Cruising through the Floating Markets of the Mekong River

The Mekong River is one of Asia's most prolific waterways, extending from the Yunnan province of China, through Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, and emptying into the South China Sea. Parts of the river have an infamous past as a major thoroughfare during World War II and more notoriously, the Vietnam War, but today the Mekong makes for more leisurely pursuits as visitors choose to cruise through some of the most colorful cities and traditional floating villages in this picturesque region of South East Asia. En-route, travelers visit historic sites and magnificent temples and experience the intersection of traditional and modern life on the water.

Most multi-day cruises depart from Vietnam and make their way to Cambodia over the period of a week or so, depending on the Cruise Company and number of stops. You will find that many itineraries are similar (the names Saigon and Ho Chi Minh City are used interchangeably, as are Siem Reap and Angkor Wat) and there are really only a handful of shipping companies that cover the Mekong route, including Pandaw, Bassac, Le Cochinchine, and Toum Tiou. There are also a few smaller boat operators whose trips are wholly within Laos and shorter Cambodian and Vietnam adventures. Cruises depart throughout the year but routes can vary because of seasonal fluctuations in water levels and access. Wet season may mean rain, but it also means access to more remote fishing villages and canals. Most trips will include interaction with local communities through visits to schools, businesses and sometimes to private homes.



Pandaw Cruises and La Marguerite cruise are two of the main operators of replica steamer boat trips from Ho Chi Minh City to Angkor. These smaller scale ships allow for greater access to narrow waterways and fishing villages. Their eight-day Mekong River Exploration trip is priced from approx 2000USD per person based on a twin share basis. This price includes hotel-to-ship transfers at the start and end of voyage, seven nights' accommodations in luxury, air-conditioned en-suite cabins with twin or double beds, English-speaking guides, all meals, non-alcoholic beverages, and admission fees to all sightseeing locations. Highlights of the trip include a traditional junk boat to explore evergreen islands and the former Imperial residence, An Kiet House; The National Museum with its display of Khmer crafts; and the 8th century Chenla Empire Wat Hanchey; the 12th century Angkorian temple of Wat Nokor; the twin holy mountains of Phnom Pros and Phnom Srei; and Tonle Sap with its prolific bird life and floating fishing villages. Please note that prices indicated on the Pandaw website are generally per cabin (except for single cabins), not per person. You can also purchase this cruiser through a number of Vietnam-based tour operators and on-sellers who professionally focus on cruise bookings

Refer at http://mekonghalongbaycruise.com or contact to Liz Mai who will always actively support you in choosing a right cruise trip on Halong bay (in North Vietnam) or Mekong Delta (in South Vietnam). Her email: sales@mekonghalongbaycruise.com or her cell: 84 (0) 915216661

Tags: Mekong halongbay cruises, Mekong luxury cruises, premium cruise Mekong, Vietnam cruises, Vietnam premium cruises, cruise to Cambodia, Halong luxury cruises, Vietnam luxury cruises, luxury cruise to Cambodia, travel to Indochina

Holiday Indochina had its domains changed

Warmest greetings and special thanks for your consideration on our services so far.

We are the Sales Team of Vietnamholidaynow.com and Vietnamhalongbaycruise.com - both managed by Holiday Indochina Ltd., Co. We have been received valuable consideration and interests of Internet viewers from lauching dates of these websites and we are very happy and highly appreciate your responds

However, after several adjustments and changes in the modules on these websites, we considered these domains have not been most suitable with their content any longer. Then our Board of Director decided to carry out domain changes as follows:

1. Domain: http://vietnamholidaynow.com are now changed to http://holidayindochina.com 2. Domain: http://vietnamhalongbaycruise.com will be changed to: http://mekonghalongbaycruise.com from 15 September 2009

All text content, travel services details and price which were posted on these websites keep unchanged. All requests in negotiation and/or being confirmed already are stayed remain. Should you have any question or concerns on your request or for further information on specified case, please feel free to contact to our Sales Team at: Sales@holidayindochina.com (for tour, packages or travel services in general ect.) or sales@mekonghalongbaycruise.com (for Halong and/or Mekong cruising trips) / Tel: 0084 - 43 - 6339577 / Hotline: 0084 - 915216661

From 20th September 2009, the email addresses of sales@vietnamholidaynow.com and sales@vietnamhalongbaycruise.com will be stopped their operation on our system. And from then on, Holiday Indochina Ltd., Co do not take any responsibility for information coming from these email addresses as well as these domains.

