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Croisi Moments: Mekong | The Mekong Delta
The Mekong Delta
A strange animal, half dragon half tortoise, an ornate kitten with a blue stone, that he has been wearing on his left middle finger for as long as he can remember. “This ring is my lucky charm” Trân Minh Nhân tells us smiling. However, in order to travel across the Cho Gao canal, no lucky charm is needed: the proud captain of the Indochine II cruise ships has 25 years’ experience in the trade, making him one of the most accomplished captains in Southeast Asia. And only a master with sharp skills can sail this narrow, 17.4-mile (28 km) long seam connecting Saigon and the Mekong, under the shade of Buddhist pagodas and Tamarind trees. A kind of river highway where up to 2,000 boats and ships transit every day, barges, cargo, lightweight skiffs, packed with tonnes of rice, fruit, dried fish, sand or oil. Like tightrope walker, they all criss-cross the river on a never-ending procession, disappearing over the horizon. In order to overtake, boats build up momentum, sound their horn and sail straight ahead, just like drivers in town. “Saigon has its motorcycles, Cho Gao has its ships!”, the captain jokes, calm and confident.
CroisiEurope is the only cruise company whose ships sail on the canal. Our captain Nhân is at home here. “I was born in My Tho. The Mekong is my life.” The “mother of all rivers”, with its impenetrable waters full of sediment and history: he speaks of it with love, gratitude and respect. “When I was a child, I used to swim in the river and my family used to own a barge, on board which I discovered the Mekong inside out. It is more than a river: it is the cradle of a number of civilizations, the feeding artery of close to 200 million people and is an integral part of their identity, culture and beliefs. Each one of them is interconnected.” Wholesome, solemn, legendary Mekong. A multi-faceted giant, a source of life that is threatened today by global warming and humanity’s madness, making its fragile ecosystem vulnerable. “The Mekong has unique biodiversity. In its basin, thousands of different species of plants, fish, birds, reptiles and mammals cohabit. There are even dolphins!” our local guide, Minh, makes sure to add.
CroisiEurope is the only cruise company whose ships sail on the canal. Our captain Nhân is at home here. “I was born in My Tho. The Mekong is my life.” The “mother of all rivers”, with its impenetrable waters full of sediment and history: he speaks of it with love, gratitude and respect. “When I was a child, I used to swim in the river and my family used to own a barge, on board which I discovered the Mekong inside out. It is more than a river: it is the cradle of a number of civilizations, the feeding artery of close to 200 million people and is an integral part of their identity, culture and beliefs. Each one of them is interconnected.” Wholesome, solemn, legendary Mekong. A multi-faceted giant, a source of life that is threatened today by global warming and humanity’s madness, making its fragile ecosystem vulnerable. “The Mekong has unique biodiversity. In its basin, thousands of different species of plants, fish, birds, reptiles and mammals cohabit. There are even dolphins!” our local guide, Minh, makes sure to add.
It is now time to resume our trip along the water, to the floating markets of Cai Be, a true water empire where hundreds of junks full of food come and go, all the way to Sa Dec.
It is here, in the heart of the “Garden of Cochinchina” that a young fifteen year old girl, Marguerite Duras, experienced impossible and transgressive love with a rich heir 8 years older than her, which was the subject of a book and a film famous across the world: The Lover. The House of Huynh Thuy Lê’s parents, her “handsome Chinese from Manchuria”, where the writer never set foot, was for a long time the home of the police station under the communist ruling, before it became the national museum welcoming visitors. You can even spend the night in one of the two bedrooms with canopy beds, for about $50 including breakfast.
On the way back to the boat, down Nguyen Huê street, pay a visit to Sadec market, an amazing experience where a mix of tender emotions and strong sensations (not suitable for those of a sensitive disposition) before experiencing one of the most fascinating shows nature could offer in this enchanted land: the sunset. On the Indochine II’s upper deck, when the fiery opal goes down, painting the sky red and the water cobalt, the view is breathtaking. Like Marguerite Duras almost 100 years ago, everyone appreciates the pleasure to be here and the powerful beauty of the decor: “Never in my entire life will I see rivers as beautiful as these, as grand and as wild: the Mekong and its arms, that travel all the way down to the ocean”...
Written by Thierry Hubac
