mare TV

Vietnam in the Mekong Delta (12x2)

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The Mekong Delta is the fertile labyrinth in Vietnam's south. Some 18 million people live there, at and on estuaries, river courses, islands, sandbanks and mangrove forests, which collectively cover an area almost the size of the Netherlands. Without a boat, hardly anything is accessible in this amphibian world. The Nguyen family starts the day in prayer. The Water Goddess has to be made merciful for the trip to the floating market. Many dangers lurk in the Mekong Delta: currents, sandbanks and the rush hour, which practically takes place around the clock. The Nguyen family practically never have solid ground beneath their feet. Three generations live on one sampan, a wooden house-boat, which is always full of fruit and vegetables. The fertile alluvial soil of the Mekong Delta provides the region with three rice harvests annually. Madame Dinh Thi Ha, head of the Cái Bè rice company, handles 100 tons of rice daily. The goods are delivered by the sack, transhipped under the supervision of the spry company head by her nephew, then transported by further intermediaries to Ho Chi Minh City, the former Saigon. Rice in Vietnam is still a very reliable source of income.