In parallel with the domains changes, Holiday Indochina's Sales Team commits to bring better changes in methods of services delivery to our current and potential customers.

Once again, thank you very much and we look forward to welcoming you soon in Vietnam and Indochina countries with our services. We are always at your services

Best regards
Holiday Indochina's Sales Team
Add: 50 Hang Chuoi, Hai Ba Trung Dist, Hanoi, VN
Tel: 0084 - 43 - 6339577 / 633.9334
Fax: 0084 - 43 - 6339335
Email: Sales@holidayindochina.com / sales@mekonghalongbaycruise.com
Website: http://holidayindochina.com
http://mekonghalongbaycruise.com

Tags: Holiday Indochina, Mekong cruise, Halong bay cruise, Indochina packages, Vietnam excursions

Floating Market - The outstanding image in Mekong Delta

The Mekong Delta became famous world wide during what locals call the anti-American War. The Delta is also famous for its floating markets which are typical of the Phung Hiep and the Cai Be. On arriving in the Delta, you can start the motorized boat to visit the Cai Be floating market, experience how people exchanging goods, fruit and many other commodities on their vessels.

Farmers from the region bring their goods, fruits and vegetables mainly, to the markets and sell them to local dealers. These dealers sell the products to shops in the neighboring towns and to wholesale dealers from the big towns. In the picture you can see a local farmer with fruits for sale. All big boats have a pole. Each wholesaler hangs the goods he buys/sells on this pole. This way, people on small boats know where they have to go from a certain distance. In this case, this is a floating vegetable supermarket. On the floating markets you do not only find people buying and selling goods, you also find floating restaurants, floating bars, floating gas stations, and many other floating shops. Canals are here the easiest and fastest way of transportation.

The biggest floating market in the Mekong Delta is the busy market of Phung Hiep. The market open at 4.00 am and are open till 11.00 am. To visit the floating market, you should stay in the Mekong Delta area, wake up early and take one of the boats first hour in the morning. If you do a one day excursion, the market will be already closed by the time you get here. On a typical day, you might see coconuts, mangoes, a heap of turtles, a box of snakes or even a pot-bellied pig being paddled from a riverside village to be haggled over in the floating market. Trading begins as early as 4.00 am, and by sunrise, the waterways are clogged with the sampans of marketeers and customers. Vendors of smaller items hoist a sample of their wares on a bamboo pole. Shoppers come by land and water, and as they stumble from boat to boat, they often interrupt their shopping to enjoy bowls of noodles prepared, rather alarmingly, on open fires in special ‘fast food’ sampans.



Cai Be, one of the many well-known floating markets in the western region of southern Vietnam was formed in the Nguyen Dynasty in the 19th century. The Cai Be Floating Market is always busy, bearing all the characteristics of the locals’ life in the western region. All the goods are transported to the market by rafts and boats.

The floating market lies in the Tien River, adjacent to three provinces of Tien Giang, Vinh Long and Ben Tre. The market is divided into two parts: buying and selling places. Rafts and boats are anchored along the two sides of the river for kilometres. Approximately 400 to 500 boats filled with fruits, vegetables, and other products are anchored along the banks of the river. The merchandise sold in each boat is hung on a pole in front of the boat to attract customers. From the floating market, goods are shifted for selling at inland markets or small boats take them for delivery along canals in the Plain of Reeds.

From three 3.00 am in the early morning, rafts and boats are crowded because Cai Be is one of the biggest wholesale markets in the region. Traders live on the river and some link their lives with boats like their mobile house for generations. Cai Be seems to be an inseparable part of their daily lives. On each boat, goods are hung on poles that are called dialectically “cay beo”. Hundreds of such poles point the sky wards. Boats also operate like “taxis,” very convenient for tourists around the region. Along the criss crossing canals, people in the Plain of Reeds take not only goods of each countryside to the Cai Be Floating Market but also their unique cultural characteristics, creating such a beautiful river painting.

Visit Cantho floating market on Deluxe overnight cruise with Bassac cruise or Le Cochinchine cruise. Support by Vietnamhalongbaycruise.com

Tags: vietnam holiday, holiday indochina, Vietnam halongbay cruise, Mekong cruise, Mekong river cruise, Floating Market Vietnam, cruise mekong, luxury cruise mekong, Mekong delta tours, Vietnam travel, Mekong delta travel, vietnam mekong cruise, Cruises to Mekong, Mekong delta tours, Halong cruise charter, Mekong charter cruise