Mekong Delta Floating Market

Many Vietnamese live on and around the Mekong River. Seafood is Vietnam’s second largest industry. We boarded a sampan that took us out to view life on the river, including seeing how people sell produce wholesale from their boats.

Boats along the river:

Eyes painted on the front of boats are for scaring away evil spirits
We got to board a boat. In order to get through, one had to crawl
A few people turned around rather than trying to get through!
Living area
The best accommoation on the boat was for the dog!
Our ship: The Victoria Mekong

Life along the river:

Water hyacinths are planted along the banks to help prevent erosion
A hyacinth in bloom
This lady was the 7-11 of the seas – she sold tea, coffee, and soft drinks to the people selling products
Her wares
Kicking back since he had no customers
Making use of what he had on hand to propel himself!
We were at a wholesale market on the water. There were 20-30 tons of coconuts on this boat. Different colors have different uses
Boats will put what their selling on a bamboo post. In the background, the hat on a post indicates that the boat is for sale.
Selling watermelons
Yams for sale
This is a “middleman” who purchases from the big boats and then sells the product to locals
Pineapple tops are replanted to grow new pineapples
The little pineapples are the sweetest
I love these little pineapples!

We saw lots of dogs living on the houseboats and other boats:

These two were ferocious little ankle nippers! They wouldn’t stop barking
The only cat we saw on a boat, chilling in the garden at the back of the boat