Going down to Can Tho, you certainly cannot miss Cai Rang floating market, which is considered a unique feature of the Mekong Delta that almost no tourist wants to miss.
Cai Rang Floating Market Can Tho is located on a branch of Hau River flowing through Cai Rang district, about 6 km from Can Tho city center. It takes about 15 minutes by road and 30 minutes by boat from Ninh Kieu Wharf.
Cai Rang floating market is a unique and typical market type of the Mekong Delta.
Foreign tourists feel excited when coming to explore the unique features of Cai Rang floating market.
With a dense network of rivers and canals, waterways are the main transportation route here. Nowadays, when road traffic is developed and dominant, Cai Rang floating market has changed from a wholesale market to a retail market to serve more customers, especially tourists.
At a press conference at Victoria Can Tho Hotel in mid-October, Mr. Nguyen Minh Tuan - Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Can Tho City said: "Currently, there are not many floating markets in the Mekong Delta. Cai Rang floating market has its own unique features, voted by many major magazines in the world. Most, more than 60% of tourists when coming to Can Tho visit Cai Rang floating market, which is a good sign. We have also invited investors, developers and built a project to preserve Cai Rang floating market in the coming time. Accordingly, there will be more shopping areas next to the floating market for people and tourists to spend money comfortably".
The market begins with the bustling sounds of sellers and buyers greeting each other.
Unlike many markets on land, Cai Rang floating market begins to gather very early from around 4am. At this time, the lights of large and small boats, canoes carrying goods back and forth shimmer along the canals surrounding the floating market. For tourists, the reasonable time to come to Cai Rang floating market is around 6am and you can have breakfast right on the boat. Coming here at this time, you can not only immerse yourself in the bustling atmosphere, bustling with buyers and sellers but also admire the impressive picture of the floating market at dawn.
To get to Cai Rang floating market, visitors must gather at Ninh Kieu wharf to depart, after 30 minutes of traveling by boat to reach the floating market. Then, rent a boat for 200,000 - 350,000 VND to visit, stop at a few places to eat and check-in.
Cai Rang floating market in Can Tho is located on a branch of the Hau River flowing through Cai Rang district, about 6 km from the center of Can Tho city.
Tourists visiting the floating market often wake up very early, drift on a boat to watch the sunrise, slowly admire the market waking up, starting a new day.
Cai Rang floating market has long been known as a place where people in the West buy and sell every day, mainly specializing in selling fruits and vegetables in large quantities. In addition, boats and canoes selling breakfast food, drinks, daily necessities, souvenirs, etc. appear frequently on the river to meet the needs of people and tourists. Tourists can also sit on the boat and enjoy fresh fruit while people directly drive the motorboat, approaching the passenger boat to offer.
Eating a bowl of hot noodles with a cup of coffee while sitting on a boat and watching the bustling scene of Cai Rang floating market will definitely be a memorable experience for every tourist coming here.
To serve the locals as well as tourists, there are many small boats weaving their way along the river selling breakfast on the boat such as porridge, rice with ribs, noodles, crab noodle soup, stir-fried noodles... and drinks such as tea, coffee, pineapple coconut, coconut, soy milk... In the photo is Ms. Pham Thi Ngoc's boat
A bowl of hot noodle soup is served on the spot to visitors.
Ms. Pham Thi Ngoc, who has been making a living on the floating market for 25 years with boats selling rice noodles, crab noodles, fish sauce noodles, and rice noodles, said that while in the past, customers were mainly merchants, nowadays most are tourists. A full breakfast usually costs 40,000 - 50,000 VND.
The time to go to the floating market has its own beauty and charm depending on the season. If you like to enjoy fruits, you should go from June to August. At this time, boats are full of fruits such as rambutan, durian, mangosteen, longan, green-skin pomelo... The flood season from July to October of the lunar calendar is the ideal time to enjoy specialties made from linh fish, field crabs, water lilies, and sesban flowers...
You can buy fruit, ask the seller to peel it for you and enjoy it right on the river.
The bustling atmosphere, bustling shopping scene, and the livelihood of Western people at Cai Rang floating market, Can Tho create curiosity and attraction for tourists from all over the world.
Compared to the past, the number of boats trading many typical products of the Mekong Delta is not much anymore. The market is mainly for boats carrying passengers and small traders selling fruits and food to serve tourists. There are many reasons for the lack of merchant boats in Cai Rang floating market.
Local people said that nowadays road traffic has developed, gardeners sell fruits and agricultural products with traders delivering vehicles to their homes so they do not use boats to transport them on the river. Along with the development of modern and convenient supermarkets, people have gradually changed their shopping methods compared to before. Tourists are the key to increasing revenue for street vendors and retailers, or bringing in a job of ferrying boats with a good income for some local people.
Buying and selling goods from big boats to small boats
The attraction of Cai Rang floating market to tourists from all over the world is to preserve and promote the characteristics of the river region. In addition, the sincerity, simplicity and rare hospitality of the people of the West are also plus points that make many tourists want to come back.
Not only does it carry the cultural beauty of the river region, today the floating market is an attractive tourist destination that tourists, especially foreign tourists, love to explore and experience.
Because of the unique cultural and economic values of Cai Rang floating market, Rough Guide (UK) travel magazine voted Cai Rang floating market as one of the 10 most impressive markets in the world, describing it as a particularly unique spot with "vibrant tropical colors" selling boats. The website youramazingplaces also listed the 6 most beautiful floating markets in Asia, including the floating markets of the Mekong Delta region, of which Cai Rang floating market is a typical example.
Cai Rang Floating Market in Can Tho was voted by Rough Guide Magazine (UK) as one of the 10 most impressive markets in the world, describing the unique feature of this place as the "colorful tropical" selling boats.
