Located on a tributary of Hau River, flowing through Cai Rang district (Can Tho city), Cai Rang floating market is about 6 km from the city center. This is a busy floating market, representing the typical culture of the western river region. From Ninh Kieu to Cai Rang Floating Market takes about 15 minutes by road and about 30 minutes by boat. You can go by car or train as you like, but most tourists will choose to visit Cai Rang Floating Market by boat to explore and fully feel the beauty of the river.
Cai Rang Floating Market was held very early, when the sky was still foggy on the river, hundreds of boats from all over the river were bustling to come to the floating market. Therefore, the ideal time to travel to Cai Rang Floating Market is from 5am to 8am, this is when the market is busiest. We started leaving the port at 5.30.
A lady taking a nap on her watermelon boat
The tourist boat that drove us around the market
Why do the call it "Cai Rang"?
Explaining the name of the market, the name Cai Rang is derived from the Khmer word "karan" which means "ca rang" (the apple). Khmer people in Xa Ton (Tri Ton) make a lot of karan and sell it everywhere to serve in the preparation of dishes, especially they sell a lot in this Can Tho river area. Because the word is difficult to read, over time, Vietnamese people have pronounced the word "karan" into the word "ca rang" and then Cai Rang. The deeper you go inside the floating market, the more vivid the life of the merchant becomes. Goods at the market are very diverse, most are specialty fruits of the river garden. There is also dried fish, crafts, necessities and food service included.
In order for distant customers to know what products they are selling, the seller hangs that product on the bow of the boat called a "tree". This form of "bundling goods" is a unique trade culture that only floating markets have.
Bundling goods trees
Some foreign tourists eating the whole pineapple on a boat
When we went to the floating market in a summer, everyone said we couldn't help but try the "shake" vermicelli. It is a crab noodle dish, fish sauce noodle… rich in Western flavor. The reason it is called "shake" vermicelli is because all activities of buying - selling, processing - enjoying take place on the boat. We sat and ate and swayed along the waves, this is probably an unforgettable breakfast for those who go to the floating market for the first time like us.
Restaurant on the river
Kids are seeking for a better future at the market
We met a kid Tu, 17 years old, from Vinh Long, has been working at Cai Rang market for three months at the moment. He told us a long story of the lingering lives of kids like him at the floating marketing: "We are poor, fishermen, have no home on the shore, have little education, and have little opportunities. Finding a job was too difficult, too sad, went down the boat to come here, at first thought I was going to a Gypsy trip, if I was lucky, I would stay, if not, I would go back to my hometown.
Up here, the first day, just clumsy not knowing what to do, just rowing around. In the evening, I felt hungry and had nothing to eat, so I recklessly stopped in a boat selling pineapple, asked for a pineapple, the boat owner asked me whose son's family is, why am I still wandering, I said I am looking for a job. , he laughed loudly, said he got on the boat to eat and then he found a job. That meal was eaten with his family, the next morning made it for him.
After selling, he turned the boat back home, I went to another boat to continue loading and unloading. But this time, they work alternately, from boat to boat, but if they work for one owner, it's only enough to eat. Surely we have to find a way to get ashore to find a stable job, it's fun to work down here, people are gentle, but the work is too boring."
For boys at a young age, Cai Rang market is the school of life, a place to nurture and create a springboard for them to find opportunities in life and ashore. But for girls at this age, Cai Rang market will be very dangerous if they are not careful and do not have family around.
A lady who went to Cai Rang floating market to look for her daughter for three months now, told us: "My oldest daughter dropped out of school and followed her friends here to look for work. She has been gone for six months without any correspondence. After all, I was so worried, I ran up here to seek for her, asked people, they said she worked here, but when she saw me up, she run away. But she's too young to know, there are many pitfalls, just being negligent can ruin a girl's life, but she can't play. Many children come here, at first to work as hired laborers, but then they were interrupted by human traffickers, solicited, wooed, sold to China, and ended up losing their lives."
When the dawn has just dawned, sitting on a boat in the middle of the vast river, enjoying a bowl of hot vermicelli, drinking a cup of coffee with relatives, to feel the breath, the vibrant rhythm of life, will be a wonderful experience. A very unique experience when coming to the deep South of Vietnam.