(And cool pics at the End!)
Three pair of eyes keep these three boats from coming into harm’s way.
This is an Asian tradition
Alrighty then, here it is for real, the info on the Mekong River Delta.
Guess what is over 3000 miles in length, is the boundary between three different countries, runs through five, including several Chinese provinces, has a drainage area of over 300,000 square miles, but only has a little over 100 of those 3000 miles at its terminus in the south of Vietnam?
Since we all know that I’m writing about the Mekong River you’d be very surprised if that were, indeed, not the answer.
Be not surprised.
But it’s the last bit of given information that is the telling of the tale here. From hydroelectric and irrigation dams it’s a wonder that any water makes it to the end its course. Of the fifteen major dams on the Mekong, thirteen of them are in China and two are in Laos. So you can see where Vietnam has little control over what comes downstream towards them and that is changing big time as this is written.
Get this.
Just a short distance before the Mekong reaches the location where it crosses Vietnam’s boundary with Cambodia, a canal has been proposed and digging has begun on a waterway that will change the course of the river, cleaving off over forty percent of its flow and diverting it southward through Cambodia. It is said that one of the goals of the project is to give Phnom Phen access to a port on the Gulf of Thailand, where it will end in the small province of Kep.
Do you think that Vietnam is having a fit over this issue?
Yes.
It is no secret that all of these countries in Southeast Asia have enjoyed (?) various levels of (non) cooperation over the last 1000 years or so. And even today, these questionable past alliances breed a level of suspicion that can only have its roots in a history that sustains that kind of suspicion.
But here’s the best part….. China (surprise) is the entity that is financing the project to the tune of 1.7 billion US Dollars (which we all know means at least double of that!). Can you believe that Cambodia will be beholden to a country that in reality was the genesis of the Khmer Rouge? Does this make any sense to you?
It does if you can understand that Cambodia seems to hate the Vietnamese. Now Cambodia will be able to thumb their noses at the country that helped them defeat Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge back in the late 70’s. Vietnam’s ‘mistake’ was to stay in Cambodia for about ten years until Cambodia got its act together, government-wise….. but that just pissed off the Cambodians as they thought that Hanoi was making them a puppet-state. (They weren’t)
This also illustrates that China likes when things are stirred up and unsettled….. it makes them the one that is in, and totally has, firm control.
The river that we visited was not as obviously under the influence of anyone except Mi thien nhien (Mother Nature), full of life, both over and under the water.
Yes, it’s real.
Yes, I could have purchased even a little one.
No, I did not.
We went to several of the Touron Traps like the coconut candy (YES!) making place, then an authentic (just a little touristy) Chocolate from Scratch business (YES! YES!) and then a visit with a local farmer who has been here, on island, since 1975.
This visit includes a farm tour and some fresh fruit and of course….. shots of whiskey (YES! YES! YES!)! Then it was off to a riverside place for lunch and there were no disappointments here! Their presentation of traditional fare was spectacular!
The ‘stuff’ clinging to it is some kind of seed/spice/delicious.
It was deep fried.
I hope that you can tell that all of our food stops have been just fabulous! O.A.T. first does a survey of the place, then they test out the menu and certify that they have high sanitary standards.
Then they get to be set up on the Approved List to go to.
After all was experienced (and eaten) we made our way back to the bus in the hopes of beating that mass migration that was heading back to Saigon.
No more surprises for you….. you’ve already seen that the Monumental Mekong Movement was replaced by the TET Time Tinkerer.
And the only good thing to develop around that was the fact that we were thoroughly entertained by that mess for the entire ride back to Saigon, and by extension, so were you!
So….
How ‘bout that Delta? 😊
And no crocodiles either!
Mr. and Mrs. Island Farmer