The Mekong Delta, also known as The Nine Dragon river delta as it is formed by nine rivers, lies immediately to the west of Ho Chi Minh City (also called Saigon by locals), roughly forming a vast triangle stretching from My Tho in the east to Chau Doc and Ha Tien in the northwest, down to Ca Mau, and including Phu Quoc Island. It is also called the rice bowl of Vietnam as it pumps out more than a third of the country’s annual food crop from just ten percent of its total land mass. The Delta region displays a variety of physical landscape, from vast paddy files in the south to hills in the north and west. It’s a water world where boats, houses, and markets float upon the numerous rivers, canals and streams that crisscross the landscape like arteries.