GOOD MORNING VIETJAN - MY BOBBY FLIES OVER THE OCEAN - THE MIGHTY MEKONG
The mighty Mekong
Slips below our wings. Come see!
Nine dragons race us!
Finally, back in April, 2012, on the 3RRRFM/Intrepid Travel tour, our plane came in over Vietnam, across the southwestern tip of the country, banking over the beautiful Mekong Delta, the "Nine Dragon river delta" (đồng bằng sông Cửu Long). Nearing Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) the aircraft went into its landing pattern pretty quickly, so I was very busy getting myself and my gear squared away. Also, I wanted to keep out of the line of sight of my seat mate, who was an ex-pat Vietnamese, going home to visit relatives. I'm sure it was a special moment for him too.
I'd never been to anywhere in Asia before, so I was particularly chuffed that my first glimpse of it should be of such a particularly picturesque land and riverscape. With the evening sun low in the sky, the light angled brilliantly across the water, turning the richly silted brown flows to gleaming quicksilver ribbons.
Having read a fair bit about the Delta in accounts of the 2nd Indochina War I could see what formidable terrain it was but my thoughts as we descended were far from that terrible time in the past and more upon the region's present role as an agricultural and biological treasury.
The Mekong river is the world's 13th longest river, running an estimated 4,350 km (2,703 miles) down from the Tibetan plateau through China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia before crossing Vietnam to discharge into the South China Sea. The Delta covers about 39,000 square kilometres (15,000 sq miles) which is roughly a bit more than half the size of the Australian island-state, Tasmania. Home to about 17.4 million people, the Delta is intensively farmed (those are rice paddies in the picture) and contributes heavily to Vietnam being the world's second biggest exporter of rice, following Thailand.
The hydrology of the Delta is rather complex, partly because the low tide level of the river in Cambodia is lower than the high tide at sea, so the flow of the Mekong inverts with the tides, carrying water INLAND at intervals. Of course, this means that there are salination challenges to be faced. Although that can be exploited for saltwater aquaculture it's not so useful, as well we know in Australia, for regular farming. Australian scientists are working with other countries to genetically modify local rice variants grown in Vietnam to be more resilient to salt and environmental stress. As you can see the plain is quite flat, and is prone to flooding by storm surges and typhoons.
The 2010 drought that affected the Delta also increased salination, with saltwater penetrating inland almost twice as far as usual. The Mekong Delta is particularly vulnerable to climate change and rising sea levels coupled with lower rainfall are very likely going to cause much disruption over the coming decades, along with deforestation and increased hydroelectricity development in both Vietnam and other countries upstream. It gives you pause to seriously ponder that it's estimated that more than a third of the Mekong Delta could be submerged if sea levels rise by 1 meter (39 inches). Of the 13 Mekong Delta provinces, several in particular would be in danger of losing half of their land to indundation, including Ben Tre and Long An. Various flood reduction strategies are being pursued, including dykes and other barriers, as well as coastal mangrove forestry.
The lush, verdant green of the landscape wasn't entirely a surprise, as it was similar to the tropical vegetation up in northern Australia. Still, being from Melbourne, I'm much more accustomed to the dusty green foliage that we have down south in Victoria.
Next stop, Tan Son Nhat International Airport, but only temporarily, as we then boarded a domestic flight to take us up to Hanoi.
GOOD MORNING VIETJAN - MY BOBBY FLIES OVER THE OCEAN - THE MIGHTY MEKONG
The mighty Mekong
Slips below our wings. Come see!
Nine dragons race us!
Finally, back in April, 2012, on the 3RRRFM/Intrepid Travel tour, our plane came in over Vietnam, across the southwestern tip of the country, banking over the beautiful Mekong Delta, the "Nine Dragon river delta" (đồng bằng sông Cửu Long). Nearing Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) the aircraft went into its landing pattern pretty quickly, so I was very busy getting myself and my gear squared away. Also, I wanted to keep out of the line of sight of my seat mate, who was an ex-pat Vietnamese, going home to visit relatives. I'm sure it was a special moment for him too.
I'd never been to anywhere in Asia before, so I was particularly chuffed that my first glimpse of it should be of such a particularly picturesque land and riverscape. With the evening sun low in the sky, the light angled brilliantly across the water, turning the richly silted brown flows to gleaming quicksilver ribbons.
Having read a fair bit about the Delta in accounts of the 2nd Indochina War I could see what formidable terrain it was but my thoughts as we descended were far from that terrible time in the past and more upon the region's present role as an agricultural and biological treasury.
The Mekong river is the world's 13th longest river, running an estimated 4,350 km (2,703 miles) down from the Tibetan plateau through China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia before crossing Vietnam to discharge into the South China Sea. The Delta covers about 39,000 square kilometres (15,000 sq miles) which is roughly a bit more than half the size of the Australian island-state, Tasmania. Home to about 17.4 million people, the Delta is intensively farmed (those are rice paddies in the picture) and contributes heavily to Vietnam being the world's second biggest exporter of rice, following Thailand.
The hydrology of the Delta is rather complex, partly because the low tide level of the river in Cambodia is lower than the high tide at sea, so the flow of the Mekong inverts with the tides, carrying water INLAND at intervals. Of course, this means that there are salination challenges to be faced. Although that can be exploited for saltwater aquaculture it's not so useful, as well we know in Australia, for regular farming. Australian scientists are working with other countries to genetically modify local rice variants grown in Vietnam to be more resilient to salt and environmental stress. As you can see the plain is quite flat, and is prone to flooding by storm surges and typhoons.
The 2010 drought that affected the Delta also increased salination, with saltwater penetrating inland almost twice as far as usual. The Mekong Delta is particularly vulnerable to climate change and rising sea levels coupled with lower rainfall are very likely going to cause much disruption over the coming decades, along with deforestation and increased hydroelectricity development in both Vietnam and other countries upstream. It gives you pause to seriously ponder that it's estimated that more than a third of the Mekong Delta could be submerged if sea levels rise by 1 meter (39 inches). Of the 13 Mekong Delta provinces, several in particular would be in danger of losing half of their land to indundation, including Ben Tre and Long An. Various flood reduction strategies are being pursued, including dykes and other barriers, as well as coastal mangrove forestry.
The lush, verdant green of the landscape wasn't entirely a surprise, as it was similar to the tropical vegetation up in northern Australia. Still, being from Melbourne, I'm much more accustomed to the dusty green foliage that we have down south in Victoria.
Next stop, Tan Son Nhat International Airport, but only temporarily, as we then boarded a domestic flight to take us up to Hanoi.