At 6am the next morning we met the congenial owner of our Cần Thơ homestay, Hung, for a tour of his local market. It was a completely voluntary excursion, and not surprisingly, some people opted for an extra hour of sleep. I figured it’s not every day I’m offered the chance to walk through a small market in Vietnam before sunrise, guided by a willing local who speaks English.

We walked down a dirt road to the ferry that would bring us to the market across the river. The ferry was little more than a wobbly canoe with room for 7 or 8 people. Local students ahead of us were crossing the river with their bikes on the way to school.

Hung jokingly called the market a “squatter’s market” because all the sellers squat in front of their goods. Given the water-centric nature of the Mekong Delta, there were a lot of fish and other seafood for sale, many still alive.

After seeing the sunrise, we headed back across the river to meet up with the rest of the homestayers for breakfast.