The Ride
This short three day, 200 km ride gave us a real feel for the Mekong Delta. We crossed three branches of the huge Mekong using a ferry and the big new bridges built with the help of Australia. We watch life along the rivers and the canals as we rode to Cantho. There we explored the river and the floating markets and did a day tour along minor roads around the town. It is a very easy ride as the terrain is flat except for approaches to the larger bridges. However the heat and humidity at the end of March were very taxing. Earlier in the year would have been better. From Cantho we returned to Saigon by bus.
The Road:
We took Highway 1 to Cantho, a good and very busy road with a wide shoulder. Around Cantho we used very narrow paved minor roads which we shared with other cyclists and motorcyclists and very rarely, a small bus or truck.
Accommodation:
Cantho had a good selection of hotels and guesthouses in all price ranges. There was little choice in Mytho. We had intended to break up our journey between Mytho and Cantho with a stop in the busy town of Vinh Long but the choice of hotels did not suit us.
The Route in Detail:
DAY 1: Saigon to Mytho (71 km)
Leaving Saigon early in the morning is an amazing experience. It is like being part of a vast column of ants travelling in both directions in all lanes. Like ants, the bicycles and motorbikes wove around each other miraculously avoiding collisions. At major junctions new traffic poured into the main stream without a backward glance. The buses and trucks, like blundering beetles, forced their way through blowing horns continually. Major road works within the city simply slowed down the column, which wound its way without hesitation around barriers and machinery. The ride is not for the faint of heart. The traffic eventually thinned out but the road was busy with buses, trucks and more private cars than we had seen before.
Mytho is positioned on the first major branch of the Mekong. Touts are constantly on the look out for tourists to take for rides on the river and into tiny streams off the main river.
DAY 2: Mytho to Cantho (107 km)
The route through delta crosses numerous long straight canals, small streams and one major branch of the Mekong just outside Vinh Long. This is crossed by a major new bridge. Along the road rice paddies are interspersed with gardens and orchards. The whole area is a Garden of Eden.
To reach Cantho we had a lively ferry crossing over the most southern major Mekong tributary. The town itself is on the Cantho River.
DAY 3: Round trip from Cantho (50 km)
We left along Highway 1 going south and after about 5 or 6 km turned off to the right in the direction of the Phong Dien Floating market. The Lonely Planet Atlas shows this minor ride as unpaved but although very narrow, it is paved all the way to its junction with Highway 91 into Cantho. This ride was a highlight as the tiny road enabled us to observe and enjoy the delta life. Highway 91 like Highway 1 was wide and very busy but had a good shoulder.