Deeper into the Mekong River Delta

Deeper into the Mekong River Delta

Is there anywhere on planet Earth that so teems with life and industry as the Mekong Delta? Anywhere where agriculture and fish farming are so intensively practiced? In thinking that one day I'll come back here and find multi-storey rice paddies stretching to the horizon, I suspect I'm only partially dreaming.

Not for nothing has the delta of the Mekong River been termed the "rice bowl of the Universe". Six countries and well over fifty million people depend upon the Mekong for their very livelihood. And in no country is this dependence so profound as in Vietnam.

Flying into Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) gives as good an introduction as any to the wonders of the Mekong. From the air the landscape resembles an intricate anatomical chart, only in shades of green and brown rather than white and red. Every tributary of the Mekong River bifurcates, then trifurcates and multifurcates into thousands of veins, arteries and capillaries. Then, linking this vast drainage network are hundreds of manmade canals, giving the countryside the appearance of an Eastern Venice.

"Getting out into the Delta" makes for a popular day trip from Saigon. Some visitors go further afield, to the provincial capital of Can Tho - and fewer still to the city of Chau Doc, near the Cambodia-Vietnam border. But until very recently (early 2001) it was impossible for foreigners to go by river across the Cambodian border.

Now, all this has changed. The Victoria Sprite and her larger sister vessel the Victoria Princess, for the very first time, offer a river service from Saigon all the way to the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh. No doubt whatsoever, this trip is destined to become one of the world's great river journeys.

As with any new venture, the Victoria boat service is still getting its scheduling in order. So on this occasion I get to travel by road from Saigon, to join the boat at Chau Doc. The road trip provides another take on Mekong life, which from any perspective is fascinating in its ever-changing variety.