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The Delta region is endlessly flat, but luckily it was only a two hour drive, marked by a stop at a Cao Dai temple.  Cao Daism is a fusion religion that emerged during the French colonial period and features the symbol of the eye of God within a triangle.  Plus one of the brightest interior and exterior colour schemes you're ever likely to see in a religious context.

The Mekong, one of the world's great rivers, originates in China and flows through Laos and Cambodia before splitting into nine major mouths flowing into the South China Sea at the bottom of Vietnam.  As such the Vietnamese benefit from the water and the silt that has generated the immensely fertile soils of the region (producing, in combination with the benign climate, three rice harvests per year).

Our overnight stay was precision-stage-managed by the Cuu Long Tourist Corporation.  The itinerary included a trip across the river to a large island of Ben Tre, home to over 40,000 and criss-crossed by canals.  First stop was lunch at the home of an elderly former-Vietcong soldier, who proudly posed in his uniform next to his Uncle Ho plate.  Lunch was delicious, including the local Elephant Ear Fish, decorated with cucumber sculptures.  

Next up was a visit to the local brick factory, which uses the clay dredged up from the river.  Then we visited a coconut candy factory, followed by a Bonsai nursery, which was home to a 15kg pet python who suffered our attentions (apparently the biggest get to 50-60kg!).  Some of us were brave enough to try the snake-infused rice wine: not one to repeat.  

We were then rowed down a canal on little punts to our hospitable homestay accommodation.  The rice wine was flowing with plenty of cries of "Mot Hai Ba Yo!" (1, 2, 3 Cheers!).

This student returning from school shows that the Ao Dai costume is not just worn by tourists.

The next day we visited a puffed rice (ie rice bubbles) manufacturer.  The process was quite ingenious: they heated sand in a huge wok (healthier than oil and reusable), and when it was the right temperature they poured in the rice (with husks), which started popping furiously within a few seconds.  He then scooped it out into a strainer which let the sand fall back into the wok.  The remainder was then transferred to a coarser strainer, which separated the puffed rice from the husks, the latter then used to fuel the fire.

Finally we cruised through the floating market, where vendors in boats indicated what they were selling (mainly fruit and veg) by tying a sample to a long pole.  While somewhat contrived, this section of the tour was interesting to get a feel for the way the people of the Delta live and work.