Home

10%

THE MEKONG DELTA

discovering the rice bowl of Vietnam

By Stories She Saw

July 30^th, 2018

I was told no information other than to meet my guide out the front of my Airbnb at 4.30am. I set my alarm for only moments before, which saw me rushing down the stairs still pulling my tshirt over my head at 4.30m exactly. The door was locked from the inside with a key I didn't have, and I heard nothing but the whizzing and chirping of tropical, nocturnal insects and the loud snores of my host's father, drowning out soccer still blaring on the antennaed television.

I waited patiently, tiredly, resigned that I had misheard or misunderstood. At 4.45am, I heard a shuffle in my host's bedroom and coughed loudly to alert them of my presence, then apologised with my face and hands to the lovely mother who spoke no English, who unlocked the door for me while wearing her nightie and slippers.

Once outside my ride was waiting, and I was straight onto the back of a motorbike for the short trip to the water's edge - my driver waking himself up with a smoke in the corner of his mouth balanced carefully while chugging a can of coke.

I was here to see the workings of the Mekong Delta, nicknamed the Rice Bowl of Vietnam on account of it producing 50% of the country's supply. Mine was an intimate and personal tour: my beautiful guide loved that I was a woman on my own so was determined to show me her home properly, despite our language barrier.

The sky changed colour well before the sun rose over the horizon, signalling another day's trade, despite the marketeers selling their goods 24/7 from their home offices on the water. The larger, wholesale boats advertise their wares by staking them to a pole in the sky. The smaller, retail boats zip and dash over the waves finding customers for their hot, milky coffees, fresh seasonal fruits and latest chops of meat. It is a cacophony of sights and smells, and a delight to watch.

We stopped to have breakfast with some captains from the other, smaller, boats - the vast majority who were female - all working together before we paused to tie our boats into a makeshift pontoon. These women had never lived away from the Mekong Delta, nor from the life it provided: food, energy, income and friendships. The women, bemused with my interest in their work, were happy enough sharing their food and boats, but it was clear that they belonged to a tribe that I never would.

I spent the second half of my morning touring the backwaters, enjoying a slower pace away from the main trade routes; replacing the engine rumbles with shadows from the mangroves, coconut trees and bamboo that lined the waters edge. We floated under simple bridges straight out of fairytales and passed locals that welcomed us with a wave.

The threat of global warming would be catastrophic for the Mekong Delta tributaries and the people that live and work within them, as well as the rest of Vietnam. At current projections, the entire southern area would be underwater within 100 years, with several provinces predicted to disappear by 2030. Not only will the rising water cause great famine, but it would also force the relocation of the 17M people that currently call the Delta home.

Along the banks of the tributaries life exists for animals, plants and humans, and has done for thousands of years. What appear to be makeshift homes have survived generations, through floods and wars and famine. Although I am confident that the people living along the Delta would adapt, it is a travesty that they should have to.

Footnotes

All photos taken by me on my Olympus OMD EM10ii

Button Label

FootNotes

All photos taken by me on my Olympus OMD EM10ii