The water flows gently, the water lilies stir.

Water lilies bloom profusely across the fields of Moc Hoa. Photo: Nguyen Khanh Vu Khoa

Traveling to the Mekong Delta in mid-October, I encountered the season when water lilies bloomed profusely across the region, from Long An and Dong Thap provinces all the way to An Giang province. As vehicles sped along the highway, the distant roadside reflected a captivating expanse of purple, interspersed with the modest yellow hues of clusters of Sesbania grandiflora swaying in the wind.

At the two rest stops along the journey, the dish that the entire group from Saigon eagerly ordered was always braised water lily stems with fermented fish sauce, accompanied by a signature fish dish of the Mekong Delta during the flood season: young snakehead fish.
In October, when the floodwaters inundate the fields, young snakehead fish also enter their breeding season. Thousands upon thousands of young snakehead fish follow the water from the vast Mekong River, flowing across the delta of southwestern Vietnam.

"Dance of Water". Photo: Nguyen Khanh Vu Khoa

During this same season, purple, white, and pink water lilies eagerly follow the water's flow, raising their heads to greet the sunlight. Not far beyond the Saigon border, a vast expanse of fragrant purple water lilies across the fields of Moc Hoa - Long An province fills the city dwellers' eyes, evoking a strange sense of excitement.

This season, water lilies are perhaps the "beauty queen" of the Mekong Delta. Wherever you go in this region, you'll encounter these radiant "queens," showcasing their beauty at its most elegant.

The water lilies in this region have escaped from the small ponds around the houses. They have spread to vast fields, providing both a livelihood and a place for the local community to combine with ecotourism .

Water lilies are cultivated in fields. Their stems are thick and plump, tender and silky, and their blossoms are as large as a fish stew pot. Then there's the wild water lily, the white water lily, which grows naturally in the wild fields, canals, and ditches. Its slender stems can reach up to 6 meters in length. The wild water lily only blooms at night, wilting just before dawn and sinking back to the water's surface. In cultivated water lily fields, tourists usually only see purple and pink water lilies, with only a few rare white ones interspersed.
This season, young women and ladies can freely dress up in elegant, simple silk ao dai and ao ba ba dresses, and without hesitation step into small boats filled with purple water lilies to create a photo album.

The purple and pink hues of the water lilies provide a backdrop for the dreamy white ao dai (traditional Vietnamese dress) in the early morning sun; that poetic moment stirs a strange sense of longing. The round, vibrant green leaves bobbing on the water's surface also serve as an extremely safe "landing spot" for the colorful dragonflies.

Photo: Nguyen Khanh Vu Khoa

During this season, both professional and amateur photographers flock to the water lily fields. They call the moment when the women and mothers wash the mud off the water lily stems, shaking them clean before tying them together and stacking them on boats, "the dance of water." The splashing water creates a colorful effect that is both magical and powerful in the photograph.

The water lily season is spreading across the Mekong Delta, so beautiful that it has become a trademark for the October tourist season, a special indicator of the flood season.

But the most outstandingly beautiful water lilies can only be found in Moc Hoa and Kien Tuong town of Long An province, unmatched anywhere else. In October, the flood season inundates the fields. While people are apprehensive when mentioning the flood season, the people of the Mekong Delta eagerly welcome the flood season. Because the water from the vast mother river (**) flows in, bringing with it an abundance of fish and shrimp.

It is a gift from nature that the people of this delta region are fortunate to receive. Le Quang Trang - a young writer from An Giang - once likened this resource to "river milk" - a very familiar yet profoundly sacred metaphor.

Amidst the vast expanse of rivers and waterways, the color of the water lilies evokes a sense of longing in those far away. A longing to touch the soft, fragrant blossoms; to reach out and pluck a water lily stem, to hear the crisp, snapping sound of the broken stem resting on the dining table, alongside a pot of lightly seasoned braised young fish and a jar of fragrant, rustic fish sauce…

(*) Linh đinh: a local dialect word meaning "to drift aimlessly" or "to wander aimlessly".
(**) Minh mông: vast

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/con-nuoc-linh-dinh-bong-sung-tro-minh-3144098.html