The life of people living on floating market in Mekong delta

A vendor serving food from her boat to visitors in orange life jackets.
A woman in a conical hat rowing a small boat of produce among larger boats on the river.

When you ask sellers on the floating market: When did the floating market begin? They would answer they don’t know, they only have the knowledge that they have been floating since they were born. When they grew up, they followed their parents to earn a living by selling farm products at the floating market. Passing by some big ships, besides things they sell, you can see that there are also clothes, a place for cooking, washing and they even keep dogs on the sampan. Their life is based on the ship, they float from this desk to another, from this market to that market. However, the quality of life never gets better, when this day, the floating marking is being reduced in size due to the development of road systems.

A woman in a checked scarf reaching across to a neighbouring boat, the sun low over the river.

Coming to Cai Rang floating market, you can catch sight of almost anything in life: fruits (pineapple, rambutan, star apple, watermelon,…), breakfast meals (noodles with pork, crab, dumplings, banh mi, sticky rice cake,…), drinks (coffee, coconut water, orange juice,…) and even lottery! Want to know which thing is selling on a boat? Just look at the long thin stick in front of the boat, the sellers will hang the thing that they sell on that stick, what a creative way to advertise right?

A man on a boat photographing the low sun over the river with his phone.