Vietnam Part 2 of 5: Can Tho (Cai Rang Floating Market and Fruit Orchard)

After the bird sanctuary from our last post, we went to a crocodile farm/park and looked at all the crocodiles they were raising there for meat and leather. They had a special permit because the crocodiles are an endangered species. 

 

The next morning, we went back to the Mekong River as we were going to get on a boat to tour the Cai Rang floating market.  At the dock, a woman was selling baby turtles from bowls.  Our guide told us that some people believed releasing baby turtles into the river here would bring them good luck.  Wanting a chance for some good luck and to hold a cute baby turtle for a few seconds, Tanja and the kids paid 20 cents each to release a turtle.  I joked that I wasn't willing to pay what amounted to a ransom since the woman was essentially holding the turtles hostage to make a buck, but I did take some pictures.

 

Here's one of the cute baby turtles we "rescued".

 

Our kids were all proud conservationists.

 

Swim away turtles! Be free and bring us good luck!

Once we got on the river, we headed out to the market.  Boats load up supplies from farms, orchards, and other suppliers up and down the river and congregate in one area to make up the Cai Rang floating market.  Merchant families live on the boats and each day can bring 300-400 boats to market.  Sellers hang a sample of whatever products they have for sale on a long bamboo pole so buyers know where to go in order to purchase the different fruits and vegetables they are looking for that day.  They can buy the mangoes from the mango boat, sweet potatoes from the sweet potato boat, etc.

The boats motor up to each other, strike a deal on price, and exchange the goods.

Our guide took us to the Que Toi Coconut Candy Factory floating on the river.  We learned how they made edible rice paper drying in the sun here.  The rice paper is made from rice flour, salt, and water and is made by hand.  Then, the rice paper is wrapped around the coconut candies (which amount to something like a coconut caramel) and the paper helps absorb some of the oils from the candy.  We were able to taste several different varieties of the candies they had for samples.  As a big fan of coconut, I enjoyed this greatly. ;-)

At the dock of the candy factory.

After the floating market, we went to a local fruit orchard.  It was very lush and green.

The kids had a chance to be kids and swing on this huge swing.

Bridges like this were all over the orchard/garden to allow workers and guests to cross over the many canals.

At the garden, we learned about the many different fruits that are grown here in the Mekong Delta.  These huge ones are jackfruits.

 Other fruits not pictured were durian, papayas, and dragon fruit.  We also found bananas.

After we were finished in Can Tho, we continued on our journey to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon).