Mekong Delta

South of Saigon, the Mekong River fans out into a green maze of channels, paddy fields, and orchard islands before emptying into the South China Sea. Most travellers come for one or two days from the city: an early-morning boat to the Cai Rang floating market at Can Tho, where wholesalers hoist sample pineapples and watermelons on long bamboo poles; a slow sampan ride through narrow water-coconut tunnels; and, further west, the flooded cajuput forests of Tra Su, where a punted boat glides over a vivid green carpet of duckweed beneath nesting herons and storks. Stay overnight in a homestay if you can — the delta is best at dawn.

Visual Guides

Travel infographic guide poster: Cai Rang Floating Market in the Mekong Delta
Cai Rang Floating Market — read the guide & watch videos.
Travel infographic guide poster: Can Tho Waterfront & City Life in the Mekong Delta
Can Tho Waterfront & City Life — read the guide & watch videos.
Travel infographic guide poster: Sampan Rides & Canal Life in the Mekong Delta
Sampan Rides & Canal Life — read the guide & watch videos.
Travel infographic guide poster: Fruit Orchards & Garden Houses in the Mekong Delta
Fruit Orchards & Garden Houses — read the guide & watch videos.
Travel infographic guide poster: Ben Tre Coconut Country in the Mekong Delta
Ben Tre Coconut Country — read the guide & watch videos.
Travel infographic guide poster: Cycling & Island Backroads in the Mekong Delta
Cycling & Island Backroads — read the guide & watch videos.
Travel infographic guide poster: What to Eat in the Mekong Delta
What to Eat — read the guide & watch videos.
Travel infographic guide poster: Getting There & Boat Trips in the Mekong Delta
Getting There & Boat Trips — read the guide & watch videos.
The Cai Rang floating market at sunrise on the Hau River with dozens of wooden boats laden with pineapples and watermelons, vendors hoisting samples on long bamboo poles in golden morning light
Cai Rang floating market at sunrise.
A woman in a conical hat rowing a narrow wooden sampan through a tunnel of water coconut palms with dappled green light on the muddy water
Sampan ride through coconut palms.
A narrow boat gliding through a vivid green carpet of duckweed beneath flooded cajuput trees in the Tra Su forest, with herons and storks in the canopy
Tra Su cajuput forest.

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