To Market, To Market ...
I have always regretted not seeing the floating markets in Bangkok when I was in Thailand in 2000-2001. Although I was determined to go this time around, everyone we met said they were over-touristed and to wait and visit the markets in the Mekong Delta as they are a much more authentic experience -- the markets function for the locals, not the tourist masses. So that is what we did.
After arriving in Can Tho, we quickly arranged a boat tour of the two largest markets in the area -- the Cai Rang floating market and the Phong Dien floating market. Our tour would also take in a rice vermicelli 'factory' and a tour of one of the local villages. All told, it would take eight hours and cost US$12 each.
We met our boat captain, who greeted us with a big grin and a bag of bananas and bread (our breakfast), bright and early at 5:00am! After getting on board his boat -- a traditional wooden fishing boat with stand-up oars (fortunately it also had an engine) -- we were on our way.
It was so peaceful floating along; the sun was just rising and the only sound was the quiet hum of the boat's small engine. Upon arriving at the first floating market (Cai Rang), we were greeted by the 'Starbucks' boat. Ten thousand dong (~C$0.66) later and we were each enjoying a cup of the local java (liberally spiked with sweetened condensed milk, of course).
The market is quite an experience. It's very busy, with boats jostling for space. Most were like the boat we were on, only instead of carrying two 'fat' tourists, they were loaded to the brim with the local produce. Each boat 'advertised' its wares by tying a sample to a flagpole of sorts, so from a distance you can easily see who has the pineapples or turnips or beets or Asian greens. Once you decide what you want, you pull your boat alongside, inspect the goods, make your selection, have it weighed on a small scale, haggle over the price, come to a deal, exchange money for goods, and move on to the next item on your grocery list. It's a shame we don't have markets like this in Canada -- grocery shopping would be so much more fun!
Our next stop was a tour of a rice noodle 'factory' and the surrounding local village. It was really interesting seeing how they transform rice grains into rice noodles. The rice is first ground into a thin watery batter (similar to the batter for crepes); it's then steam-cooked over a drum-like instrument. After cooking for a few minutes it is removed to a cooling rack and the racks are laid in the sun to dry. Once the rice 'crepes' are dry, they are put through a cutting machine. Voila! Rice noodles.
A large portion of the tour was just meandering through the many small waterways that cut through the area. This was a really nice way to see the local village life in a way that's unobtrusive.
Halfway along one quiet canal, our boat captain turned off the engine. We didn't think anything of it -- he periodically cut the engine to clear debris the small propeller got entangled with -- but then we noticed that his little propeller hadn't picked up anything; on the contrary, it had lost something ... as in one of its two blades! The boat captain didn't seem at all concerned -- we quickly relaxed as well -- and, with a smile still on his face, immediately started rooting around in his tool box. He pulled out a spare propeller, a wrench, and a small hatchet, and quickly set to work. Bracing the broken prop with the wrench, he whacked the remaining blade with the hatchet. Unfortunately, rather than loosening the prop for removal, the first whack resulted in the other blade flying off. He stopped smiling after that and started looking very serious; now he didn't have anything to leverage against to remove the prop. We, on the other hand, weren't at all worried. We were in a small canal quite far from where we started, yes, but we could hear there was a road running alongside the canal, and the water, although dirty looking, was slow moving and was not very deep. After trying a few different things -- with Ulrik trying to help -- he paddled us to a nearby landing where another man jumped aboard with his hatchet. (While in Canada, if something is broken you hit it or whack it; in Vietnam you take a hatchet to it!). Together, along with their hatchets, they were able to remove the broken prop and replace it with the spare. We were back on our way!
We visited a second smaller floating market (Phong Dien) and floated through more quiet canals, with our boat captain feeding us watermelon along the way, before arriving back at our starting point. Although a bit long, it had been an enjoyable tour. Our boat captain was the highlight though. Although he didn't speak much, he was so friendly and genuine.
For more photos, see our Floating Markets photo album.
No comments:
Post a Comment