Vietnamese call the Mekong River Cuu Long, which means Dragon of Nine Heads, so named because the estuary breaks the river into nine mouths that spill into the sea.

Because it's only a few hours bus ride from Saigon, we come out to the Mekong frequently when folks visit.

The package tours offered in Saigon usually include boat rides into the swamps.

Our first time to the Mekong we went with Michelle Ingram and Jade Reeves.

When you're in the little boats, you get a cone hat for sun protection.

Most of our time we sit in these larger motorized boats.

Out in the swamp are little coconut candy factories.  They are working factories, but they have been set up to accommodate lots of tourist visitors.  This workshop included a python!

To get to Can Tho from Saigon, you have to take a ferry.

Looking from one ferryboat to the next.

Typical riverside housing.

Quite often the sewers run straight into the river.

Can Tho has a little riverside park, featuring this big tin-man statue of Ho Chi Minh.

Can Tho is a pleasant enough town, but there is essentially nothing to do.

Alligator Farm!

Alligators are awesome and evil and scary and good to eat.