Mekong Delta

Why Go?

The ‘rice bowl’ of Vietnam, the Mekong Delta is a landscape carpeted in a dizzying variety of greens and slashed with mighty waterways. It’s a water world at which restaurants, boats, houses and even markets float on the innumerable rivers, canals and streams which flow through the region like arteries. At times you can quite simply lose sight of land.

The area is both riparian and deeply rural, yet it’s also one of Vietnam’s most densely populated regions, with nearly each hectare intensively farmed. Tourists can dwell on southern beauty in little-visited riverside cities, sample fruits which are traded in the amazing floating markets, or feast on home-cooked delicacies before visitors overnight as a homestay guest. Mangrove forests, sacred Khmer pagodas and off-the-beaten-track attractions round out the picture.

Those seeking tropical hideaways can come ashore on Phu Quoc, a divine forested island fringed with white-sand beaches and crisscrossed with empty dirt roads that simply beg for motorbike exploration.

When to Go

Nov When the dry season begins , with Khmer longboat festivals in Tra Vinh and Soc Trang.

Jan When they shiver up north, Phu Quoc’s beaches are temperate and dry.

Mar A March visit avoids the Tet madness, and the summer heat and rain./.

Tours:

Mekong Delta tour 1 day price $12

Mekong Delta tour 2 days price $24

Mekong Delta tour 3 days price $69

Off the Beaten Track

» Phu Quoc National Park

» Bang Lang

» Xeo Quyt Forest