Small houses, river boats, floating cargo, lush green and more motor bikes zooming along the riverside paths characterise this area of Vietnam.

The Mekong River essentially starts in the Tibetan Plateau this river runs through China’s Yunnan province, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Much of the life of Vietnam lives and breathes through the flow of this great river.  My images show only a small part of the life close by to Ho Chi Min City in the South of Vietnam.

August 2010

Small boats and houses are dotted everywhere around the river.

Grey skies are not an uncommon sight during the summer months in the Mekong Delta area.  This lady goes around her daily routine shading herself from the sun and later the rains.

Bikes and boats both are very useful in the Mekong Delta area.  Not sure I would want to ride one over that bridge!

Just another day with a bunch of tourists on the river cruise along the Mekong Delta.

…and this was the guy at the front of the boat, happy to let me take a quick snapshot.

More tourist transport – this one is all closed up as the heavy rains fall.  Five minutes later and it’s clear and sunny again.

More rains and this man is quick to tie up his boat so he can take shelter.

This man transports tourists up a narrow section of the river in a boat just big enough for 3 or 4 people.  Whether he makes enough money from this or whether he carries out other jobs I wasn’t able to find out.  Nethertheless he was happy to be taking a group of tourists around his homeland.

Fruit, vegetables and coconuts are plentiful on the Mekong Delta.  These produce are being transported down the river towards Ho Chi Min City.

Houses by the river and television ariels in the skies.

Getting a good signal must be a bit of a nightmare so low down close to sea level.

Making bricks is a tourist attraction on the Mekong Delta.  This is a view of one of the many kilns along the Mekong River.

Looking into the kiln, uncooked bricks fill the space from top to bottom.  The grey colour shows uncooked bricks, see tomorrow for the finished version and a better view inside the kiln.

Final post on the subject of brick manufacturing on the Mekong Delta.  Inside the cooked bricks come out as an orange red colour.  The kiln itself is also quite interesting, circular and spiraling to a small hole at the top.

During the cooking process, one man keeps watch at all times to ensure the fire doesn’t go out.  The baking process can take a week.