A river with its water pump, a surrounding of bamboos, and karsts for background,
a view epitomising the Cao Bằng landscape While the cascades of Bản Giốc
provide a focus for tourism, more generally, the waterways of this north-eastern province of Vietnam, combine with the karst hills to form a landscape that is often enchanting - a personal favourite. These rivers and streams are quietly flowing, meandering through the wide fertile valleys between the
karst hills that are
so typical of the area. Overall Vietnam has plenty of rain varying in amount from the arid deserts in the south to over four metres among some hills. Cao Bằng lies between these extremes (a metre and a half a year) so water is plentiful but comes in manageable amounts. Traditionally rainfall has been confined to the hot summer months between May and September, although the last couple of years have seen heavy rain in, what were previously, dry winters.
Bamboos are evocative of these areas of water with both the reflection and the rustling of the leaves seeming magnified
Vietnam's rain, and the many areas of open water, produce high humidity levels, in turn this means that many landscapes are shrouded in mist
Gently sloping land gives slow moving rivers and the formation of meanders - oxbow bends
Paddy fields on terraces seem like symbols of Vietnam - ready flooded these ones await planting
A glade in the northern most part of the province with the typical turquoise water
Deciduous trees flowering before leafing
A mixture of flat and hillside terracing
Two of the common man-made elements of the rivered landscape of Cao Bằng are footbridges and barrages. Seen on the wandering bamboo edged river in the picture to the left and in detail above
Detail of the fishermen in the picture below
Four men preparing their nets to fish in the river which winds its way between the karsts
The net to taken out across the width of the river - a motorcyclist is washing his bike in the background
The two ends of the net are brought upstream...
...and then pulled together...
...the net is bundled ready to be taken out...
...and then lifted out of the water
On land the catch is picked out of the net and...
...placed in a bowl revealing its diminutive scale
A quiet stream flows out through the fields of newly planted corn, with the owners' village and the hallmark Cao Bằng karsts
Trailers...
The next page
has more inland water, coming from both above and below - to Kerala in southern India.
The next page
of the Mosaic Section is:
'Captured by Thought'.
Or go to the contents of the Mosaic Section.
The last page was about the cascades of Bản Giốc
A page on St. Mary's Loch in Scotland
A page on inland waterways in Vietnam
