Mekong Delta, Vietnam
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© From the photo album of Linda Young
Our journey began as we boarded the beautiful Mekong Queen, a motorized wooden boat, to explore life along the Mekong River in Vietnam which flows from Tibet to the South China Sea. The first stop is the bustling Cai Be floating market filled with any number of boats bursting with fruits, vegetables, and other products all vying with each other to sell their wares. Some of the women were cooking delicacies aboard their boats for their customers. Traders have lived on the river, in their boats, for generations. You see their laundry drying in the breeze, indeed, their closets were open air too. We sailed right beside the river boats, the houses, shops, and industry too, watching as the people made coffins and docks, cut wood, and carried their products by boat to the market to be sold. We strolled along a neighborhood path to an ancient Mandarin house for lunch where four generations of family members are living together. Our lunch consisted of delicious Mekong Delta grilled fish and fruit specialties, surrounded by a lush, tropical garden full of singing birds.
