Brick kilns shaped like giant beehives still smoke along the canals of Vinh Long. Their reddish clay domes, built by the hundreds back when the region supplied all of southern Vietnam, herald a port of call devoted to handwork and life on the canals. River cruise boats anchor in the Co Chien branch, one of the great distributaries of the Mekong; sampans immediately take over, and it is at water level, beneath the nipa palms, that the delta tells its story.

An Binh Island, an orchard set on the water

Facing the town stretches An Binh, a low island criss-crossed by channels where it is easier to get around by boat than on foot. The canals sometimes narrow until they almost brush the banks; the branches of longan and rambutan trees meet above the boats. Families readily open their orchards: depending on the season, you taste pomelo, dragon fruit or mango in a courtyard where rice mats are drying. Some old houses, with weathered timber frames and altars laden with ancestors' photos, welcome travellers for tea. Elsewhere, a gardener trims his century-old bonsai, and Tien Chau Pagoda watches over the tip of the island, facing the river. The dirt paths linking the orchards also lend themselves to a bike ride, offered by several excursions; you'll pass schoolchildren in uniform and racks of fruit set out to dry in front of the houses.

The kingdom of bricks

A detour along the Mang Thit canal leads to the famous kilns. Up close, these conical towers are impressive: tens of thousands of bricks bake slowly inside, heated with rice husks, for weeks on end. Many workshops have closed, unable to compete with modern industry, but a few families carry on the craft: moulding the clay, drying it in the sun, stacking it skilfully into inner chimneys. The barges docked at the foot of the kilns leave loaded right down to the waterline. The scene, with its workers dusted in ochre, is worth more than many museums.

Workshops and flavours of the delta

Around Cai Be, upstream, family workshops demonstrate how rice paper is steamed on fabric drums, how caramel puffed rice is made and how coconut candies are rolled by hand. These workshops produce first and foremost for the region's markets, and this lack of staging is precisely what makes them interesting. On the quays of Vinh Long itself, the market overflows with river fish, fresh herbs and mountains of pineapples; vendors in conical hats weigh, cut and call out in a cheerful din. Early in the morning, the riverbank comes alive with deliveries: boats dock with their bellies full of watermelons and sacks of rice.

Port of call at a glance

Along the canals

The charm of this stop lies less in its monuments than in its journeys: a monkey bridge spanning a channel, a ferry packed with mopeds, children diving from a pontoon while shouting greetings. The sampan takes passengers back to the ship at the hour when the light turns golden and the clay chimneys rekindle their plumes. The Mekong Delta works, trades and cooks, and lets you look over its shoulder with disarming generosity. Heading back to the ship, you reflect that a land's wealth is sometimes measured by the number of its boats.