Colorful fishing boats bob along the rickety jetties. Wooden longhouses stand perched above the murky waters of the Hau Giang River. Hawkers hustle their wares – fresh fruit, sacks of rice, spring greens, blood-red chillies, fermented fish – in the cavernous indoor market. Scooters purr through the streets and locals laze on the watersides, chatting and mingling on the banks. Welcome to Chau Doc. The town's place at the top of the Mekong Delta has brought it thriving floating markets, which can be found popping up ad hoc between the nearby islets. The location in the heart of the old Cham Kingdom also makes it a uniquely multicultural spot. Mosques towers overhead and Buddhist temples down the side streets host communities of Vietnamese, Thai, Malay and Cambodian people, all easily. Chau Doc tour guides are at hand to organise everything from cooking classes to birding tours down the river, not to mention cross-border trips all the way to Phnom Penh.