M E K O N G  D E L T A

MEKONG DELTA RIVER OF THE NINE DRAGONS

As the Mekong River enters Vietnam from Cambodia it splits into two channels, which the Vietnamese call the Tien Giang (Upper River), and Hau Giang (Lower River). The river continues to divide as it traverses the soggy delta, a fertile area of almost 50,000 square kilometers. By the time it empties into the South China Sea, it has seven branches, or mouths.

Two others have silted up over the years, but because nine is an auspicious digit, the Vietnamese name for the river is still Coo Long, or River of the Nine Dragons. Streams and canals linked to the Nine Dragons are the main streets and irrigation canals of the delta. Rich silt deposited by the Mekong and its tributaries created the delta, an area that holds a fifth of Vietnam's population and supplies half its rice crop.

Surplus rice from the south has traditionally supplied the rice-poor north or been shipped abroad. Other crops include coconuts, sugarcane, and fruit. Fishing is also a major industry.

With a profusion of tropical fruit in the delta, there are bound to be some exotic varieties. A unique species of vegetation lining the delta's canals is the water coconut palm. The fruit of the palm (dua nuoc) hangs close to the ground, and at first sight resembles a husky pinecone. Edible, transparent, fleshy pieces are embedded in the rough segments of the water coconut and are revealed only after the fruit is cracked open. Another variety found in the Ha Tien area is called thot lot, with blubbery, opaque pieces embedded in three sides of a small, purplish brown coconut. Instead of cutting this coconut in half for you to eat, the vendor slices off the sides. The coconut contains no milk; its flesh is served in a glass with ice and sugar. With its extensive reed beds, lakes, and mangrove forests, the delta is home to many species of rare birds, among them kingfishers, red-headed cranes, and eastern saurus cranes.

The delta also seems to be a breeding ground for odd religions. Besides an eclectic range of Buddhist temples, Catholic churches, and Islamic mosques, there are many Cao Dai temples in the delta. Hoa Hao Buddhism emerged in the delta area, with a large number of devotees around Chau Doc.

"All around the ferry is the river, it's brimful; its moving waters sweep through, never mixing with, the stagnant waters of the rice fields. The river has picked up all it's met with since Tonle Sap and the Cambodian forest. It carries everything along, straw huts, forests, burned-out fires, dead birds, dead dogs, drowned tigers and buffalos, drowned men, bait, islands of water hyacinths all stuck together. Everything flows towards the Pacific, no time for anything to sink, all is swept along by the deep and headlong storm of the inner current, suspended on the surface of the river's strength. "

-Marguerite Duras describing the swirling waters of the Mekong in her novel, The Lover, set during the 1920s. Duras' hometown was Sadec. embassy staff left behind files on those who t worked for them, making it easy for the north to identify collaborators.