Xin Chao and welcome to my article “Can Tho Travel Story”. At the heart of Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, Cần Thơ offers a rare glimpse into a river culture still alive with tradition. At dawn, its key attraction – the Cái Răng Floating Market—comes alive, boats laden with pineapples, rice noodles, and fresh produce drifting like a colorful, moving tapestry. Beyond the market’s bustle, cottage industries quietly sustain life along the Delta’s waterways.
From family-run noodle factory to cacao farms, rice paper houses, and bamboo baskets yards, these small artisans preserve age-old techniques handed down through the generations. Together, they form the soul of the region – an intimate blend of craftsmanship, community, and the quiet resilience of river life. Read on as I take you along on my recent escape to the beautiful, laid-back city of Cần Thơ.
Brief insight on Can Tho
Cần Thơ is the cultural and economic heart of Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, known for its river-based lifestyle and unhurried pace. The city’s highlight is the Cái Răng Floating Market, best visited at sunrise, where boats trade fruits and local produce directly on the water. Beyond the market, canals, riverside cafés, and nearby villages reflect daily Mekong life shaped by agriculture and trade.
How to get to Can Tho
Our ride from Ho Chi Minh City by road in a private car took about 3 hours (170 km). You can do the aerial option to Cần Thơ International Airport but it involves 5-8 hours domestic flight with a layover at Hanoi or Da Nang . It’s possible to reach the site by boat, but the journey is unhurried, as it’s typically included in a broader Mekong Delta itinerary. For bespoke Cần Thơ tours, Clara from Mekong River Trips comes highly recommended and can be contacted via their Facebook page.
The Dawn Magic of Cai Rang Floating Market
Every morning before sunrise, dozens of boats gather at Cái Răng Floating Market, one of the largest and most iconic markets on the Mekong. For us shutterbugs, it’s a dreamscape of colour and ‘waterstreet’ culture photography. For general tourists, it remains one of Vietnam’s last surviving floating markets – a cultural treasure worth waking up early for, even as the march of time and urban development gradually erodes its vibrance.The Can Tho Bridge, a major cable-stayed bridge over the Mekong River in Can Tho. The floating market sign (Chợ Nổi Cái Răng, or Cai Rang Floating Market) appears as we approach after a 20-minute boat ride from our hotel near Ninh Nieu wharves.As the first light breaks across the river, traders hoist their goods on long bamboo poles – pineapples, melons, pumpkins, sweet potatoes – creating “vertical menu” that floats above the watery scene.A pole indicates that this boat is selling sweet potatoes. Known as a ‘cây bẹo,’ this traditional advertising system is widely used at Vietnam’s floating markets, especially at Cái Răng. The cây bẹo shows how river communities adapted, letting boats identify products easily – a charming form of folk branding.Best time to visit is 5:30am – 8:30am (peak activity). For the best atmosphere, plan to arrive before sunrise, when the market is at its full swing. The venue gets quiet after 9:30am. Boats sell wholesale fruits and vegetables – Pineapples, mangoes, watermelons, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, etc. Businesses transacted on the water are tax-free.Vendors sell fresh durians directly from farms, often letting visitors sample them right on the boat. Pumpkins are one of the most commonly traded crops at this and other floating markets in the Mekong Delta. They’re not just food – they are part of a centuries-old river trade system. Pumpkins work well for river trade because they’re durable and can stay fresh for days. Stackable and easy to hang, pile, or tie on boats.A friendly boat lady greeting with us with a radiant smile, brightening our day.Pineapples are one of the staple fruits traded, and they are practically a symbol of the floating market itself. Sold in bulk to traders, restaurants, and street vendors. Sometimes sold by the piece to individual buyers. Prices vary by size, ripeness, and season.Elderly men and women play a very visible and vital role. They often form the backbone of river trade and daily life, adding energy and authenticity to the market.At the floating market, steam rising from cooking boats is one of the most evocative sights. It’s part of the sensory charm that makes the market so photogenic and alive.Some smaller boats could be courier for transactions – running quick errands between buyers and sellers, or delivering goods to customers who can’t access the main canal.At the floating market “central,” our boats are secured together for stability while breakfast is served as part of the tour.This boat aunty acts as the floating market’s central kitchen, feeding tourists who missed their 5:30 am hotel breakfast.My “hu tieu”(noodles) breakfast. Delicious and comforting food, especially after squeezing lime into the broth which was light and not salty. The sliced lean pork was sliced across the grain and does not get stuck in my teeth. The accompaniment of vegetables like bean sprouts, spring onion and lettuce balanced the dish with a quail egg.My very first cup of Cà phê sữa dá on the Mekong ! Mot Hai Baaa YoOooo ! (Cà phê sữa dá = coffee milk iced in Vietnamese).The Floating Market draws nearly all of Cần Thơ’s tourists, and you can even gauge visitor numbers by the quantity of chartered boats that fill the river each morning.This boat is a home. Herbs growing and clothes drying on deck reveal that the family lives on board full-time or at least semi-permanently. They sleep, cook, bathe, and even raise their children here, using the boat as both workplace and residence. Unlike boats that visit only to trade, these are true floating households.We spotted a local couple pre-wedding photo shoot at the river. Couples choose this location for its romantic sunrise atmosphere, strong sense of Vietnamese heritage, unique river cultural backdrop, symbolism of journey, flow, and togetherness.These working family homes are multifunctional – serving as living space, small shop, storage, and sometimes fish farms beneath the boat. Most traditional floating homes are compact – the main area is a living room by day and a dining and sleeping space by night. Thin mattresses are rolled out in the evening and neatly stacked away during the day.My guide Thoai and his son showing us the boat cargo bay. At times, the area would be fully stacked with pineapples. Perhaps this boatowner has sold most of their stock?Our final event on the day trip was a visit to a family on a boat house. And as norm for the visit, we were offered local grown pineapples by the boat house lady owner.
