Mekong Sweet Love

Starting at the Tibetan Plateau and winding its way through the Chinese province of Yunnan, Myanmar (Burma), Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, the Mekong River is the tenth-longest in the world.  Tucked away in the southwest of the latter country, the river breaks off into multiple channels to form the Mekong Delta.  The Delta region produces more than half of Vietnam's rice output and, in fact, produces more rice than Korea and Japan combined.

To do the entire region justice would have taken more time than I had, so from my base in Ho Chi Minh I opted for a brief 'taste.'  From my hotel, I booked a day-trip to see some river-life including floating markets, bee farms and river cruising.  The journey to the Delta by bus was two hours, and the time flew by with detailed commentary from the tour guide.  Interesting tidbits that stood out were utterances such as, "This is a petrol station and the driver is going to fill the bus up with petrol for our journey" and "If you look to your right you will see a field.  I don't know what it is used for."  One thing the guy did say, though, which was genuinely interesting was his disclosure that, although he had had many Mekong girls as girlfriends, his father forbid him from ever marrying one.  "Mekong girls are beautiful and lots of fun," he confided with a devilish grin on his face. "But they are terrible girls for marriage."  It seems that Vietnam has it's own version of the "Essex Girl" or "Jersey Girl."  This is something which I have seen first hand in Vung Tau, as most of the girls working in bars or "massage" parlours hail from the region with the intention of snagging a rich husband to lavish gifts upon them and take care of their families financially.  Of course, this is a generalisation, much like the ones regarding Essex and New Jersey.

Once in the Delta and on a boat, it was easy to sit back and soak up the scenery as the boat chugged along, passing people going about their daily lives.  The floating market was quite unlike the one I had seen in Thailand, as it was something akin to a wholesale market, where business was conducted in bulk.  Still, watching the act of commerce taking place in unconventional surroundings was fun.  The tour included a couple of stops at various places with the motive of foisting stuff upon tourists, but I gave them a miss and stuck to the riverside to watch the locals play out the soap operas of their lives.  I did take the opportunity at one stop, however, to jump on a bicycle and take it for a spin around one of the islands.  Unfortunately, the bike wasn't exactly in good condition and proved a lot of work for something supposedly 'leisurely.'

I wish I had had more time to fully explore the Mekong, to have taken a boat up the river into Cambodia and beyond.  I'll just have to leave that trip until another time.