The Mekong splits into nine branches in Vietnam, so it's called Cửu Long, or Nine Dragons. The branch in Cần Thơ, the largest city in the Mekong Delta, is the Cần Thơ River. The floating market at Cái Răng is half an hour by boat from downtown Cần Thơ. It begins at 5AM each day, too dark to photograph, so most of these shots were taken around 6:30AM.
The Saigon River is not a part of the Mekong, so tourists who want to see this famed river usually head down to Mỹ Tho or, a bit farther, Cần Thơ. If they want to see the Cái Răng Floating Market, however, they must stay overnight in Cần Thơ, and this inconvenience prevents any touristy horde from forming. I mean, there are tourists, but most are Vietnamese from nearby towns.
The larger boats are of the types used by the boat people to escape Vietnam during the darkest years of Communism, although they wouldn't be leaving from an upriver place like Can Tho, but on the coast.
4 comments:
2pm: Visit a floating market far from the tourist hordes.
6pm: Under cover at a riverside eatery, leave room for locally caught fish with market vegetables.
8pm: After a performance of traditional dance, the poet Linh Dinh will explain why your culture is in irrevocable decline.
Yo Ian,
The Mekong splits into nine branches in Vietnam, so it's called Cửu Long, or Nine Dragons. The branch in Cần Thơ, the largest city in the Mekong Delta, is the Cần Thơ River. The floating market at Cái Răng is half an hour by boat from downtown Cần Thơ. It begins at 5AM each day, too dark to photograph, so most of these shots were taken around 6:30AM.
The Saigon River is not a part of the Mekong, so tourists who want to see this famed river usually head down to Mỹ Tho or, a bit farther, Cần Thơ. If they want to see the Cái Răng Floating Market, however, they must stay overnight in Cần Thơ, and this inconvenience prevents any touristy horde from forming. I mean, there are tourists, but most are Vietnamese from nearby towns.
Linh
Yo Ian,
In this shot, you can see Vietnamese tourists buying longans and rambutans, two fruits most Westerners have never eaten, and won't try.
Linh
Yo Ian,
The larger boats are of the types used by the boat people to escape Vietnam during the darkest years of Communism, although they wouldn't be leaving from an upriver place like Can Tho, but on the coast.
Linh
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