Enchanted by the crape-myrtle flower season in the Western region

At the end of August, photographers excitedly called each other. Despite knowing that the flood season hadn't returned for years, everyone hoped for a season of flooded fields. The water hasn't returned, but the crape-myrtle flowers are still blooming.

Exploring the Western region to admire the crape-myrtle flower season

Many of my friends are from the plain areas, somewhere in their eyes there are endless rains stretching over Long An, Vinh Long, Dong Thap, My Tho, Can Tho, Bac Lieu. The rainy season is when wild crape-myrtle flowers bloom profusely along the riverbanks, canals, fields, ponds, and land…

The flower species that bury its seeds, stems, and roots deep into the ground during the sunny season, waiting for the rain to come. When the water rises, it quietly grows, quietly showing off its beauty everywhere to have a season of crape-myrtle flower harvest. The season of delicious rustic dishes.

In the childhood of my friends, everyone had seasons of floating water, rowing boats to pull crape-myrtle flowers in distant fields. These were the times of being wet, cold, but in exchange, they earned some school fees, some money to pocket for the new school year.

The image of mothers, sisters paddling boats late at night to pick crape-myrtle flowers so they have plenty to sell at the market by morning (because if the flowers bloom by noon, they'll taste bitter), earning money to buy rice and other essentials. It's the joy seen through a boat filled with fresh crape-myrtle flowers.

While wandering around An Giang province, we were fortunate to meet some women sitting by the canal picking crape-myrtle flowers. According to them, in recent years, the floods have not returned, so the people in the river region wait until it rains to clear the fields and flood the ponds, waiting for more rain for the flowers to grow...

Usually, crape-myrtle flowers don't need to be planted, they just grow when it rains. As the water rises, so do the flowers. The more rain, the longer, softer, and fresher the crape-myrtle flowers become.

We rowed boats to pull the fresh green flowers, cleaning off the mud. All we needed to do was to remove the bloomed flowers, take the stems, peel off the thin outer layer, then tie them into bundles and deliver them to the market. From there, they are distributed to restaurants. The rest are used to make various dishes.

For those in the fields, they stir-fry, make sour soup, pickle... every dish is delicious, especially the crape-myrtle flower stew with fermented fish sauce. It's a rustic dish passed down from our ancestors, not everyone knows how to eat and get to eat it.

Following the instructions, we rented a boat and ventured into a deep-field of crape-myrtle flowers. Amidst the wilderness, apart from a few huts for flower guarding, there was almost no one around.

The locals here further narrate that although it's a naturally growing species, its stems develop along the water, but since the floods no longer come, they have to cultivate them for income. Because of cultivation, they have to watch and take care of them.

Some who freely harvest crape-myrtle flowers row boats to the swampy fields near the Cambodian border. There are still many wild crape-myrtle flowers here, so they're long and thick, but the journey is tough. Cold windy nights, if they're not careful, their boats might overturn in the darkness... They sighed and left their words hanging.

Our crape-myrtle flowers are usually red-purple, with thick stems due to good care. While the wild ones are often white, with long stems, sometimes reaching 5 – 7m. The ones near the Cambodian border have thicker stems and flowers, sometimes a bundle requires two grown men to carry.

These past few days of rain, early mornings in the border villages, people are bustling, bending crape-myrtle stems. Along the river, they're washing the flowers, on the shore, motorbikes, and bicycles are loaded with crape-myrtle flowers, some tied in bundles, some straight... By late morning, it's all gone.

'Photographers have to warn in advance for them to leave some. And they have to go really early,' a woman chuckled.

Parting with the sincere rural people of the water fields. Suddenly feeling deeply respectful for the rural people. To have delicious dishes from fresh crape-myrtle flowers rising from the alluvial soil, how many people have had to work hard, enduring wind and mist.

As per Youth

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Reference: Travel guide Mytour