A Look Into the Mekong Delta

After spending four days in the chaos that comes with Ho Chi Minh city, it was time to venture out and explore another beautiful area of Vietnam. We learned a lot about the Mekong Delta during our lecture with CET director, Christophe Robert, where we discussed the events that occurred on the coconut farms and in the fields half a century ago and the lifestyle of the people who live there today. Based on our discussion, my original expectations were proven wrong. Where one may think the Mekong is almost jungle-like with a lack of civilization, it is actually a fully functioning community made up of six islands that work together to keep the economy moving.

One of the most interesting scenes from the trip was the boat ride to the floating market from our home stay. We arrived at a section of the town where every type of food farmed by the Mekong people, including watermelons, radishes, lettuce, and pineapples, is sold and traded by boat. Each boat displays what they are showing by placing one of their items on top of a stake that sits at the front of their boat.

While this Venetian scene was fascinating to see and unlike anything I am used to, I could not help but wonder how the town survives through this method of trade. The competition is almost impossible to overcome, as each item is sold by multiple farmers. During our lecture, Christophe covered this point, explaining that there is not any way to make one watermelon farm better than the other. Therefore, this problem, especially in struggling areas like the Mekong, is not going away any time soon without a major change in the economy.

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