Vietnam’s Mekong: Life and Traffic in the River Delta
Under direct sunlight, the deep ochre hues in the Mekong are initially unsettling: is the entire river made of chocolate milk? Vibrant reds and blues await around the bend, amid the nutrient-rich fine rock-powder silt floating down from the continental interior.
The Mekong river stretches over 4200 kilometres from its source in the Tibetan plateau in southwestern China1 through Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, to the river’s mouth at the South China Sea. The Mekong is one of Asia’s longest rivers, and is one of the world’s most productive rivers with number and volume of fish. There are over 1000 species of fish known in the Mekong, and despite the critical importance of the inland fishery industry, dangers are posed by overfishing threatening overall supply, disruption of natural flood cycles, and by the inhibition of spawning and migration from present dams and future dam construction. Based on the silt flowing from the Tibetan plateau, the Mekong Delta is also a critical fertile growing region supplying food and economic wealth throughout the region. International challenges remain about proper usage of the Mekong River.
We reach Mỹ Tho city (tp. Mỹ Tho), a two-hour drive from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). People have gathered at the docks, ready to join one of many river tours. Some boats are ferrying residents from the mainland to islands in the middle of the Tiền river (sông Tiền), the northern branch of the Mekong.
We hop from one wooden boat to the next, alternating between water and land, slipping in between and hiding among mangrove trees. The midday sun beats down, and the heat and humidity are unescapable. As we dart around the islands near Mỹ Tho, my eyes swing from one boat to the next: floating fish-farms, ferries shuttling people, dredging ships carrying mounds of silt towards the South China Sea, men carrying their hauls on fishing boats carrying their hauls, women running errands on skiffs.
Only four short decades have passed since the end of “The American War”: bullets flew, chemical bombs fell, landscape blighted, blood spilled, families destroyed. The smiles and hard looks are a big part of an indelible visual memory, a part of this nation’s recovery and of her people’s endurance.
I’ve had a few hours only to gloss over the machinery of daily river life, but like countless other experiences in the year-long worldwide journey, this afternoon is representative of another introduction, another “appetizer”. Because there’s always more, here and elsewhere, up- and downstream. It’s easy to forget we’re only 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the South China Sea.
Multi-modal transport, somewhere on the Mekong delta.
I made these photos on 26 June 2012 (part of the year-long RTW). My thanks to Jade Nguyen at CanViet Travel for providing support and access to sights and activities during my short visit to south Vietnam. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotopress on fotoeins.com as http://wp.me/p1BIdT-24b.
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18 Responses to “Vietnam’s Mekong: Life and Traffic in the River Delta”
Brings back very pleasant memories for me. I went to Vietnam for a conference in 2012 also. Only saw HCM City and the Mekong but I was so taken by the warm people (especially the children), the lassez-faire attitude to life and the rich deep colours of the landscape. A photographers dream. Nice post!
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I completely agree: the colourful glimpses and delicious tastes of southern Vietnam through Saigon and the Mekong have left deep memories. And because they were like “appetizers”, I want more time, see more people and colours, sample more food, make more memories. Thanks for reading and for your kind compliment!
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You’re welcome. I guess it’s a race between us to see who can return first 😉
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Fascinating pictures but that “chocolate milk” river certainly isn’t conventionally pretty! Do the women rule the Mekong or are they just most of the workers you saw? I haven’t been to Vietnam yet but hope to get there in the next 18 months.
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Hi, Kay. No, it’s not conventionally pretty, but perhaps “conventionally” by North American standards. Not once did I ever think the colour was anything other than silt. I wasn’t in Vietnam long enough to know about how gender equality issues are being dealt in the country, but it seems to me the women have a big stake in the Mekong; it’s not only about fishing or river aquaculture. Thank you for reading, and for your comment!
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I love the contrast between the caramel colored river and the boats and clothing. We are so curious to visit Viet Nam and will probably do so in the next few months. The Mekong evokes such vivid associations for people our age. It is nice to replace them with your fine photography.
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We’re hoping to visit Vietnam in the next several months. For people of a certain age, “Mekong River” has decades-old associations. I love that your photography can provide different ones. The contrast between the caramel-colored river and the colorful boats and clothing is very appealing.
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Thanks, Betsy, for your kind comments. I sincerely hope you can go to Vietnam. I believe what you will see, taste, and experience in Vietnam will be far better than what images or words can describe. 🙂
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We have never been on the Mekong in Viet Nam, but have been in Cambodia. Very similar appeal with the beautiful boats and people living their lives in and on the waters. Great photos!
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The histories of a number of these countries are invariably tied to the Mekong, given the river’s running course from the Tibetan plateau in China to the South China Sea. It’d be fun to compare your past experiences in Cambodia with your future experiences in Vietnam. Thank you for reading and for your kind comment!
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Vietnam’s Mekong is a place that has long been on my list and hope to get to it sooner than later. I love your photos, especially the one in the mangroves.
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In times of peace, there’s something to be said for the ability to linger lazily and to meander up and down the Mekong. Thanks, Nat and Tim, for your kind comment!
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Hi Henry. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Love the Mekong River, with its sights, colors and smells.
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