CanTho

Water Market at CanTho

We departed at 0700 for Aphung Hiep and boarded a small asthmatic boat to tour the giant floating markets at the

confluence of the 7 Dragons of the MeKong. People come to this confluence of waterways from all directions with their boats loaded to the rails with agricultural products to sell. The boats come in all sizes and each seems about to founder. There are special places along the bank where boats tie up with particular products. There is a place where vegetables and fruits are sold, wonderfully fresh from the verdant delta land. In another place, there are rice and soy bean boats. Firewood from Cambodia loads down some larger boats. Such boats have eyes painted on their bows to help navigation int he fog or darkness. Fishing boats have no eyes, however, for such might scare off the fish. All

boats of whatever size thave the dragon shape. The smallest are rowed standing, with oars crossed. Most have stern mounted straight shaft, one cylinder diesel engines with large flywheels. There are hundreds of boats at this market, and the place buzzes with trade.Photo to left is a builder crafting one of the beautiful mahogany boats that are passed from generation to generation in the Delta.

Our boatman took us up several of the canals, stopping once to dive overboard to free the propeller, since there is a constant stream of vegetation floating in the waterways. On the banks we see shops building beautiful teak boats, beginning witht he ripping of the planks from giant logs, also from Cambodia. There is very little wood left in VietNam. Now Cambodia has been stripped bare and is turning into desert. There is serious pollution since none of these places has more than a plank over the water for sanitation, and the population density is very high. People were nontheless bathing their babies and washing their food in the canals. They waved and smiled at us as we chugged past. They see few tourists here. Those who do come to the Delta stop at My Tho and pay huge fees for such boat trips. There, this trip costs $200, payable to the People's Committee. Here it is about a dollar.