Mekong River Delta

Friday, 11 December

Yesterday we took a daylong excursion to the Mekong River Delta which is area that starts about 25km south of Saigon. The Mekong River is one of the longest rivers in the world- it starts in the mountains of Southwest China and flows south into the border of Burma/Myanmar and Thailand, then into Laos and Thialand , further into Cambodia and then into southern Vietnam. When it gets there it fans out into 9 major rivers that flow into the South China Sea with multiple small tributaries and canals lacing the area. It is a major rice growing area in the world.
During the American War (as the Vietnamese refer to it) of 1962 -75 it was a major battle area as the small villages tucked among the waterways proved frustrating to deal with.

We took a bus to My Tho and got on a medium size boat on the main river of the area:

One of the sites along that river:

We got off the on one if the stretches of land between waterways where there are relatively nice and modern houses with full services and narrow roads:

We then got in smaller boat/canoes to navigate smaller and narrower waterways lined with extensive foliage:

One of the local kids:

 

Entertainment after lunch at one of the villages:

 

Ang finally more proof that I was on this trip: