You have to wake up at 6 am in order to make it on time to the floating market of Can Tho.
By mid morning the market scene is still and lifeless. The sun is high up and the heat makes everyone retreat to their boat hammocks. But at 7 am in the morning the place is teaming with life. Goods are being transferred from boat to boat, ladies are serving breakfast soups, boat cafes are steaming with hot coffee and excitement is in the air. All the activity seems chaotic to the outside visitors but there is a language that the locals share and rules invisible to us foreigners.
It is impossible to translate all the richness of the scene with photos or words without capturing the sounds, the smells, and all the visual abundance of colors, reflections, boats, people. Still, the photos below are a small sample that hopefully will give you a taste.
People come down the river from far away carrying their goods to Can Tho’s floating market and living on the boat through the journey and until they sell their produce.
The boats are also floating houses that have all the signs of a home: hanging clothes, hammocks to sleep in, camping style kitchen.
Washing station on a boat.
Houses along the Mekong.
Breakfast soup boat.
Coffee boat. We were told not to buy coffee from the boats as it is supposedly made with river water.
Another soup lady. Vietnamese are early risers and they have fresh and happy faces at dawn, whereas we need coffee to get going 🙁
Vietnamese women are very strong. They boat, motorcycle, take care of the house and the kids, have small business, carry heavy loads of fruits and vegetables, work in the fields…
Floating vegetable stall.
Cabbage boat.
Who would have guessed that cabbages and watermelons complement each other so well?
Radishes galore. The asian radishes are sweet and easy to peel by hand. We are crazy about them. Raina alone can eat half of that boat load.
The boats sell wholesale. You can’t buy a kilo or two. The minimum is 25 kilos.
Looked to me that this boat was selling to the women on the bigger boats who had to keep a household on the boat and were cooking for their families.
Each boat has a tall pole on top of which people exhibit their wares. This boats was selling tomatoes. Other boats can see that from far away and head towards the boat if they want to buy some.
There. Tomatoes are already bagged in bags of 25 kl each ready to be picked up.
Sandwich boat.
Child on board.
The pineapple board. We had to climb on board. $.50 buys you a pineapple cut in front of you. Delicious.
Love the way they cut the seeds of the pineapple. So easy to eat it after that. Boryan watched carefully and now is able to copy the cutting technique all the way.
Better than ice cream (not:)
Business transaction.
I guess being on water comes with a lot of chill time. Card games, cigarettes and coffee, all enjoyed the Vietnamese way.
In case you wondered how all this boats are fueled: gas station by the water.
I wish we could explore the smaller floating markets that are around Can Tho. One negative side of travelling on a shoestring budget is that we have to penny pinch all the time. Next time we return to the Mekong delta I know how to do it right: organize in advance a home stay next to Can Tho and explore independently. The area hides many markets not frequented by tourists and probably delicious fresh eats typical for this area of Vietnam.
~M
