You guys can clearly see that I always try to get away from busy cities but sometimes I do love exploring hidden gems of that crowd, where there is no material, sparkle, but still gorgeous.
So today, let's get lost at Long Xuyen floating market!
A family did their morning routine on the floating house
Wait! How to get there?
Take a note that this floating market is not like other touristic ones. Long Xuyen floating market is a real local spot which people literally do trading activities, not just a "show" to jerk off tourists.
It is only 2km from the city center of Long Xuyen, An Giang to Ô Môi port. You can find a boat owner at the port to drive you around the floating market. They do not sell tours ticket so everything is just real.
Our journey from the early morning
We got up at 4.30am to make sure that we can arrive at the market before the day starts. The cold breeze of the early morning blew on my face helped me stay awake.
A guy waiting for his busy day begins
The calm vibe before the sun rises
We got on an old paddle boat floating slowly on the river, following a day of locals in the market. I dove into the sound of people calling each other, the buzz of water flowing under the boat and the birds singing a day started.
Chú Tư was rushing to finish his breakfast before his customers come
The thing I recognized in Long Xuyen market is people there do not try to rush you to their boat or pressure you to buy anything. They will share with you a lot about their life on the water and they will tell you where the good authentic cuisines are. I was so shocked when a lady told me that she only went to Saigon one in a life time for health checking. For them, Saigon is too too far from their reality, that they never dream of.
I suddenly recalled from the day I first came to Hanoi till today, I never belong to that city, that it's still a strange place to me.
Alright, what to do here?
The very first thing is if you feel like eating something, just sit still and ask your boatman to order for you some "bún thịt nướng" (rice noodle and grilled pork).
Then he will say...
"Ay yooo, Tư! One bún thịt nướng for this little Miss, quick!"
Aunt Tư preparing the food.
There're not much to do when you're on the boat, it's really just about watching people hustling and buying some fruits that freaking cheap. They have every tropical fruits that you can think of.
Yeah you're right, they're throwing those pineapples to each other.
People brought the fruits all the way from the deep South-West farms to the market to sell. That boat carried hundreds kilogram of banana on its old and broken body.
Behind the "houses"
We were on the way back to the land.
Spending our whole morning at Long Xuyen floating market was so worth it. Even though I was a bit worry we could fall off that little boat, I caught myself busy eating and laughing no-stop.
Thank you so much for your time of reading and hope you guys waiting for the next endless adventures.