Beyond the Market – The Delta’s Cottage Industries
Surrounding Cần Thơ is a patchwork of villages where cottage industries remain the backbone of the local economy. These small, family-run workshops carry generations of craft, skill, and pride, shaping the Delta’s distinct identity.
Traditional Rice Noodle & Rice Paper Workshops
In a riverside noodle house, rice batter is spread on steaming cloth, sun-dried, and hand-cut into strands. These workshops supply tonnes of noodles to markets across the region, including those served at Cái Răng. The scent of warm rice flour and the sight of hundreds of drying sheets create a uniquely Mekong atmosphere.They make the noodle batter from a blend of rice flour and tapioca starch.. Each steaming cycle is very short: about 20 seconds per sheet. The steam sets the batter into a thin, cooked “sheet”. The artisan noodle maker also produce a “hu tieu pizza”: crispy fried noodle cakes made from hu tieu. Visitors can participate, watch and try different stages – pouring batter, drying, cutting.The craft has been under pressure of ‘fading out,’ so some workshops balance production with tourism in order to surviveThey rely on white rice, traditionally called “White Nung,” and source additional rice from nearby provinces when local harvests fall short.Process : soak rice → grind → extract starch → pour into very thin sheets → steam → sun dry → cut into strands.Our guide and his trainee demonstrate how freshly made hủ tiếu sheets are cut into neat strips.In Cần Thơ, these noodle workshops serve as a cultural tourism attraction, preserving Mekong Delta traditions with traditional kitchens, sun-drying racks, and old tools like bamboo frames, grinders, and molds.
Cacao Farms and Chocolate Making
In pockets of fertile land, cacao growers – like the families in Cái Răng and Phong Điền, ferment and dry beans using techniques passed down for decades. Many farms now welcome visitors, offering a behind-the-scenes look at how local cacao transforms into chocolate with a distinctly Vietnamese profile.What each cacao pod starts out as, a tiny flower, typically only 1-2 cm in diameter, with creamy white or pale pink petals. The flowers grow on the trunk and branches of the cacao tree, a phenomenon called cauliflory. Tiny midges pollinate these flowers, producing cacao fruit that ripens over five months from green to yellow, orange, red, or purple.The thin flesh surrounding the cocao seeds tasted somewhat like mangoes, sweet and slightly tart.Cocoa undergoing fermentation, this is the critical first step that determines how good (or bad) the chocolate will taste. Without proper fermentation, cocoa beans remain bitter, flat, and lack aroma. During fermentation, microbes break down sugars in the cocoa pulp over several days, triggering chemical changes in the beans.We got to walked around the farm, under the canopy of cacao trees. Learn about how cacao goes from pod → beans → chocolate. They show stages like fermentation, roasting, grinding and more.The farm covers about 1.2 hectares and has around 2,000 cacao trees, with over 15 different cacao varieties. It ranks among the oldest and most authentic cacao farms in the Mekong Delta.Mr. Lâm Thế Cương, better known asMười Cương, the man behind Muoi Cuong Cacao Farm in the Mekong Delta. He comes from a family that’s been growing cacao since the 1960s. His father brought cacao seeds back from Malaysia, which became the foundation for their long-term cocoa farming business. Over the decades, Cương has maintained and grown the farm – even when others abandoned cacao because they didn’t know how to process it.
