Monday, 28th October. The alarm went off at 6.15am, our guide from Vega travel would come and pick us up at 7.00am from our hotel in Ho Chi Minh for our full-day trip to Mekong Delta. He was very sweet, a university student from a small city of Vietnam working part time as tour guide. After 100 kilometres of driving (not walking, thank God!) we arrived at Cai Be small port. We got on to our wooden boat, where the crew welcomed us with coconuts, and we started sailing in Mekong river. For most of the time KK and I were not talking. We were just looking on our right and our left speechless. At the bank of the river, the homes of the locals were almost standing on top of the river with the help of poles. They were made from old aluminum or bricks covered with mould. Aren’t they scared that some day soon they will collapse inside the river?
Then we approached the Cai Be floating market. I was expecting a very busy floating market like the ones I had seen in photos and videos mostly from Thailand. It wasn’t like this. Yes, there were some traders with their boats selling jackfruit, durian and other local fruits but there were not so many of them. There was not that tension of a market, with people shouting to advertise their products. After asking our guide, he told us that floating markets are in decline and sooner or later they will go under extinction. That market used to be much bigger in the past, about ten times bigger. Cai Be has now roads and land transportation so locals don’t need boats, they don’t use the river to move around and they now have supermarkets.
I suddenly got depressed, floating markets have flourished in the early 19th century, they survived wars, invaders. Whole families live nomadic floating lives aboard their cramped houseboats, what is going to happen to them? But then our guide with his big smile, showed me all the rubbish traders throw in the water, vegetable peels, nylon bags, small and big things of different materials. Locals don’t have an environmental conscience and they throw all type of rubbish in the river. Then he told me that due to this way of living many kids don’t go to school. Although it’s hard, locals adjust their lives and find different ways to provide food to their families and hopefully education. Tourists though, play a big part in the preservation of the floating markets. Most guides now collaborate with local traders and they encourage tourists to buy fruits or coffee from them to support them. There are 6 more floating markets that are bigger than Cai Be but more time is required to get there.
I suddenly got depressed, floating markets have flourished in the early 19th century, they survived wars, invaders. Whole families live nomadic floating lives aboard their cramped houseboats, what is going to happen to them? But then our guide with his big smile, showed me all the rubbish traders throw in the water, vegetable peels, nylon bags, small and big things of different materials. Locals don’t have an environmental conscience and they throw all type of rubbish in the river. Then he told me that due to this way of living many kids don’t go to school. Although it’s hard, locals adjust their lives and find different ways to provide food to their families and hopefully education. Tourists though, play a big part in the preservation of the floating markets. Most guides now collaborate with local traders and they encourage tourists to buy fruits or coffee from them to support them. There are 6 more floating markets that are bigger than Cai Be but more time is required to get there.
With my mind still being in the floating markets, the group was split in 2-3 different small boats and we were heading to the small canals of the river with rich vegetation. They took to a small village where we visited a homestay and locals threw a play for us. A bit touristy but ok.
Then we visited another homestay where we had a fun activity, we all had to cook one dish, something similar to Lac Thien we had tried in Hue, a traditional omelette filled with vegetables and meat. Lunch was delicious and it had everything, meat, fish, salads and rice of course.
Our last stop was the most interesting one. We visited a family-run workshop making many kinds of candy from rice, as well as pop-rice. The woman in the photo was making rice paper, so thin, just by using her hands. She was so calm and with such precision the rice paper was so thin we could see through it. We bought coconut candy from there for our friends and colleagues back in London.
Full of new images we took our way back to Ho Chi Minh. This kind of tours might be touristy but it’s totally worth spending some time in Mekong Delta, get closer to local people’s life that might be lost some time soon.
Tip: There are some private tours for less people. We booked ours the night before so we didn’t have much time to search for different options and we trusted Vega travel after our tour in Halong Bay. Always check the itinerary and if you would like to see more floating markets you should be there at about 6am when the markets open. Also, have in mind that the weather is unpredictable so be ready for some rain.