The highlight of my return to south Vietnam was a tour of the Mekong Delta. Much of the country's fruit, vegetable and rice crops are grown here. It is an immense expanse of fertile farmland, punctuated by the mighty and muddy Mekong River, and criss-crossed by thousands of canals and inlets. Our group stayed with a local family, Be'em and Anh: a chance to experience remote rural life firsthand - yummy food, a star-filled sky, rice whiskey, a scary toilet and brilliant fireflies. Both young during the war, Anh recounted one awful memory: hiding with her sisters during a US operation in the area and emerging to find her grandmother's house purposely lit on fire.
