The Colourful Floating Markets
of the Mekong Delta

A couple of centuries ago, the Mekong Delta was a vast mangrove swamp crisscrossed by innumerable tiny channels as the Mekong River split into nine branches that subdivided again and again as the immense volume of water made its way across the mud to the sea.

Since then, Vietnamese émigrés from the rest of country have partially tamed the river by constructing an enormous network of dykes and drainage channels to create agricultural land. Nevertheless, life on the Mekong revolves entirely around the river. The only roads are those raised high on artificial embankments, so the only practical form of travel is by water. Waterborne activities dominate and, during the annual three-month period when most of the delta is under two or three metres of water, they take over completely.The Mekong’s floating markets ('cho noi' in Vietnamese) are a manifestation of this water-world existence. If you want to see the Mekong’s floating markets at their best, a homestay is a good idea. Typically, you’ll spend the night in a family home located in an orchard next to a canal. It won’t be the Sheraton, but you’ll find that the accommodation is comfortable, the food good, your hosts hospitable, and the local rice ‘wine’ mind-blowing. The advantage is that an early start will get you to the markets at their busiest, rather than later when most of the locals have left and the tourist boats have arrived. We take you to Cai Rang (wholesale) and Phong Bien (retail) markets, a bit further than Cai Be Market where most tourists congregate, and therefore more authentic.The boats vary a lot in size, but most are variations of the Vietnamese sampan. The smaller ones are rectangular open craft constructed from caulked woven bamboo and propelled by crossed oars manipulated by a single rower. Larger family boats are of similar design, but have a roofed area as living accommodation. These are reminiscent of the Chinese version of the sampan, a low draught rectangular houseboat with a diagonally opposed sail.Traders that are more affluent have flat-bottomed wooden craft with engines.The markets can be small spontaneous affairs for a particular purpose, but are usually prearranged at particular locations and dates - the larger markets can comprise thousands of boats. They congregate early, mooring alongside other boats to create a large ‘raft’. All the locals from toddlers to octogenarians skip from boat to boat as if they were running around on a paved surface – please don't try to emulate their agility! The markets last all day, but individual traders come and go. The goods are mostly agricultural products, such as fresh fruit (rambutan, oranges, pomeloes, mangosteen and durian are specialities of the area) and edible river and land creatures (fresh-water fish, turtles, snakes, field crabs, and shrimps) Most of the agricultural produce and fruit at the larger Cho Noi are sold to wholesalers, who then resell to food processing factories or ship them to Hanoi and the northern provinces. Smaller local Cho Noi are mostly selling or bartering among families in the immediate area. The vendors have a novel means of advertising their wares by erecting a long bamboo pole with a sample of the items on offer tied to the top. All trading takes place on the boats.

Other boats provide services to the traders and their customers, mainly food, but also other things such as haircuts and herbal medicine treatments.

Nowadays, floating markets in many countries have outlived their usefulness and now exist only as tourist attractions. In Vietnam, they are a vital component of the local economy, particularly in the Mekong Delta but in other places as well, and are wholly authentic apart from a few commercialised tourist traps on the edge of the delta.