The Mekong has been used commercially for centuries and it shows.

Mile after mile is covered by run down "loading docks."

This is the traditional dip net fishing boat.

The net is lowered into the water. I never saw any chumming, so I guess you just wait for the fish to happen by.

At the appropriate time (???), the net is lifted and the fish, if any, slide towards the man-and-wife counter balance team and into a bucket.

Here is a traditional Vietnamese embroidered picture (silk on silk) showing the system.

Other forms of fishing, using nets or traps, were common. The water always looked like this.

Using a drift net with a mesh that could catch a guppy.

Although 50 miles up from the ocean, the lower Mekong is still tidal. I wouldn't trust that buoy. I saw plenty of them on shore.

There were lots of large cargo ships with removable canopies to allow them to go further up river under lower bridges.

All vessels of any size had "eyes" on the bow to keep them out of danger.

The eyes don't always work. This one was hard aground. It would take a lot of 3m 5200 to get this one floating.

It looks like it was re-purposed. It now pumps water out of a canal connecting the upper and lower Mekong. There was no place to go ashore and see what the water was used for.

Most of the vessels seemed to rely heavily on bilge pumps. Everything I saw had water squirting out several places where it was always visible to the crew.

Here is the ingenious engine cooling water system. The prop blows water into the funnel that feeds the engine cooling system. The feed pipe keeps the prop out of the mud (sort of). Grit in the intake water doesn't matter because there is no impeller blade.

The props were often entangled with plastic bags, rope and other garbage. Lifted out of the water, the engine would race and throw some off. No reverse on most, so you need a fellow boater and shut down if it won't fling off.

A typical fancy setup. Some of the larger vessels appeared to have petrol auto engines. Most had rudimentary or no muffler.

We followed this boat through a narrow canal at low tide, staying back far enough not to get sprayed when he had to lift his prop. His discharge water would vary in color from light chocolate to dark chocolate depending on the amount of mud in the cooling water.

All of the larger vessels were loaded beyond USCG regulations. Where's the bow lookout?

Smaller boats had lawn mower size engines. Steering with your feet seemed to be popular. He might be looking for his flip flop.

Hand propulsion was still around. She will sell you a plain baguette or make you a sandwich (banh mi).

Every little boat repair spot seemed to be occupied. This is an inboard similar to what we were in. I saw lots of shiny propellers and not because they were new.

Further up the Mekong we stopped at a Buddhist temple.

The boat traffic thinned out a little.