Having spent a lot of time recently in the Mekong Delta, I decided it was time to see what the floating markets had to offer on a recent trip to An Giang Province.
Fruit shopping along the misty Delta
By Derek Milroy in Long Xuyen City
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| A little dog guards a boat fi lled with watermelons in the fl oating market of misty Long Xuyen City - Photo: Derek Milroy |
Having spent a lot of time recently in the Mekong Delta, I decided it was time to see what the floating markets had to offer on a recent trip to An Giang Province.
We hired a boat on the My Hoa Hung side of Long Xuyen City for VND200,000 and headed out to explore the little boat village a mere ten minutes away. The sun had been splitting the trees all afternoon but you know Vietnam during the rainy season, you shut your eyes for a second and down it comes in all its glory.
Luck was on our side, though, as it was a brief flurry of rain and we headed off on our voyage of adventure on the rocky little boat with wet seats. I had gone on the same journey from Long Xuyen to My Hoa Hung just 48 hours earlier in the middle of night and was amazed at the starry sky. It was honestly the most stars I had ever seen in my life, hundreds of them. It’s just a pity I didn’t have a night-vision camera to capture it.
It was a nice moment, now though the only thing to see was clouds and a glimmer of light breaking through. The romantic in me enjoyed the misty settings as we ventured further.
The floating village/market was now upon us and as there wasn’t too much traffic we had the place to ourselves as we passed the boats which all seemed to have a dog guarding the front of the vessel.
The dogs reminded me of the Viking ships with the dragon on the prow as they stood pointing to the sea.
I loved just watching these proud people get on with everyday life, washing their clothes, having some lunch with every boat we passed bar none waving to us as they smiled contentedly and of course the mutts barked in approval or as a warning.
We boarded some vessels as we stocked up on fruit for my other half’s family; chuoi (bananas), trai mit (soft jackfruit - a Delta specialty), khoai lang (sweet potato), trai dua (coconut) and dua hau (watermelon).
I expected more noise to be honest but this was a lazy day at the floating market and the best time to witness daily life on the Delta before we headed home content with our day’s shopping.