Mekong Delta

The vast river delta where the Mekong divides into nine tributaries before reaching the South China Sea is home to 20 million people who live on floating villages, fish from sampans, and cultivate the rice paddies that make Vietnam the world's third-largest rice exporter. The floating markets of Can Tho -- where hundreds of wooden boats laden with tropical fruit gather at dawn -- represent a trading culture unchanged for centuries and are among the most vivid market experiences in all of Southeast Asia, and they attract 50% more tourists annually than the typical floating markets in Thailand, according to a 2022 travel industry report.