08:50, 11/19/2023
With the typical beauty of the Mekong Delta, Cai Rang floating market (in Cai Rang district, Can Tho city) is always a destination chosen by many tourists when visiting the most bustling and developed city in the Mekong Delta.
Cai Rang floating market opens before dawn and is busiest around 5-7am. Floating on the sparkling water of lights, the lyrics of the song “Western Floating Market” (composer Ngo Ky Vy) seem to urge visitors from afar: Walking along the riverbank under the shade of the poplar trees, the wind shakes the willow banks/ The waves happily welcome visitors to this place/ Boats and canoes fill the river, the holds are full of ripe fruit, the cries are loud/ Rambutan, custard apple, durian, grapefruit, mango, everyone is smiling…
Cai Rang arouses curiosity and interest in listeners right from its name. There are many explanations for this unique name, including the legend that during the time of reclaiming the wasteland, a very large crocodile washed up here. The crocodile's teeth were deeply embedded in the riverbank soil, so when the floating market was formed, the name Cai Rang was used to name the market.
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| From early morning, boats and ships have been bustling on Cai Rang floating market. |
Like many floating markets in the Mekong Delta, Cai Rang floating market was formed and born from the essential needs of people, when their lives were closely linked to the terrain of rivers and canals. In particular, at a time when waterway transportation was almost the only way to transport goods, Cai Rang floating market was once a wholesale market specializing in exchanging vegetables and fruits in the region, extremely bustling...
Following the river for about 30 minutes, the colorful Cai Rang market gradually appeared before our eyes. The deeper we went into the market, the more boats there were, bustling along the long river. The sound of oars, talking and laughing, selling, calling out… all blended together in the immense sound of the river. Weaving in between the big boats were small boats operating at full capacity, carrying a full load of goods, especially garden fruits. The sellers happily called out local products, and customers were also free to choose their favorite gifts.
Not only specialty fruits, the floating market also has shops with all kinds of goods. Visitors can experience and enjoy on-site sweet noodle cakes, crispy fried noodle pizza; visit the coconut candy factory to see the production process; or choose pasta, vermicelli, specialty dried fish, souvenirs; as well as enjoy a hot bowl of noodle soup on the floating water... The market also has household appliances, gasoline and essential items for life on the river.
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| Tourists visit and buy goods at Cai Rang floating market. |
Cai Rang floating market is not only interesting because of the “mobile” stalls, but also strange because of the poles placed in front of the boats. These are poles, on which are hung the products that the boat owners want to sell. From afar, customers can only look at the poles to know the location and choose what they need. There are also poles with only coconut leaves hanging, not to sell coconuts or coconut products, but to sell their own boats. There are also things hung on the poles but not for sale, which are the clothes of families living on boats...
Fun and interesting are our feelings when we first visited Cai Rang floating market. However, there are also some regrets: The floating market is facing many challenges because it is gradually losing its former prosperity, the current means of buying and selling in the market are declining, somewhere there is still the issue of price gouging when selling goods to customers... However, it must be recognized that the local government here has been making great efforts to develop Cai Rang floating market in a new direction - tourism , to make this place become a prominent and unique tourist attraction.
Song Quynh
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