Although most visitors to Ho Chi Minh City may spend a day down at the Mekong Delta as part of their Vietnam experience, the deeper one travels in the Delta the greater the reward. With the advent of the new highway a journey to the economic epi-centre of the Delta , Can Tho, is more accessible than ever and was to be the chosen location for the commencement of our video project in Vietnam.
The township is attractive enough, although has rapidly lost much of its architectural heritage to development, however, our point of interest was to be the famed floating markets that line the lower reach of the Mekong River. We wanted to record a way of life that is fast disappearing and, although the main commercial floating market of Cai Rang is as busy as ever, it does seem to be living on borrowed time as many of the smaller and more intimate markets south of Can Tho have long been reduced to a trickle of activity or have simply closed down completely.
The intense heat and humidity tired the team during the day but some wonderful footage was captured by the drone as we flew it over Cai Rang market, the lesser visited and colourful Phong Dien market, the nearby fields and smaller tributaries of the river capturing daily life in this agricultural heartland of the country.
We also travelled further south to Soc Trang to capture more river activity of the rice barges plying their trade as well as Nga Bay, the junction where seven of the Mekong’s tributaries meet. A wonderful landscape to capture from the air.
However, the scenic landscape and aerial flyovers of Phong Dien market, in particular, will likely prove to be the highlight of the footage, although we could film here for weeks such is the visual feast that can be found here.
New Perspectives of Vietnam & Cambodia 