Floating Market

I heard we will have a Pirate Party in Illinois. Being a pirate is not a bad idea at all. Still, what can be more awesome than being able to travel to anywhere you'd like to with a boat or a ship, seeing the horizon everyday wherever you go? In comparison to Southeast Asian students, doing anything related to seas and even rivers is a luxury to Midwestern students, as they are surrounded mostly by land. But in some regions of Southeast Asia such as Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, people spend their life on floating boats. And to make a living, they form floating markets to trade merchandise and fruits on those boats. A trip to those blessed regions, I find, is worth a blog post.

Photo from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/poorfish/1144092663/sizes/o/

Rivers are the best thing that Mother Nature gives to the regions surrounding floating markets as they bring sediments to the land. The surrounding land is naturally fertilized every day. There, fruit being grown is plentiful, colorful and delicious. Whether it may be coconuts, bananas, mangos, sweet pitayas, jackfruits, watermelons, sapodillas, rambutans, longans; they are literally sweeter than anything in this world. Best of all, the weather somehow also blesses the land so it allows people to grow fruit year-round, so they are always sold fresh.

Being able to produce an excessive amount of fruit, people find ways to trade for other things they need. Once again, rivers do help. A boat can help local people carry much more than any other mean of transportation. Fruit being carried on the boats makes the whole market a show of colorful colors and tasteful smells.

And did I mention the fruit is cheap? Yes, approximately 10 times cheaper than what you find in Wal-Mart. So, even a student saving can afford a luxury trip with a lot lot of fruits.

As Matt the world-traveler-dancing guy recommends on his FAQ page, Southeast Asia is one of the most fantastic destination for students to travel:

"It [Asia] is good for a bunch of reasons. Most of them hinge on the assumption that you're young, broke, and hail from a westernized culture. First off, Southeast Asia is cheap. Probably less so than it was a few years ago, but you can still get good value for your money. I once stayed in a Cambodian guest house for $3 a night and that included laundry. Save Europe for when you're old and rich. I promise it'll still be there."

He says Southeast Asia is a much different experience.

"Southeast Asia, on the other hand, is going to demand a lot more from your body and a lot less from your wallet. Another reason it's good: it's a million miles from anything you're used to. Stepping out of your comfort zone is really important -- seeing whole other ways of living."

I was originally asked to write a blog post about the video, "Hello Vietnam!" But, it turns out I ended up writing about a phrase I found in the song, "floating market." If you're interested in planning a trip to say hello to Vietnam, floating market is definitely something you should check out.