A muddy life

Vietnam is the second largest rice exporter (after Thailand) in the world. In 2021, 43.88 million metric tons of rice were grown and harvested in Vietnam. The main regions for Vietnams rice prodution are the Mekong Delta and the Red River Delta.

In the region around Sa Pa, from what we've seen most people seem to be reliant on rice cultivation as a source of income. We saw lots and lots of rice paddies. Where the rice doesn't grow due to steep terrain, people plant corn. It looks beautiful as long as there's no rain or fog (we lived inside the clouds and it was raining most of the time 😅).

But that doesn't stop people from working on the rice fields, wearing gummy boots and whole-body plastic bags to protect themselves from the wet and cold. Most of them still look like they took part in the Tough Mudder obstacle course or as if someone pushed them into the mud.

Most of the rice cultivation work is done manually. It feels kinda crazy from our perspective. It's so much work, planting the rice into the wet fields, harvesting, drying, preparing the fields and whatever else has to be done - it's all done by people. And water buffalos. And sometimes, if they're lucky, they've got a small machine helping them to prepare the paddies.

And in the end, they sell the rice for a very cheap price. I really can't wrap my head around this disparity between the importance of food and the little value we attribute to the people who feed us.Read more