Phong Dien floating market is a quite famous tourist destination in Can Tho, with unique features of the Mekong Delta river, different from the bustle and noise of Cai Rang floating market, Phong Dien floating market, although not many boats, it still retains the traditional and idyllic features of the floating market, not being touristized.
Where is the Phong Dien floating market?
Located about 17km from the center of Can Tho, the Phong Dien floating market was formerly at the confluence of the river. However, now the market has been moved, about 800m from the old location, in the territory of Phong Dien Town.
Also, there are a lot of travel agencies that offer boat rides from Ninh Kieu wharf to visit this floating market which takes only 30 minutes of sailing.
The best time to visit the floating market
Like other floating markets in the Mekong Delta; there are many sampans gather in Phong Dien floating market here around 4 – 5 o’clock until about 9 o’clock. So, if you intend to visit the floating market, you need to come here from the very early morning. Maybe around 5:30 AM is the best time for you to start your visit.
What is the uniqueness of the market?
- Not so many travelers who know about this market so you can avoid a huge number of tourists and completely relax in the authentic atmosphere.
- Unlike Cai Rang floating market, which mainly sells agricultural products, Phong Dien floating market is more plentiful. From fruits of the local gardens in Phong Dien such as oranges, tangerines, mangoes, milk nipples, plums, durian, mangosteen … to household appliances, grocery stores, fixing machines…
- The market also offers a great variety of foods for breakfast, including porridge, vermicelli, and sour crab soup, clear rice noodle soup, coffee, and many more. In the morning, sitting on the boat to breathe the fresh air of the morning, enjoying a simple breakfast of a suburban is truly an unforgettable experience.
- The local people use only small sampans for trading and traveling, so it is hard to see any big boats in here.
- At Cai Rang floating market, many merchandisers from other areas will come here and buy the products and sell them back to other rural areas. On the other hand, the Phong Dien floating market was founded as a truly retail floating market of Mekong Delta.
- Same as many other floating markets in the Mekong delta, the sellers here use a pole to hang their products for marketing purposes, especially with fruits.
Today, although many roads have to develop to the remote rural areas of Can Tho city the floating markets continue to exist, creates a unique cultural feature of the people in the delta.
Phong Dien is a small floating market which takes less than 2 hours for exploring. Therefore, you should make a plan with more destinations and activities to your itinerary to make your trip more diverse such as visit fruit gardens in Phong Dien, Truc Lam Phuong Nam Monastery…which located next to the market.
