The Mekong delta
is the southernmost part of Vietnam, South-West from Hồ Chí Minh City,
which is on another river basin. The Mekong enters Vietnam as two
branches: The First River (Tiền Giang), which takes several names on
the way, enters at Vĩnh Xương and flows through Tân Châu, Cao Lãnh, Sa
Đéc, near Cái Bè and Mỹ Tho before exiting out at sea, and the Bassac
river, entering from Cambodia just North of Châu Đốc, and flowing
through Long Xuyên, Cần Thơ and near Sóc Trang before exiting ou at sea
at Cửa Đình An.
Threats from the sea
Roughly one half of the delta, North of
Cần Thơ, is often flooded about the fall equinox as fresh water cannot
freely flow out at sea, and the other half is less flooded, but more
and more subject to the effects of saltwater from the sea. The
lanscapes are thus very varied, from wide open ridefields to mangrove
through coconut groves. The mean altitude of the delta is so low that
the sea tides are not only felt but the current actually inverts as far
North as Châu Đốc.
The Mekong delta river
produces more than half the total agricultural produce of Vietnam, and
is dubbed the “Rice basket of Vietnam”. It is a very pleasant area to
live, with a bountiful nature and charming people. Its being threatened
by an increase in the water levels linked to global climate change
makes the delta all the more precious today. Life on the delta
Life in the countryside is very much
revolving around the river and its innumerable canals and tributaries.
Not only is fishing a major occupation in the region, it is essentially
done by casting nets and mostly at the scale of a whole village, but
for a few decades now, the inhabitants of the delta have set out to
grow fish in floating fish farms, at first in the province of An Giang,
North of the Bassac river, and now farther and farther downstream. The
most recent evolution is fish farming in ponds, be it shrimps, tôm càng
or tôm sú, or crabs, and now several sorts of fish. The landscape
begins to change deeply in the vicinity of these farms.
Floating market at Trà Ôn, early morning
The Mekong delta river
and its tributaries form a dense net of waterways, of which near 15,000
miles can be navigated by boats of over 100 tons in the delta alone,
that is more than ten times the length of compacted road. So all the
markets are near the river, and West of the Bassac, they are often
afloat on the river itself, be it wholesale markets like that of Cái
Răng, near Cần Thơ, or retail markets or even village markets like at
Trà Ôn.
All the trades pertaining to the river
are represented along the banks, where you find not only agriculture
producers, fruit drying facilities and small-scale cane sugar
refineries, but also mechanics, wooden ship building yards and dry
docks.