After visiting Saigon, we headed on to the Mekong delta, Vietnam’s rice basket, a wonderful landscape of green fields criss-crossed by brown canals. While most travellers visit the Mekong on an organised tour, we prefered to travel on our own.

The tickets for the local bus were a little difficult to get – with agencies trying to enroll all travellers on a tour – but we were well rewarded.

We spent a night with a family in a rustic homestay where we feasted on home-cooked fresh fish and we explored the lush rivulet on a small boat – just for us.

Wherever we went, we were greeted with smiles and a chorus of hellos.

If at first glance the Mekong appears to be a region of shiny, happy people, look deeper and you’ll soon discover that river faces great issues, from deforestation in Cambodia which results in catastrophic flooding, to pollution : although dumping all rubbish and sewage directly into the waterways is regarded as a normal pratice, millions people depend on the Mekong for their daily life – including cooking, washing up and bathing…

But the greatest threat may come from dams being built in China, despite international scientists’ warnings about disastrous consequences on the environment and fearing scenarios of mass famine and devastating floods in Cambodia.

The Mekong River Commission, a panel of the region’s nations, has accused China of blatantly disregarding the nations downstream in its plans to dam the river in an effort to stop the dams, but to no avail.

There you go again crying over the onions.

Joke aside, more info can be found here: http://www.mrcmekong.org

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