Popular Things to Do in Cai Be
Don't Miss in Cai Be
Floating Market: Once Cai Be's main attraction, the floating market is just a fraction of what it used to be, with a handful of boats selling fresh vegetables and fruit. Families still live on the boats, and you'll see women at work washing clothes or cooking and kids running around. You can tell what's for sale on a given day by the fruit or vegetable hanging from a long bamboo pole at the front of the boat. Despite the small size of the market, there are plenty of photo opportunities with guys sleeping in hammocks on the back of boats, roosters under razor wire cages and guys steering their boats with their feet. (No matter what tour you elect -- assuming your river cruise offers more than one -- you'll get the chance to see what's left of the floating market as you must pass it to get most anywhere in Cai Be.)
Snake Wine: Most tours include a stop at a local "factory," where workers demonstrate how to make coconut candy, rice paper and crackers, rice wine and popped rice and rice cakes. But the main allure of the place is the snake wine, where an actual snake has been coiled up inside a bottle of rice wine (your guide will happily share the gory details of how this done). Locals claim it has aphrodisiac properties, and those brave enough will have the opportunity to sample a shot. (Those who tried it told us it tasted like tequila.)