It originates at the Tibetan Plateau and flows nearly 3000 km in a south eastern direction.
The Mekong
River unravels into nine rivers which creates the fertile Delta before it empties
into the South China Sea.
The Mekong
Delta is situated in Cambodia and southwestern Vietnam.
In Vietnam the Mekong delta is
intensively developed for agriculture. The area is one of the most productive
and intensively cultivated areas in Asia.
It is called “the ‘rice bowl of Vietnam.
Especially if you are linguistically challenged like I am.
These young schoolkids approached us and asked us if they could speak to us.
How can you say no?
This was definitely a highlight of the day!
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Saigon was called
"the Pearl of the Far East" or "Paris in the Orient".
In 1976, upon the
establishment of the unified communist Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Saigon was
renamed Hồ Chí Minh City in honour of the late communist leader.
Bustling with energy, innovation and traffic (for more on that see https://lindaofnofixedaddress.blogspot.com/2024/04/vietnam-traffic.html) Ho Chi Minh City is the economic heart of Vietnam and the main hub of the southern region.
Actually, to be honest, at first, it was almost terrifying for me.
Especially in the big cities.
It seems like the rules are: "there are no rules!"
So I did a bit of googling on the internet and found this piece of advice about crossing streets. It is a direct quote:
"The most important thing is that the traffic will flow, the group is important, the person not so much. You as a pedestrian have to manage somehow to cross the street, if you want to."
I am not sure what to do with that piece of advice.
Hoi An played an important role in
international trade as a main SE Asia stopover in the Maritime Silk
Road.
By the 17th and 18th centuries it had become one of the most important Southeast Asian trading ports welcoming foreign traders.
They traded in silk, china, pottery,
and spices.
In 1999 Hoi An ancient town was recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage site because of its remarkably intact state.
Most of the poor Vietnamese fishermen could not afford the taxes so they came up with a new type of boat, the “Thung Chai” basket
boat.
It was made of bamboo in the shape of baskets so that it could not be counted as a boat.
The government reluctantly agreed and the local fishermen were spared any tax.
And ever since then these domed vessels have been a feature of the landscape in central Vietnam.
Hoi An was an international port of
Vietnam and an important place on the Silk Road of the world.
For local fishermen, the boat is seen as the most precious
property. Many fisher families still live in their own boat as a house.
They paint eyes at the bow because they think that the boat needs eyes to see things clearly in the front, to navigate well and avoid dangers.
Water buffalo were essential to the development
of the country's agrarian economy. In a nation where rice is the main export buffalo is
undoubtedly the most essential animal.
A
buffalo can work for long periods, in variable weather conditions, pull
plows in the rice fields and help carry heavy loads.
For the most part, they haven’t
been replaced by machinery because machines will only be able to work in large
fields and can’t work in small and narrow spaces with different topography.
Not to mention, buying modern machines takes lots of money which Vietnamese farmers can’t afford.
The Imperial City was ruled by 10 emperors of the Nguyen Dynasty before
its last ruler abdicated the throne in 1945 in favour of Ho Chi Minh’s communist
government in Hanoi.
The Imperial City was modelled after Beijing's Forbidden City.
Despite violent wars throughout the years a small portion of the original buildings have managed to survive.
UNESCO listed them as World Cultural Heritage sites in 1993.
Over a thousand years of
various wars, occupation, natural disasters and new administrations the city
grew from swamplands into the modern capital it is today.
The
streets date back to the 14th century and there are more than 600 temples and pagodas beside French colonial
buildings, communist buildings and modern buildings.
Hanoi is described as a multicultural community with
touches of Chinese, French, and Russian influences.
The people of Hanoi call the city the “cultural heartbeat of Vietnam”.
The surrealistic Bay is dotted with 1,600 limestone islands covered in rainforests and islets.
It covers an area of over 1,500 sq km.
Most of the islands and the karst
limestone pillars in the bay are uninhabited.
When we first arrived I was disappointed it was cloudy.
But as I started taking pictures I realized that the clouds made
it more mystical and ethereal.
The area was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.
During the Vietnam War parts of the Ho Chi Ming Trail (running from North Vietnam to South Vietnam) passed through Laos.
As a result, parts of Laos were severely bombed
Unfortunately, not all of the bombs exploded, leaving behind unexploded weapons (UXO's)
