Characteristics Of Floating Markets In Vietnam

By Kimina

Floating market is a original feature of deltas of Mainland Southeast Asia, where has thousands of rivers and canals in various sizes. In Vietnam, floating market is a specific cultural part of the Southwest. If you tend to explore Mekong delta, you should not skip a cruise to floating markets. 

The market is held in rivers, among a vast waterway with hundreds of boat, junk and canoe of residents.

A floating market in Vietnam

The floating market opens up a whole day, but it is usually the most bustling in the morning, when it is cool. The more it turns to noon, the hottest the weather is, the fewer customers are. So you should visit floating markets in early morning.

Boats are loaded fully of goods. Fruits are the most popular kind of merchandise. The peculiar point of boats is that in each has several poles. People dangle products which they sell on these poles. Therefore, customers just only look at the poles, they can know whether the boat has things they need or not. By this original marketing way, customers from a far distance can see clearly items.

Residents hang products they sell on poles.

These are general characteristics of Vietnam floating markets.

- Market is the place where trade and exchange actually local produce of local inhabitants, comprising agricultural products and foodstuff. 

- Stores or boats normally do not have any sign. Sellers hang products which they sell on poles or over prows; sell oranges hang oranges, sell mangoes hang mangoes, sell coconut hang coconut, etc. People call these poles as “cay beo”. These “cay beo” are erected on prows or hang horizontally on boats. 

"Cay beo" is erected on the prow.

"Cay beo" is hang horirzontally

- If wanting to know the area which a boat belongs to, just regard into a side of the boat, which is written a province code abbreviated by two first letters. For instance, “Tien Giang” province is written as “TG”.

Vinh Long province was abbreviated as "VL" on this boat

However, there are still three circumstances:

1. “Hanging things which are not for sale.” They are just clothes. Residents of the floating market commonly live in boats, so their clothes are also dried in sun on boats.

2. “Things are for sale but not hung.” These boats are food or beverage stalls. That goods cannot be hung.

3.  “Hang one thing but sell another thing.” If you see only a few pineapples hung on a boat, this means that the owner want to sell this boat. So, hang pineapples, but sell the boat.

Hang pineapples, but sell boats

Some famous floating markets you can visit are Cai Be (Tien Giang province), Phung Hiep (Hau Giang province), Chau Doc (An Giang province), Can Tho and Phong Dien (Can Tho city).

Any Mekong delta tour also set an excursion to floating markets for you. You can choose biking around Mekong countryside to discover the cultural life of local residents.

Seven Experiences You Shouldn’t Miss in Vietnam

by Bethaney Davies 

Vietnam is a country that can polarize the opinion of it’s visitors. Some people love it, others loathe it. I, myself, have had a love-hate relationship with Vietnam over my two visits. I hated it on my first visit but fell in love on my second visit. If you want to fall in love with this crazy country too, here are seven experiences you shouldn’t miss in Vietnam.

Street in Saigon

Cross the Street in Saigon

Seriously. Crossing the street in Saigon is not the same as crossing the street anywhere else on the planet. The streets are constantly thick with scooters. To get a cross you honestly just have to step from the curb, walk across and keep your pace consistent letting the traffic weave around you. In some strange way it just works. The drivers know how to anticipate the movements of pedestrians crossing the street. You’ll only get into trouble if you stop or change your pace causing motorists to swerve.

Floating Market

Cruise Through the Mekong Delta

Take a tour from Saigon to explore the Mekong Delta region. You’ll get to shop at the famous floating markets of the region, visit cottage industries making rice paper and coconut candy and just soak up the vibe of the river towns. It makes for a welcome antidote to the craziness of Saigon and should definitely be part of your Vietnam holidays.

Motobike at Mui Ne

Motorbike in Mui Ne

If you’re going to try your hand at riding a motorbike anywhere in Vietnam, make it in Mui Ne. It’s a relatively sleepy fishing village with a row of tourist resorts running along one road. There isn’t much in the way of public transport in town so renting a motorbike is the best way to get around. Once you’ve got the hang of it, ride your motorbike out to see the sand dunes.

Wallow in mud

Wallow in Mud in Nha Trang

The beach is lovely but it’s over developed and over commercialised. My absolute favourite thing about Nha Trang is the hot springs at Thap Ba. Where else can you wallow in your own private therapeutic mud pool, swim in hot spring water and get a relaxing massage for only a few dollars? It’s a little bit of a drive out from Nha Trang so arrange for your moto or taxi driver to wait or come back and collect you at a set time.

Nikes at Hoi An

Get Tailor-Made Clothing in Hoi An

Having clothes tailor-made to your exact measurements is a real treat. Back home it would cost hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars to have a custom made suit, dress or coat. There are no shortage of tailor shops in Hoi An but the best of the best is Yaly Couture. The garments I had made in 2008 at Yaly are still in circulation in my wardrobe. Sadly, my blinged out custom “Nikes” bit the dust after only a few wears.

H'mong ethnic

Go Trekking in Sapa

This mountainous region of Vietnam up by the Chinese border is very special indeed. Mountain mists roll in and out of the verdant rice terraces. Minority hilltribespeople wander around in traditional dress. There are days and days worth of fantastic walks in and around Sapa. If you’re keen for longer treks, go with an organised tour. Or if you just want short walks, pick a trail and you’ll be met by smiling young women who guide tourists in exchange for purchasing their handicrafts.

Halong Bay

Explore Halong Bay

Save the best until last! Halong Bay is the emerald in Vietnam’s crown. 2000 islands dot the green waters, supposedly representing a huge dragon’s body dipping above and below the surface. You can easily join a Halong Bay cruise from Hanoi on any budget. All tours include a night aboard a traditional Junk ship. If time permits, go for the two-night, three-day tour… all the magic happens on the second day which most tourists miss. You can cycle around islands, kayak through the waters and explore historical sights from the Vietnam war on Cat Ba Island.

ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA would like to recommend Family Adventures in Vietnam tour.With its stunning natural landscapes, millennia-old history, exciting cosmopolitan cities, friendly hamlets and mélange of cultural influences, Vietnam has it all. And there’s no better way to become acquainted with this vibrant country than by exploring it under your own locomotion and at your own pace. Walk past pagodas and temples in old Hanoi, kayak amid labyrinthine limestone outcrops in Halong Bay, bike past vibrant green rice paddies, investigate magnificent historic sites in Hue and stroll through the enchanting city of Hoi An, one of Vietnam’s architectural gems. Round out your days of discovery with meals of delicious local cuisine and stays at warm welcoming hotels.

Highlights:

• Kayaking in the amazing Halong Bay
• Biking in the majestic former capital of Hue
• Charming ancient town of Hoian
• Floating market of Cai Rang

Deeper into the Mekong River Delta

Is there anywhere on planet Earth that so teems with life and industry as the Mekong Delta? Anywhere where agriculture and fish farming are so intensively practiced? In thinking that one day I'll come back here and find multi-storey rice paddies stretching to the horizon, I suspect I'm only partially dreaming.

Not for nothing has the delta of the Mekong River been termed the "rice bowl of the Universe". Six countries and well over fifty million people depend upon the Mekong for their very livelihood. And in no country is this dependence so profound as in Vietnam.

Flying into Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) gives as good an introduction as any to the wonders of the Mekong. From the air the landscape resembles an intricate anatomical chart, only in shades of green and brown rather than white and red. Every tributary of the Mekong River bifurcates, then trifurcates and multifurcates into thousands of veins, arteries and capillaries. Then, linking this vast drainage network are hundreds of manmade canals, giving the countryside the appearance of an Eastern Venice.