Bamboo Basket Makers of the Delta
Among the most enduring cottage industries in the Mekong Delta is the art of bamboo basket weaving. In quiet riverside villages, skilled artisans – often elderly men and women who learned the craft as children- work patiently and skilfully with strips of bamboo, transforming them into baskets, trays, sieves, and fish traps.Local family-run shops specialize in weaving bamboo fishing tools and household items – traps for fish, crab, and eels, baskets, sieves, kitchen tools, and storage containers. Rooted in the Mekong Delta’s water-based lifestyle, where fishing drives daily life, demand for bamboo traps peaks during the flood season from August to November..The process is rhythmic and meditative – cutting bamboo, splitting fibers, soaking, bending, and hand-weaving each piece. These baskets once met nearly every household need, from carrying market produce to storing grains and catching fish. Despite competition from plastic baskets, many families keep the craft alive, serving farmers who value bamboo’s durability and preserving a fading yet proud symbol of the Mekong Delta’s resourcefulness.The shop owner’s wife securing the rim of the basket with steel wires. He must have indulged his wife, judging by the gold bangles on her wrist and gold earrings.Local artisans harvest bamboo, split it into thin strips, sun-dry them, and hand-weave them into intricate patterns. They pass the technique down through generations, often within the same family.The shop owner Mr. Lap, hosted us to a lively session at his shop with our cheerful guide, Ms. Thao. Although bamboo weaving may not be particularly exciting, his humorous personality transformed the session into an enjoyable and lively shoot.
Lung Ngọc Hoàng Nature Reserve
Just beyond Cần Thơ’s bustling waterways, the reserve offers a dramatic shift – from lively river trade to serene wilderness. Known as the “green lung” of the Mekong Delta, it spans cajuput forests, lotus lakes, swampy grasslands, and wildlife-filled hidden canals.A boat journey through Lung Ngọc Hoàng reveals the Delta at its most pristine. Sunlight filters through towering cajuput trees, and the gentle hum of insects creates a natural soundtrack untouched by urban noise. The reserve shelters rare birds, amphibians, and fish, making it a key biodiversity sanctuary in southern Vietnam.
Along the way, our boatman spotted an Asian Openbill, a medium-sized stork distinguished by its unique beak, which has a visible gap between the upper and lower mandibles when closed – hence the name ‘openbill’. This specialised bill lets the bird extract apple snails cleanly from their shells.It is intriguing to see mustering of Asian Openbill Storks. They often circle in wide, slow spirals overhead, shift direction in waves and descend together to roost in trees or wetland shallows. This helps them choose safe roosting spots, confuses predators and reinforces social bonds.At Lũng Ngọc Hoàng Nature Reserve, carefully managed ponds create a thriving wetland system, supporting one of southern Vietnam’s most vital ecosystems.The ponds act as natural sponges, absorbing monsoon floodwater, releasing it slowly back into the hydrological system and protecting surrounding farmlands.Our guide having a fun time “herding” the ducks at the farm located within the reserve. This experience was one of the highlights of the visit.Vietnam’s duck egg industry is a significant agricultural sector. They are well-known for traditional free-range farming of breeds like the stork duck, alongside growing intensive methods for quality, traceable eggs, producing large volumes for domestic demand, processed products (salted eggs), and even export.
Lover’s Bridge
A landmark in Can Tho, the Lovers’ Bridge is a pedestrian bridge spanning approximately 200m, linking Ninh Kiều Wharf with Cái Khế Islet over the Hậu River. Locals and visitors call it the ‘Love Bridge’ because its scenic walkways, evening lights, and riverside views naturally attract couples and friends for leisurely strolls and photos.
Recommended Accommodation
When visiting Cần Thơ, I would highly recommend the Charmant Suites, as it provides a comfortable stay while ensuring a truly memorable experience. Opened in mid-2024, the hotel presents 166 well-appointed rooms paired with contemporary amenities for a comfortable stay.I like to call this hotel the “St.Regis” of Can Tho. Everything was spick and span and great quality. And it even has ChannelNewsAsia on its cable too. I felt at home immediately.I had one of the best rain shower in a hotel here. It even has sound of rain effect from the great water pressure, and the sleep quality are simply top notch.
Conclusion
As river tides ebb and Cần Thơ’s lights shimmer, the Mekong seems to breathe with us. Mornings at the floating market, afternoons in artisanal enclaves, and evenings of simple, tasty meals create a rhythm that lingers. Leaving Cần Thơ, we carry more than photos – we take the quiet grace of river life, flowing long after the journey ends. Therefore, do plan a visit to Cần Thơ soon—you will not regret the experience. For travel inspiration to other parts of Vietnam, do feel free to check out here.
Footnote – Jensen Chua Photography holds all the rights to the pictures used in the article. The opinion expressed is factual, objective, and that of the author.
