Nhan Dan – Over two million tourists at home and abroad flocked to the western provinces in the National Tourism Year, held in Can Tho city in 2008. And in 2009, around 750,000 tourist arrivals were found present on  the Mekong Delta River. What makes the western provinces so attractive to tourists?

People in the western provinces of Vietnam are always proud of their rich nature with plenty assorted foods coming from the Mekong Delta River, also known as the ‘Nine Dargons’ River.

“When coming to the West, you must experience the life on the water and enjoy different kinds of fruits and countryside specialties”, says a friend from Can Tho city.

It seems that the word ‘specialty’ here is quite a word of mouth, so most of the tourists books tours to the Ninh Kieu port.

It’s so interesting to sit on the boat and take a sightseeing around. About five  kilometres from the Ninh Kieu port, houses by the riverbank and on the river gradually unfold before their eyes. Local children waves hello to us with their lovely smile.

When the boat runs slowly for about 10 kilometres before its machine goes dead, then dozens of big and small boats are coming and anchor close to each other in the middle of the river, creating a very animated atmosphere. We understand that we are now present at the Cai Rang floating market.

Every boat has a long upright pole on which various kinds of farm products are hung. “Samples of products for sale are hung on the bamboo pole. When the products are sold out, its sample will also be taken down. In that way, buyers are able to know what goods are sold on boat”, the boat owner explains. Visitors can find almost everything here from fruits, farm products, seafood to household appliances…

The Cai Rang Floating Market is open from 4am to about 9am. You should come to the market early from sunrise if you want to buy the most fresh fruits there.

There used to be a floating market named Long Xuyen in An Giang province. But it was closed by the local authorities because of some environmental issues. So now, there are only two floating markets of Cai Rang and Phong Dien, both are located in Can Tho. If Cai Rang specialises in fruits then Phong Dien is the clue market for farm products.

About three kilometres from the Cai Rang floating market is the Ba No fruit garden. The snaking path leads us to the gardens of many typical kinds of southern fruits such as guava, mango or rambutan.

It should be such an enjoyable day for us to experience life on the water. “Well, we are going to continue our boat ride with amateur music performance and then take a city sightseeing at night”, the friend from Can Tho suggests.  

On the way back to the city, we can be able to find the answer to why the western provinces are so attractive destinations to tourists.

Source: Culture Newspaper