Back in the early 19th century the Emperor Gia Long, the founder of the Nguyễn Dynasty, had the foresight to build canals for irrigation, transportation and military purposes in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta.

The French colonizers thought that was a pretty good idea as well and they enlarged the network in the mid-19th to mid-20th century. The French recognized the agricultural potential of the Mekong Delta and used the canals to promote rice cultivation, improve transportation and extract natural resources.

Today, canals are everywhere in the Mekong. It does mean, however, that you need to combine transportation methods to reach anywhere. We set out to visit a seed club in the Phụng Hiệp District of Hậu Giang Province. After taking a roundabout way to find a suitable bridge to cross one canal by car, we drove as far as we can. We then mounted motorbikes for a couple of klicks on a nice path along the canal. Finally we crossed another canal via a raft.

It was worth the transportation adventures to meet with farmers of the seed club and view some rice trials.