Sunday, 15 April 2007

Mekong Delta & Floating Markets
































The country's two main cultivated areas are the Red River Delta in the north and the Mekong Delta in the south. The latter has produced one of the world's great deltas, composed of fine silt that has washed downstream for millions of years. After winding its way from its source in Tibet, it is the where Mekong meets the sea in southernmost Vietnam. The whole area is covered with fields where farmers grow all different kinds fruits and vegetable. The Mekong Delta vibrates with colour, bright-green rice shoots, yellow and electric-pink incense sticks drying along roadsides. The rhythm of life along Mekong byways buzzes with slow but constant energy.
I took the chance of a private tour to get a glimpse of the life of Vietnam's agricultural workforce, which feeds the nation on this life-sustaining river. The boat took me very early morning at 5:30 down the river to the first market. It is amazing how the whole system works, everything on water. Small and big boats filled with loads of merchandise have to find their way to make the best deal. It was very interesting as we could get very close to the people.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Peter,

Great to hear you're enjoying the start of your Vietnam trip - I'm back in Melbourne, back at work, but am feeling very relaxed. Will send you an email soon. And hope you don't mind, but have been sending my friends a link to your blog - you've done such a fab job on it and your photos are fantastic - everyone says so!

take soon - stay in touch!

alison :-)

WelcomeToSouthEastAsia said...

Hi Alison, so good to hear from you!! I hope you had a good trip back to Melbourne. Thanks for the big compliments, I really appreciate that. I just completed the last two blogs but I could not insert more pics from the floating market. I will have to try tomorrow again as I have got great ones to show. So, wish you a good start into the new week. By the way, the hotel in HCMC is very nice, free internet with aircon. See ya Peter

Anonymous said...

Hi Peter,
danke nochmal für die Ostergrüsse. Nach meiner Rückkehr war ich etwas energielos, aber jetzt, wo hier die Sonne kaum mehr zu bremsen ist, dürfen auch wir wenigstens in den Pausen und am Abend noch ein bisschen Urlaub schnuppern und das tut richtig gut. Am Wochenende konnte man das 1.Mal den Balkon unter Rauch setzen und Rotwein und grillierte Hähnchen liessen die nordalpine Steifheit über die Ballustrade hüpfen. Es war herrlich. Mit vielen neuen Komplimenten für Deine grandiosen Fotos und die schönen Reiseberichte sende ich Dir Mille Bacci: Tua Susanna tutta panna

WelcomeToSouthEastAsia said...

Hi Susanne, danke fuer Deine Message. Es freut mich natuerlich, dass Ihr nun auch mal Balkonien geniessen koennt. Ich bin manchmal schon ganz froh, wenn ich mich irgendwo ein wenig abkuehlen kann. Ich habe ja bereits seit meinem Reisebeginn Hochsommer. Ich bin heute den letzten Tag in Ho Chi Minh und fliege morgen in Richtung Norden. Also weiterhin viele sommerliche Tage wuenscht Dir Peter