More from the Mekong
Water isn’t really my element – I can barely swim – but there’s no getting away from the stuff in the Mekong Delta. I went on a few boat trips during my week there, but taking pictures from a moving boat isn’t easy, especially if you’re a big wuss who’s worried about falling in. The problem with water, a wise man once said, is that it’s wet and it moves around.
The area might be best known for its floating markets, but back on dry land there are plenty of street markets to visit. Wandering around the market in Chau Doc early one morning, I thought to myself, “I could spend all day taking pictures here.” So I did.
My trip coincided with the build-up to the Tet holiday (the Lunar new year, which is the most important holiday in the calendar for Vietnamese people). With two weeks off work, I spent one week travelling through the delta, before taking a boat upriver from Chau Doc into Cambodia for another week. Although I was out of Vietnam for the holiday itself, for weeks before the streets were full of symbols of Tet; red and gold decorations, yellow and orange flowers, and kumquat trees were everywhere.
When I first saw this picture, I thought that a pesky cyclist had ruined a good panning shot. When I saw it again on the big screen, I decided I quite liked it. I’ll just have to pretend that I had it all planned.
Rush hour in Chau Doc is a little quieter than what I’ve become used to in Saigon.
And to finish, a sunset.
(Coming soon: a post or two on Cambodia.)
