Floating markets culture is a typical beauty in the life of the southwest region of Vietnam. Visitors to the floating markets will experience a unique type of trade found in the Mekong Delta (Vietnam) so that everyone can have memorable memories when coming to the Southwest.
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Floating markets culture of the Southwest River region of Vietnam
In the Southwest, almost every river area has floating markets. The market here is a few boats exchanging and buying on the river, and a large market crowded with vessels anchored at major rivers’ confluence.
Floating markets in Southwest Vietnam open almost all day, but the busiest is still in the morning. Although the sun has not yet risen, the engine explosion and the sound of rowing echoes towards the market. At about 4–5 am, the market starts to get more crowded, bustling with buyers and sellers to tourists also taking advantage of getting up early to explore the floating market culture.
Going to the market in the early morning will help you see a lot of busy trading scenes of people on very interesting canoes and boats. And when you come late, the market is only mainly merchants’ boats that stay over to catch the next day’s session. There are many goods sold on the floating market like a traditional wholesale market, and there is no shortage of anything from vegetables, housewares, noodles, lottery tickets, etc.
You can buy anything you want at the floating market and discover more beauty of the people in the river here.
The beauty of the unique floating markets in Southwest Vietnam
Most of the southwestern provinces have an interlaced network of rivers and canals, so the floating market culture on the river is significantly developed in this area.
Phung Hiep Floating Market, Hau Giang
Phung Hiep floating market, also known as Nga Bay floating market, is located next to National Highway 1A, about 30km south of Can Tho city, and is known as the most famous floating market in Hau Giang.
This market, formed in 1915, is where the trading and exchange activities of the merchants in the Mekong Delta take place and the attraction of many tourists to explore.
Phung Hiep Market is a floating market that aggregates many different items, serving the local people and distributing them to the southern, northern, and foreign provinces. The market operates from the early morning when the sky is still spreading a thin mist. Hundreds of boats and local people enthusiastically pull each other to Phung Hiep market to buy and sell like a festival.
When coming here, people will be able to witness a lot of different images, sounds, and colors with their own eyes, creating a bustling and joyful atmosphere. From above, the whole river has a colorful beauty, like a long silk strip adorned with unique touches.
Phung Hiep floating market combines elements from colors, sounds, flavors, a unique beauty of the Southern countryside that only you can feel here.
Cai Rang Floating Market, Can Tho
The Cai Rang Floating Market is one of Can Tho’s three largest floating markets, having an idyllic, everyday beauty with scenes of village activities on the river. This place has created a rare beautiful setting for floating market culture in the river region of Vietnam.
Cai Rang Floating Market is located on Cai Rang River, near Cai Rang Bridge, about 6km from Can Tho city center by road and takes about 30 minutes by boat from Ninh Kieu Wharf. This floating market’s unique and main point is that it specializes in trading fruits and specialties of the Mekong Delta.
Each boat will sell different goods, from sweet fruits of the Southwest to boats selling noodles in the morning or boats selling household items necessary for daily life.
In addition, the Cai Rang floating market is one of the unique attractions tourists should visit when traveling to Can Tho. Every year, the number of tourists coming here is increasing, especially foreign tourists.
This place is a place to show the form of buying and selling and preserve the distinctive culture of the southern river countryside. It contributes to protecting the unique culture of the Cai Rang floating market, one of the cultural heritage of Vietnam’s national-level intangibles.
Cai Be Floating Market, Tien Giang
Cai Be floating market is the contiguous place of three provinces of Vinh Long, Ben Tre, and Tien Giang. This place is one of the three largest wholesale markets in the Southwest region, along with Cai Rang and Phung Hiep floating markets. Therefore, the Cai Be floating market is always bustling with boats filled with seafood, vegetables, household appliances, and food.
Cai Be Floating Market operates day and night. Each market session usually opens between 2 pm, and 8 am, with hundreds of boats gathering to trade and exchange items. This place still retains the typical activities of the floating market culture of the Mekong Delta.
To visit this market, visitors can rent a boat for about 500,000 – 800,000 VND for 10-15 seats or rent a Southwestern-style dinghy with a price of 150,000 – 200,000 VND for 3 – 5 people sitting.
With a wide variety of goods, Cai Be floating market is most famous for fresh specialized fruits such as Lo Ren milkweed, Cai Be mandarin oranges, green-skinned pomelo, etc. The fruit concentrated here is the most in Tien Giang and distributed to the southern and northern provinces.
Today, due to the needs of the people and the development of tourism, Cai Be floating market trades in fruits and agricultural products and has dishes and drinks on small boats interspersed with large fruit boats.
Visitors here will have the opportunity to experience comfortable moments, eat a plate of wet cakes, a bowl of noodles, porridge, or sip a cup of coffee watching the natural scenery here.
Long Xuyen Floating Market, An Giang
Located on the Hau River area, near Long Xuyen city, An Giang province, Long Xuyen floating market has become a must-visit tourist destination when coming to the Southwest region.
Although the market size is not as significant as other floating markets, nor does it follow the trend of commercialization to serve tourists, Long Xuyen floating market still retains the idyllic and pristine features of floating market culture as before.
About 2km from the center of Long Xuyen city, located along the banks of the Hau River, from 4 am, hundreds of canoes and boats gathered to the market to start a new trading day. Here, the primary goods are agricultural products, fruits, and famous An Giang snacks such as pork skin cakes, fish noodles, etc.
In particular, the items sold here are not overcharging, so tourists rarely have to bargain as people are not affected by the commercialization of tourism. Anyone who comes here will feel the idyllic, sincere, and hospitable people in Long Xuyen floating market.
Vinh Thuan Floating Market
On Vinh Thuan river in Vinh Thuan town, Vinh Thuan district, Kien Giang province, there is a floating market with a scale not inferior to other famous floating markets.
The unique feature of this floating market is that goods sold on boats usually do not need to be advertised or hung up like other floating markets. Guests canoeing themselves to buy, sell, exchange, and the behavior between tourists and people are charming, not competing for goods.
Like other floating markets, in the early morning from 4 to 5 o’clock, boats from all different regions gather at Vinh Thuan floating market, which is very crowded. Sitting on each dinghy, weaving between the crowded river market will help visitors feel the joyful and bustling atmosphere when coming to the land of the Southwest of the river.
You can watch the boats loaded with vegetables and fruits, watch the people exchanging and trading, and impromptu enjoys the delicious vermicelli noodles on the river. Sometimes you can also hear the sweet vocal echo of the people here. This market promises to be an exciting destination in your journey to discover the Southwest region.
Society is developing day by day, but the floating market culture of the Mekong Delta still retains its typical activities. Local people in the Mekong Delta permanently preserve this culture to bring many exciting travel experiences to visitors.
