The Mekong Delta is over 15000 square miles and homes around 20% of Vietnam’s total population. Beyond the numbers the Mekong is an irreplaceable part of Vietnam’s agricultural economy thanks to their leading rice and fruit production that positions the delta at the center of the dinner plate for Vietnamese citizens across the entire country. We got to experience this impact first hand over the last 2 days as we balanced tourism and practical experience.
The first of these experiences fell into the tourism bucket but not in the clean, boujee way. We ventured across the street using Tuan’s patented “sticky rice” technique to play water games. However it wasn’t until arriving at the first set of games that we realized the water was a giant brown pool of mud and things that probably shouldn’t be in water. After getting over the high likelihood of becoming patient zero for the next wave of deadly diseases I was able to lock in on staying upright on a soaking wet bamboo bridge as it swayed uncontrollably back and forth. The nauseating swinging compounded with rival players’ efforts to push us down into the 4 feet of muck below to form an intense game of balance and focus. As awful as it sounds it was actually some of the most fun I’ve had the entire trip. There was something about just embracing the full experience that made it unreasonably enjoyable. After the water games we made a short trip to a much smaller and somehow even murkier trench of water. There we were given a sharp bamboo trap and a bucket to “catch fish”. This sounded doable but after a minute or two we still hadn’t seen any fish. This problem was alleviated by the help of a machine that sucked up large pools of water at once to force the fish into smaller areas where we could actually see the fish and have a chance at catching some dinner. This made it so much easier and at the end of our 10 minute fishing excursion my team had caught 2 fish with the help of a strong-gripped UEF student. This experience was a good crossover between tourism and practical experience because even though we only spent 10 minutes fishing, it wasn’t lost on us that this activity represented a real lifestyle for many Vietnamese people on the delta. In fact around 70% of Vietnam’s aquaculture output comes from the Mekong Delta’s fishing economy making activities like ours a vital part of Vietnam’s overall economy.
On Sunday we awoke to the sound of roosters crowing well before sunup, something I didn’t realize was even possible. The reason we had to give in to the roosters’ obnoxious noises was the early risers running the local floating market. We boarded a boat and took a short trip to the market around 6:15 am and let’s just say the market did not disappoint. As we pulled up to the main market area our boat was immediately approached by another smaller boat offering us a 15,000 VND (~$.57 USD) mobile coffee bar. We then moved on past various fruit and juice stands offering everything from durian to orange juice. The grand finale was a large store boat which had souvenirs, cold drinks, and more local Vietnamese foods. There we tried some fresh mango which might have been the best fruit I’ve ever had in my life. Despite the life changing assortment of fruits, the most striking thing from the floating market was definitely the people who worked there. The market wasn’t just a place for tourists to come and try fruit, but a home and workplace for locals. Tuan pointed out how some local sellers even come to the market to buy wholesale goods that are then sold all around the region. This makes the floating market a driving force in the local economy that supports thousands of people rather than just a one stop marketplace with a side of tourism. The work ethic of the Vietnamese people was on full display at the floating market and across the delta as a whole, and I am incredibly grateful that I was able to experience Can Tho city as more than just a tourist…but the rice wine was still a nice touch.
