Floating market in the Southwest of Viet Nam

I cannot talk about Southwestern Vietnam without mentioning about the interlacing canal system and the life of locals on the river. It must be different from where I live in the highland. On the occasion of driving motorbike to visit the Southwest of Viet Nam, I am quite lucky to visit one of the most famous floating market in Can Tho. Its name is “Cai Rang” floating market.

To visit the floating market, I have to contact to the tourism agency to book the ticket on the advance. The boat leaves on time with flexible times that suit for visitor from 3 am to 6 am in the morning. The average times for visiting whole market is from 2 to 3 hours. And about the price ticket, it only takes 5$ for one person in per turn. To ensure the safety of visitors, they are enforced to wear the life vest before leaving.

The special things in the floating market!

For me, watching the normal life of locals on the river is the best scence I have ever seen in my journey going to the Southwestern Viet Nam. Same as the life in the lowlands, all the activities happen on the boat normally from trading, selling food and stuffs to open the restaurant and bevarage services. To remark the things they sell, they have used a tall tree to hang their main goods in the head of the boat.

The local products
The impressive goods that takes a lot of attraction is fruit, The fruit is come from the neighboring areas and from the farm of the sellers too. All of them are so fresh and has an eye – catching dress by looking from far distance.

Besides, they also sell their typical goods such as coconut wine (lol It is not easy to drink for me), dried fish and squid, coconut candy, milk, dried noodles and so on.

The rush hour in the market is from 7 to 9am. There will be a lot of boats welcoming the tourists to buy their goods.

The sunrise scene!

Watching the glow of dawn on the boat is another amazing activity. By hearing the sound of waves on the surface of river and tracking the path of sun rising from the far distance, the calming effect comes to you quietly.

Try food before buying!
Well, it may be my favourite thing when buying goods in the floating market. Whenever I want to buy fruit or candy, they always give me one piece of fruit or a bar of candy to try it first. If I am not happy with the quality of their goods, I can deny to buy freely without any forces to buy the goods from the sellers.

Althought nowadays, the Cai Rang floating market does not have its distinctive characters as it had in the past, it is also a great symbol for cutural lifestyle of the local in the Southwest of Viet Nam. Visiting and enjoying the moment in the morning on the Mekong river at Cai Rang floating boat, the journey will be more colorful and lively.

Thank you all for dropping by my blog today. Have a great day!