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Two women are rowing harvested boat full of water lilies to sell them at local markets or restaurants.

The flowers can be stir-fried or cooked with a shrimp-sour soup. In addition, you can wash water lily flowers with water and strip off thin crust, remove flowers but retain stems. The ingredient, together with copper perch, bacon and eggplant can make a typical fermented fish hotpot of the region.

These pictures are taken in flooding seasons in An Giang and Long An provinces by photographer Pham Huy Trung (from Ho Chi Minh City).
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From July to October of the lunar calendar, water flows from the upper Mekong River into the area. An Giang and Long An are the first places to receive water before other provinces downstream in the Mekong River Delta region. The flooding season is also the time for people to make a living by fishing, growing crops, and collecting water lilies.
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Water lilies are grown in most rivers in the Mekong River Delta. Pink water lily flowers and ladies’ colorful clothes stand out from the dark water.
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It is common to see a woman rowing a boat and picking water lilies in a flooded field. However, a bird’s eye view of the daily activity of local people looks more beautiful and more vivid.
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Water lilies are packed and loaded on a boat. The flowers often blossom at night and wither and sink into water when the sun rises. Therefore, farmers have to harvest fresh flowers at about 3am.
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Women are washing water lilies, making an S-shaped formation like the shape of Vietnam.
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Smile of a woman picking water lilies. The water lily flowers bloom above water, showing its endurable vitality. The higher water level rises, the taller water lilies grow.

Translated by Minh Anh