Mekong Delta in Vietnam: The Floating Markets of Cai Rang

From Saigon, I continued south—and even though I’d already really liked Ho Chi Minh City —things were about to get even better in the Mekong Delta. I highly recommend taking a side trip to the Mekong Delta from Saigon! Here, you’ll find vibrant life at the floating markets on the Mekong and a glimpse of the real, authentic Vietnam. A Mekong Delta boat tour is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. If you do it right, you can immerse yourself deeply in the local culture and get to know the lives of the locals. In this article, I’ll tell you the best way to make that happen.

Homestays in the Mekong Delta: Off into Nature

I often decide spontaneously on the spot where I want to go further and after the busy and sometimes noisy Ho Chi Minh City, a bit of nature seemed like a good change. In the Mekong Delta you can find a lot of homestays. There you stay with locals on their property or in their house, sometimes more, sometimes less easy.

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A Boat Trip Through the Vast and Branched Mekong Delta

Traveling individually is often exhausting, planning everything, organizing everything – it rarely looks like a vacation. In return, you will be gifted with the most impressive experiences. With a small motorboat made of wood, more nutshell than boat, we sailed at half past five towards the sunrise, in our mini-group, through the branched, narrow side arms of the Mekong.

On the right and left, densely overgrown riverbanks full of palm trees and tropical trees. Lucy, our tour guide, courageously cuts down a palm leaf with a huge knife and with admirable dexterity makes rings and small animals out of the leaves to pass the time. But this is not necessary at all, the ride over the almost still sleeping river in the middle of this jungle panorama is already pastime enough.

The Cai Rang Floating Market: Sunrise on the Mekong

Just in time for sunrise, the rising sun behind us, we turn into the floating market of Cai Rang, the Cai Rang Floating Market, with our little boat tour. That’s right, a floating market: Like so many markets here in the Mekong Delta, the market of Cai Rang is located in the middle of the river.

Traders exchange goods directly from boat to boat, in between old women in their mini-boats, on which they have installed small cookshops and thus supply the workers – and depending on the time of day also the one or other tourist boat. We in our little nutshell were early, before the big tourist rush. To experience the floating market of Cai Rang at sunrise, when the market life is still in full swing, is unique.

Market Life at the Floating Markets on the Mekong River

We hopped from boat to boat, ate breakfast to karaoke music (Vietnamese love karaoke, regardless of their own singing skills, which is both quirky and likeable), shimmied out of our nut shell up steep boat walls to nibble on freshly carved, cardboard-sweet pineapple – and around us, pure market life. Rumbling diesel engines, sacks of vegetables and grain flying around, people hard at work. Somehow surreal that all this takes place on the water – but that’s Vietnam in the Mekong Delta: The Mekong is the lifeline without which nothing would function here.

Around the floating market of Cai Rang there are also numerous manufactories. Like this one, for example, which painstakingly makes rice noodles. First, the dough is baked into a flat cake, which is then dried and stacked on bamboo mats and finally put through a noodle press. Everything by hand, without large machines and almost in the open air. Just like the coconut candy you can buy anywhere. They are not for loose fillings or third teeth, but taste very delicious and coconutty!

Boat Tour to the Mekong Delta from Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City

Disadvantage: Most of the way to the market is by bus. The trip takes about 3 hours, so you spend a lot of time getting there and back. While most tours are very inexpensive, most also stop at coffee run type shopping areas. Also, the groups are usually quite large, and you arrive at the markets relatively late—by which time most of the hustle and bustle has already died down. (I’ve linked a slightly more expensive tour for you above; the group is smaller, and the itinerary sounds nicer. Travel agencies in Saigon often offer tours for a fraction of the price, but every traveler I spoke with was, without exception, disappointed by these tours!)

Planning Your Own Mekong Delta Tour: Accommodations & Helpful Tips

But you can also organize your own Mekong Delta tour! It takes more effort, but it’s definitely worth it! Here are a few tips:

• Take the Open Bus from Saigon to Can Tho—> —preferably on the orange buses operated by Futa Travel, and then continue by taxi from there
• Homestay in Can Tho, right in the middle of the jungle : Homestay Mekong Can Tho*(from there, you can book a $15 sunrise boat trip to the Cai Rang floating market, as well as an $8 sunset boat trip that includes a visit to private fruit orchards) Note: Due to its location, there are a lot of mosquitoes—it’s worth bringing mosquito repellent containing DEET with you from Saigon!
  ➜ You can book your stay at Homestay Mekong Can Tho here
• For those who prefer a more urban vibe: A super-friendly and comfortable homestay run by a pair of Australian-Vietnamese sisters—I would have loved to stay here even longer; they’re both so warm and helpful! I wholeheartedly recommend it!
  ➜ You can book your stay at The Mag here*

Tip: From Can Tho, you can also organize your own boat trips to the floating markets! Just walk along the pier and within a few minutes, you’ll be approached by various ladies. You can rent boats for a Mekong tour all day long, but it’s still worth going early in the morning before sunrise to get a real feel for the market atmosphere!