Das Delta des Mekongs ist der fruchtbare Irrgarten im Süden Vietnams. Dort leben auf einer Fläche, die fast so groß wie die Niederlande ist, etwa 18 Millionen Menschen, an und auf Meeresarmen und Flussläufen, auf Inseln, Sandbänken und in Mangrovenwäldern. In dem amphibischen Leben geht ohne Boot gar nichts.
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.
Delta rijeke Mekong je plodni labirint na jugu Vijetnama. Na površini, koja je velika gotovo kao Nizozemska, oko 18 milijuna ljudi živi u morskim rukavcima, na otocima, pješčanim sprudovima i u šumama mangrova. U takvom amfibijskom životu nita ne ide bez čamca. Kod obitelji Nguyen dan započinje molitvom kako bi božica vode bila milostiva prema njima na putu do plivajuće tržnice. U delti rijeke Mekong vrebaju mnoge opasnosti: struje, pješčani sprudovi i prometna špica koja ovdje traje gotovo cijeli dan. Obitelj Nguyen gotovo nikad nema čvrsto tlo pod nogama. Tri naraštaja žive na njihovom sampanu, drvenoj plutajućoj kući koja je uvijek natovarena voćem i povrćem. Plodna poplavljena zemljišta u delti rijeke Mekong daruju toj regiji tri žetve riže godišnje. Kroz tvrtku Cái be, koja je u vlasništvu Dinh Thi Ha, dnevno prođe 100 tona riže. Roba se dostavlja u vrećama, zatim je pretovaraju nećaci vitalne šefice pod njezinim nadzorom, a na kraju je dalje transportiraju preprodavači sve do Ho Ši Mina, nekadašnjeg Saigona. Riža je u Vijetnamu još uvijek pouzdan izvor prihoda.
