It's day 5 of our CF Mekong by CroisiEurope river cruise along the Mekong River and today we cross borders into Vietnam into the An Giang province. Today's excursions are a real highlight of the cruise as we explore the Mekong Delta by kayak and motorboat and get a sky high view of the Cambodian and Vietnamese borders.
If anyone has ever visited Vietnam, they'll be familiar with the long lines at the airport. However on this Mekong River cruise where we cross from Cambodia to Vietnam, all of the formalities are handled for us. All we had to do is hand over our passports at the beginning of the cruise and the ship's purser Mitch deals directly with Vietnamese immigration. Sometime this morning they boarded the boat while everyone was waking up, checked everyone's visas and passports are in order and that was it. There was no need to present ourselves or verify our identities and it's a seamless process. At 8am there's the sound of boat horns and we pull back the curtains and see that there are now many more ships in the Mekong River. We have reached the shores of Chau Doc in Vietnam.
Chau Doc has been part of Vietnam since the 17th century. Currently the population is 120,000 people and encompasses over 20 religions with Chinese, Khmer, Champa and the Vietnamese majority. The industry here is based around rice growing and harvesting. The bus ambles down Trung nu Vuong street and each side of the road is lined with cafes and restaurants.
Overlooking this is the horseshoe shaped Sam Mountain reaching 284 metres or 931 feet in height. It is part of a series of seven mountains in the area and these are a spiritual place for local people. The mountain itself is said to look like horseshoe crab heading towards the sea. You can climb up Sam Mountain but a popular way to get to the top is by cable car.
The mountain is full of photogenic spots and is a popular place to take photographs and it isn't too busy all things considering that it looks like a movie set. Some people even bring their colourful pooches along for photo shoots. From the top you can get a few of the Cambodia and Vietnam border. On the right is a Buddha carved out of the side of the mountain that is still under construction. It will finish to become a sitting Buddha.
The hot weather has gotten the best of all of us so we make our way back to the ship for lunch. Today's lunch is a welcome sight: a noodle station with vermicelli and egg noodles and a choice of prawns, beef, pork or chicken pieces with carrot and beansprouts. There is also a display of seasonings for the noodles as well.
I order egg noodles with pork and prawns and all of the vegetables and for Mr NQN a vermicelli with chicken and all of the veggies. This is followed by a chef's salad, a tomato and green bean salad plus this delicious eggplant salad made with a light chilli and garlic dressing.
Dessert is slices of sweet, fresh mango and a coconut and rice flour steamed cake.
We have just enough time to get ready for this afternoon's adventure and it is one of my favourites of the whole trip. We are visiting Tra Su Cajuput Forest in the South West of Vietnam. It's a 45 minute drive away from the port and the van drives past rice paddies.
Our new guide Big Bang explains that rice is an important grain to the Vietnamese - one grain of rice can grow into a rice plant and make 120 grains. We watch farmers busy harvesting rice with heavy equipment. After this, the farmer brings in a flock of ducks to eat the bugs and their waste then becomes fertiliser for the next rice crop. Then they burn the rice fields to get rid of bugs.
Rice is big business here and rice paddies take up between 40% - 60% of this province's area and they grow around 30% of Vietnam's total rice. Every year the Mekong Delta produces half of Vietnam's rice despite it taking up only 15% of the total area of Vietnam. Each crop takes 100 days so farmers average around three crops a year. Once the husk is removed, the rice is sold in large bags.
We arrive at Tra Su Cajuput Forest where we can see incredible biodiversity of the Cajuput tree forest. There are 900 hectares of forest and just 15% is used for tourist activities. This means that there is plenty of forest habitat left untouched and left for the 70 species of birds found there that includes storks, herons and darters.
The first ride is on a motorboat with 5 passengers per boat plus a driver. The afternoon is the perfect time for this ride as it is shady with only patches of bright direct sunlight that illuminate the water hyacinth that sit on the surface of the water. The boat glides through swathes of these green flowers and huge waterlilies that protrude high out of the water like sculptures. Tiny pink beads cling to stalks - these are snail eggs. At times it is so surreal that it feels like you're on a Disney ride (in the nicest possible way).
After a 20 minute ride we return to the dock and then make our way to the kayaking adventure. Bird watchers will love seeing the Tra Su forest by kayak as it is quieter so the sheer number of birds is astounding.
We don nón lá, the conical hat that perfectly shields us from the sun. There is up to three people per kayak and a person at the back who is in charge of paddling and steering. All you have to do is pose for the photographer at the start of the ride and then look out for birds. I've never seen so many storks in my life and we watch some nesting, some flying and marvel at the bird life here.
After this, we come back to earth and head back to the ship that sets sail for Sa Dec. I'm excited for the Vietnamese food on board tonight. We start with some Vietnamese appetisers with sugar cane prawns, spring rolls and netted spring rolls with sweet chilli sauce.
After this we try some crab egg drop soup which is very tasty with shreds of surimi and wisps of egg white.
The mains are served family style and include pork stuffed bean curd parcels in a hot pot, some beef with capsicum and onions, okra with salted bean sauce and fried rice. The beef is the clear favourite and once this is all polished off they offer to refill it. We get it refilled twice as the beef is tender and moreish.
The creme caramel is wobbly and tasty with the caramel taken quite far until almost bitter.
Tonight, I've lost my voice unfortunately. I think it's the air conditioning that is always on that strips my vocal cords of their moisture so it's an early night in bed foregoing one of my favourite activities: karaoke night! :( But at least I have a photo reminder of our wonderful day out!
So tell me Dear Reader, do you ever buy the photos taken after rides? When you travel, do you enjoy exploring nature and wildlife or do you prefer city and cultural sights?
NQN and Mr NQN were guests of CroisiEurope but all opinions remain her own.
CroisiEurope
To celebrate 25 years of cruising the Mekong, CF Mekong and CroisiEurope are offering a 25% discount code for tours departing October-December 2025 on a first come first booked basis.
25% discount prices begin at AUD$2,371 (US$1,559)
October 2025 Departures
Upper deck price per person in a shared cabin: USD$2,279 (25% discount USD$1,709)
Lower deck price per person in a shared cabin: USD$2,079 (25% discount USD$1,559)
November to December 2025 Departures
Upper deck price per person in a shared cabin: USD$2,569 (25% discount USD$1,926.80)
Lower deck price per person in a shared cabin: USD$2,369 (25% discount USD$1,776.80)
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