5 Best Sights in Mekong Delta, Vietnam

The wet market here is small, but a bustling hive of activity from early in the morning to dusk. Few foreign tourists visit Ca Mau, so expect a lot of attention if you walk through.

The smallest of the Mekong Delta's floating markets, with only 10 to 12 boats, this is an easy excursion from most of the region's homestays. Be aware, however, that the floating markets around Can Tho are much bigger and livelier. The benefit of this market is that it runs all day, until about 5 pm.

A bigger market than Phong Dien and used by many wholesalers, Cai Rang is crowded and noisy (with many tourist boats), but still fascinating. The market, about 6 km (4 miles) or 40 minutes by boat from Can Tho, starts trading at around 4 am, in the dark, and is usually finished by 10 am. It really is worth making a superearly start to watch dawn break over the market. Coffee and breakfast are included in most floating market tours from Can Tho.

This large covered market is an interesting place to explore, especially if you haven't already wandered through a Vietnamese cho (market) before. Expect to see the usual Vietnamese wet market offerings of fresh fruit, vegetables, mounds of mysterious greens, meat, dried goods, clothes, shoes, and plastic paraphernalia. Do stop in for a bowl of the local specialty, hu tieu My Tho (pork-and-prawn noodle soup).

This is a very typical Mekong Delta market where locals come to stock up on groceries, clothing, and homewares. To see how people really shop and earn a living, this is the place to come, and get here early. There's a wide variety of fruit and vegetables here, as well as snails, fish, eels, eggs in several sizes, chickens and ducks squawking and quacking, dry goods, and spices. Stop by the fruit stalls in front of the market, or wander inside for a bowl of something cheap and tasty.