonderful surrounds of longan or bonsai orchards.

My personal favorite is Mr. Muoi Huong. His charming house rests on the banks of a canal where his wife and three sons reside. "Bonjour monsieur Huong, ca va?" I inquire in my rather primitive French. Although Mr Huong speaks no English, what he and his family does understand is hospitality.

We move through the house to the longan orchard out back, which provides a welcome shade from the midday sun, to dine on huge prawns and the charmingly named elephant ear fish, farmed in a small pond next to the orchard. After gorging ourselves with the food, we retire to the hammocks in the orchard and sleep off the effects of the rice wine!

Sadly and all too soon it is time to leave this verdant oasis and return to the big city. I bid our charming host "Au revoir" to which he replies "Bon voyage" and we set off through the maze of waterways. For those who are interested and who have more time to spend, Mr. Huong is happy to accommodate them overnight but that, as they say, is another story.