Chau Doc, Can Tho and the floating market of Cai Rang.

So much of the Vietnamese population lives in Saigon and south into the Mekong Delta. Along the highways it was one continuous town virtually without a break for the 7 hour journey to Chau Doc near the Cambodian border. The waterways teem with life and the roads are choked with vehicles. It's the "rice bowl" of Vietnam and one of the major areas for growing fruit, coconuts and the fish industry. It is also home to the ubiquitous Nuoc Mam, fish sauce.

Chau Doc is an interesting mix of Vietnamese and Cham cultures. We took a small boat out amongst the floating fish farms and then stopped at a Cham community. They may have been poor but the mosque was large and the people incredibly friendly.

In days gone by everything travelled by boat but as the roads improve and bridges link the islands, produce is now more often than transported by truck. This means that a lot of the river life is changing.

The floating market of Cai Rang is shrinking every year and I imagine that it will become a thing of the past before too long.

27th - 30th December 2013