UPSTREAM MEKONG RIVER WITH PANDAW CRUISE

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8-day cruising in Mekong River from Vietnam to Tonle Sap, Cambodia

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CRUISE ON MEKONG RIVER WITH LE COCHINCHINE 2 DAYS

CRUISE ON MEKONG RIVER WITH LE COCHINCHINE 3 DAYS

CRUISE ON MEKONG RIVER WITH LE COCHINCHINE 4 DAYS

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DISCOVER MEKONG RIVER WITH BASSAC CRUISE

2-day cruise trip in Mekong River, Can Tho, Cai Be, Vietnam

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PHNOM PENH – SIEM REAP 3 DAYS WITH TOUM TIOU CRUISE

SAIGON – PHNOM PENH 6 DAYS WITH TOUM TIOU CRUISE

SAIGON – PHNOM PENH 8 DAYS WITH TOUM TIOU CRUISE

SAIGON – PHNOM PENH 10 DAYS WITH TOUM TIOU CRUISE

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Mekong River

The Mekong is one of the world’s major rivers. It is the 11th-longest river in the world, and the 12th-largest by volume (discharging 475 km³/114 cu mi of water annually). Its estimated length is 4,880 km (3,032 mi), and it drains an area of 810,000 km² (313,000 sq mi). From the Tibetan Plateau it runs through China's Yunnan province, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. All except China and Burma belong to the Mekong River Commission. A south Asian regional association, Mekong-Ganga Cooperation is named after this river. The extreme seasonal variations in flow and the presence of rapids and waterfalls have made navigation extremely difficult.
The river's source, and therefore its exact length, is uncertain, due to the existence of several tributaries in an inaccessible environment. According to the China Science Exploration Association survey, the source is the Lasagongma spring, at an altitude of 5,224 meters (17,139 ft). This spring is located on Mount Guozongmucha, and forms the Zayaqu, which has been identified by the Chinese Academy of Sciences as the headwaters of the Mekong, within northwestern China's Qinghai Province. An earlier expedition by Michel Piessel had identified the Zanaqu as the headwaters, at the Rupsa-La pass (further west, at an altitude of 4,975 m/16,322 ft). As a consequence of the difficulty in determining the location of the headwaters, figures for the Mekong's total length vary from 4,350 km (2,703 mi) to 4,909 km (3,050 mi).
Approximately half the river's length is in China, where it is called the Dza Chu in Tibetan in its upper course in Tibet, and more generally the Lancang in Chinese, meaning the "turbulent river". Much of this stretch consists of deep gorges, and the river leaves China at an altitude of only 500 meters (1,640 ft). The entire river is known as the Meigong in Chinese.
The river next forms the border between Burma and Laos for 200 kilometers (120 mi), at the end of which it meets the tributary Ruak River at the Golden Triangle. This point also marks the division between the Upper and Lower Mekong.
The river then divides Laos and Thailand, before a stretch passing through Laos alone. It is known as Maè Nam Khong (Mother of all rivers) in both Lao and Thai. The Lao stretch is characterized by gorges, rapids and depths of as little as half a meter in the dry season. It widens south of Luang Prabang, where it has been known to flood to 4 km (2 mi) in width and reach 100 meters (300 ft) in depth, although its course remains extremely inconsistent. The endangered Giant Mekong Catfish was traditionally caught in this region once yearly, following auspicious rites officiated by the quondam royal family.
The river again marks the Lao-Thai border in the stretch which passes Vientiane, followed by a short stretch through Laos alone. This includes the Si Phan Don (four thousand islands) region above the Khone Falls near the Cambodian border, where endangered dolphins can be viewed. The falls are all but impassable to river traffic.
In Cambodia, the river is called the Mékôngk or Tonle Thom (great river). The Sambor rapids above Kratie are the last to impede navigation. Just above Phnom Penh is the confluence with the Tonle Sap, the main Cambodian tributary. Below Phnom Penh, it divides into the Bassac and the Mekong proper, which both flow into the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.
In Vietnamese, the river as a whole is known as Mê Kông. The part flowing through Vietnam, known as Song Cuu Long (river of nine dragons), divides into two major branches, the Tien Giang (Front River) and Hau Giang (Back River). These in turn enter the sea through nine estuaries, thus the Vietnamese name.
About 90 million people rely on the river. The area they live in, known as the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), comprises Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces in China, Burma, Lao PDR, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.[5] The main livelihood of the people of the GMS is rice production. Approximately 140,000 km² (54,000 sq mi) of rice are grown in the GMS.[6] A huge number of rice varieties are grown along the Mekong. Of approximately 100,000 rice accessions in the Rice Gene Bank of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), about 40,000 come from the GMS.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Mekong.