The Mekong Delta

Our final activity in Vietnam was a tour of the Mekong Delta. We started in My Tho, where we visited the large Buddhist pagoda (temple) complex Vinh Trang, with a mix of Vietnamese, Khmer and European influences. There were a large number of massive statues of Buddha, including James' favourite, in repose, which he dubbed "the Buddha of the afternoon nap". There were again an array of lovely gardens, and the interior was spectacular. We were treated to the sound of the monks chanting as we went in, and they subsequently filed out for lunch in time for us to go into the main worship area. 

This was followed by a boat trip on the Tien river, visiting Phoenix and Unicorn islands which each have small permanent populations. The original means of making a living was solely agriculture but there is also clearly a large business in tourism, and we saw a lot of people from around the world doing much the same as us for the day. We visited a farm growing a range of tropical fruits and got a chance to taste a variety, while listening to traditional folk songs (and one distinctly non-traditional rendition of "If you're happy and you know it"). There were many products on sale and opportunities for tipping, and the whole thing felt somewhat tourist trappy. But it was definitely interesting to have a look around, and we followed up with a sampan ride through one of the canals. From there it was back on the boat to another island for lunch, which was a lot of fantastic food, including a whole grilled fish. 

A horse and cart ride took us to a crocodile farm and led to one of the most intriguing discoveries of the trip, as it was home to the "coconut religion", founded by a man who only ate coconuts and drank coconut water for 3 years (he lived into his 80s!). It blended Christianity and Buddhism (not unlike another religion we discovered that day, Caodaism - fascinating, look it up), and at its peak there were 4000 adherents, praying for the reunification of Vietnam. They were banned in 1975 by the communist government, despite their clear success... 

We finished up in Can Tho for the night, and the huge lunch meant that after strolling along the river and watching the locals and tourists promenade, we headed back to our hotel for the evening, dinner an unnecessary extravagance. Luckily there was a rooftop bar where we could perch with drinks in hand.

The tour continued the next (early) morning, with a visit to the Cai Rang floating market, which is about exactly what it sounds like. The Mekong has been a major trade route for a long time, and people would come from everywhere to sell their wares from boats on the river. This is ongoing, although it is now a much smaller operation as better infrastructure on the banks and roads has made the markets close to redundant. It looks a pretty tough way to make a living, and despite the number of tourists, it seems to be in a steady decline. The contrast with the market we visited on the banks of the river afterwards was a case in point. We had some discussion about whether this represents a loss of culture unique to the area, or a welcome transition to more modern (and more profitable) ways of doing business. We'll leave it to you to guess who was on either side! 

We visited a big traditional house on the way to lunch, which featured in a moderately famous French movie and had a fantastic collection of orchids in the gardens. Lunch found us at another crocodile farm, with much bigger crocs than previously. James was dismissive after his experiences in Kununurra, where he claims the crocs were much bigger still.

Probably the highlight of the whole trip was the final visit to a wildlife sanctuary, based around a forest and system of canals. Interestingly, many of the tress lining the canals are Australian melaleucas, which are used as a larger substitute for the local version. There is a huge array of birdlife in particular, and we were lucky to spot a kingfisher (and some other unidentified birds) amongst an astounding number of egrets and cuckoos. We climbed a viewing tower with some Khmer monks, had a boat ride through the canals birdspotting and walked on the longest bamboo bridge in Vietnam - 3km long (we didn't walk the entire length)! Exiting the park we passed extensive preparations for Vietnam's national day of reunification, which was a common theme for the last few days of our time there. Our final night in Vietnam was spent in Chau Doc, getting ready for the boat ride up the river to Phnom Penh.