Unlike in central Vietnam where severe floods often result in death and destruction, the flooding season in the Mekong Delta is seen as a gift from heaven that brings tons of fish into the paddy fields along with alluvial deposits to fertilize the next crop. Not only are there scenes of bustling people catching produce, but everywhere, from the fields to the banks of canals and ponds. Everywhere is covered in the white, blue, purple, and pink colors of water lilies.
The familiar image of a woman diving underwater to pick water lilies and dinghies filled with bright pink water lilies has entered poetry and art. Especially, many photos of water lilies have won high awards not only domestically but also internationally.
At the break of dawn, a group of people traveled more than 60km to Hamlet 6, Tan Lap Commune of the Mekong Delta Province of Long An’s Moc Hoa district to watch amateur actors perform on the field of water lilies. On the riverside, women in loose-fitting blouses - a kind of traditional shirt used by South Vietnamese people - and traditional checkered black and white bandannas sit on dinghies filled with water lilies in straight rows, ready to perform to serve tourists.
When the group of tourists got off the riverside, these dinghies began to glide lightly on the water. Performing this many times, these boats moved and formed shapes to serve the cameras facing them.
The dinghies went out to the middle of the water lily field, anchoring, the women in dinghies began moving the water lily flowers to the water surface to form the required shapes such as letter S, apricot flower, or a musical instrument - guitar.
The most difficult and heaviest performance is tossing water. The women will use a bunch of water lilies to dig deep into the water and toss them up to create the image of falling diamonds in photos if they capture this moment.
According to Ms. Minh Chi – one of the women in the performance, the most difficult thing is tossing water with their hands, because at this time the water tossing is weak, the photographers will ask them to do it many times, which is very tiring. But after 10 years of doing these acts, she has gradually practiced and gotten used to it, and now she can do it anyway she wants.
On the other side, tourists and photographers with smartphones, cameras with long and short lenses, flycams, and binoculars lined up to compete with each other to watch the performance and create photos.
According to people's experience, if tourists really want to experience, in addition to admiring the water lily performance in the fields, the most interesting thing is to follow the people to harvest when the water lilies are in full bloom.
When the sun was shining, the paparazzi also sweated a lot and the women had to take a rest after the performance. This is also the time when tourists transform into farmers in the Mekong Delta in their loose-fitting blouse and traditional checkered black and white bandannas and rowing dinghies filled with water lilies to take beautiful photos of the floating water season in the region.
Ms. Minh Em, a young girl who has just been chosen as a supporting model for tourists to experience the water lily fields, revealed that over the past 10 years, in addition to working in the fields, harvesting products and water lilies in the flood season, she has been performing this every day to earn about VND200,000 - VND300,000 (US$12.27) which has helped local inhabitants improve their income; so everyone is willing to well perform.
As for photographers, tourists not only capture good moments of the unique performance to have the beautiful photos to display but also secretly admire women, sisters, and aunts who soaked in cold water for hours or even though they sweat heavily, they still raised water lilies to satisfy the demand of photographers and tourists and then later chatting and laughing with each other.
