Floating markets
Trip Start
May 06, 2007
1
147
166
Trip End
Jul 24, 2008
Can Tho,
Can Tho,
Vietnam
Monday, May 19, 2008
Since I didn't want to spend tons of time in the Mekong Delta, but wanted to visit the floating markets, I signed up for a 2-day tour. The first day was spent first on a bus and then on a couple of different boats. We caught the very end of a wholesale floating market - you can't buy any less than 10 kgs from any of the sellers. It was pretty sparse with only a handful of boats still selling, but we got to see a bit of how they were set up. Each boat puts out a bamboo stick with samples of what's for sale on the top so that prospective buyers can steer their boat toward the items they want. The selling boats stay anchored for the duration of the market while the buyers cruise through the area. After a bit more boat time, we stopped to visit a candy-making factory where they make some rather gross coconut candies and also rice paper. Other people in the group actually liked the candy enough to buy some to take with them. We were supposed to have time after lunch for a bike ride through the local village, but we were running late so there was only about 15 minutes when we could either ride around or relax on a hammock. I picked the hammock. After some more boat time we reached Vinh Long where we had to wait for a couple of hours (the guide referred to it as free time) until our minibus came to take us to Cantho, our stop for the night.
The next morning was the highlight of the tour, and the reason I had even gone on it. We started out visiting the largest floating market in the Mekong Delta. In addition to the basic fruits and vegetables anchored on the large boats, there were also small boats driving around selling meats, peeled pineapple or mango, and cold drinks (not all on the same boat). It was interesting watching the locals buying from and selling to each other. Afterward even though our guide tried to convince us that we'd rather have free time in town than visit the dirty, polluted (his words, not mine) rice noodle and rice husking factories that were supposed to be part of our itinerary, we insisted that we stick with the original plan. I though the rice husking factory was actually quite interesting since I hadn't ever known that when rice is picked it's enclosed in a brown casing. When this casing is removed, you have brown rice. That rice is further polished to make white rice. It was definitely more interesting than free time in a small, rather boring city that I had already explored after dinner the evening before.
On the whole my Mekong Delta experience wasn't so incredible, so I'm definitely glad that I only opted for the 2 day tour instead of the 3-4 day tours that the tour company tried to push on me. But it was interesting to see this part of the country before heading north to the beaches.
