Mekong Blues




Welcome to readers from Guyana, Tunisia and Brazil. 

Thanks so much for visiting GuerillaZ there have been so many visitors today.





 Đồng bằng Sông Cửu Long

Mekong Blues

If Thanet in Kent, England is in need of regeneration then the Mekong Delta south of Ho Chi Minh City is in need of the same treatment and some more besides
.



Music that comes to me as I travel down the Mekong River

Air on the G-String is August Wilhelmj's arrangement of the second movement in Johann Sebastian Bach's Orchestral Suite No.3 in D major, BWV 1068

‎

I thought of Bach because I am moved by the places I see and the people I meet. Just intoxicated by them. To this effect.



Under Grave Skies: the Mekong Region


My Tho
Most of the images here are taken in and around My Tho. It was, as is my want, sweltering in the Mekong Delta.


It turns out that poor Mekong women often marry disadvantaged Koreans in order to escape the poverty and domestic abuse that prevails in the delta region.


A beautiful place; the delta has significant economic and social problems


According to the Deputy Prime Minister, Vu Van Ninh , the current economic outlook in the region is taking a turn for the better.


See the recent article in the Vietnam News below:

http://vietnamnews.vn/economy/242279/mekong-delta-records-high-growth-in-first-six-months.html



A livelihood in the Mekong delta.



What I read in Sai Gon:

'Kafka On The Shore' by Haruki Murakami.

An ingenious novel with undertones of Eastern Belief. A teenager runs away from home and an unusual man with the ability to converse with cats goes on a journey. Two interesting road trips keep the narrative charged with interest. This is another one of Murami's distinctive texts. An excellent way to spend downtime.
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Of course these are well established tourist activities but I really enjoyed this day:

 coach to the delta, lunch under a palm tree, bit of folk singing, canoe trip, snake handling, river trip, another

 meal sharing a table with some friendly Dutch guys, visit to a temple, coach back. I can't put my finger on 

why but rolling through those things actually worked. A great day. The trip cost $20 and was well organised

beginning at 7am, ending at 3.30. A slick operation for sure.




Young men from Hanoi




A Lotus pond at My Tho temple




A very hot tropical afternoon on the wider delta.

The Mekong delta is extensive and a tour of its tributaries would take at least three weeks. Travelling via its waterways and visiting floating markets and its quieter parts would be a fascinating experience, like so much in Vietnam.


If you like travel and tea visit GuerillaZ's sister site Singing Bird tea at:





My favourite flower - bougainvillea. Outside the temple at My Tho.


I had seen the Mekong river at Vientiane in Laos, Phnom Penh in Cambodia. After this trip to the Mekong Delta from Sai Gon I felt like dancing rather like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBXv37PFcAQ

Lose Yourself to Dance by Daft Punk with the images from a classic edition of Soul Train.



This music rekindles the feelings of Sai Gon. Being back in England I miss Sai Gon substantially. When I return perhaps I can find a club where they play this track and this particular kind of groove for joyful revellers.




Cheerio

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