Why the Floating Market Changed

Part 3

The answer, of course, is simple.

Vietnam is developing at an incredible speed.

New roads have been built.

Bridges now cross rivers that once required ferries.

Trucks and motorbikes transport goods faster, cheaper, and more reliably than boats ever could.

The floating market didn’t disappear because people stopped appreciating tradition.

It disappeared because people found better ways to make a living.

For the people who actually live here, preserving old lifestyles has never been the goal.

Building a better life has.

And that’s perfectly understandable.

The floating market wasn’t destroyed.

It simply became unnecessary.

What was once a marketplace on water has gradually moved onto land.

Economic necessity changed, and with it, the culture changed too.

The Same Story Everywhere

As I watched the river, I realized this wasn’t only happening in Vietnam.

It’s happening almost everywhere.

Years ago, I visited floating markets in Thailand and Myanmar.

Travelers who have spent a lot of time overseas often hope to experience “real local life.”

Ironically, the more experienced you become as a traveler, the easier it is to feel disappointed.

Not because the destination isn’t beautiful.

But because what made it unique may already be disappearing.

Even Vietnam Is Changing

When I first visited Vietnam in 2016—my 57th country—I was fascinated by how different everyday life felt.

It was one of the few places where traditional ways of living still seemed deeply woven into daily life.

Returning nearly a decade later, I realized how much had changed.

The old atmosphere is fading.

And if Vietnam can change this quickly…

How much longer will similar cultures survive elsewhere?

Countries like Laos, Myanmar, or even Cuba may still preserve more traditional lifestyles today.

But perhaps they are simply a few years behind.

Development eventually reaches everywhere.

A Reminder from the Khmer Villages

While riding my motorbike through the countryside around Can Tho, I noticed several Khmer temples.

The Khmer people have lived in this region for centuries, and their culture remains an important part of the Mekong Delta.

I stopped at a few temples, where schools operated inside the temple grounds.

Children were playing between classrooms and shrines.

I spent a little time talking with them.

Children are wonderful everywhere.

Watching them reminded me of another journey long ago.

In 2010, I traveled through Cambodia for the first time when I was in military.

I still remember being deeply moved by what I saw there.

It wasn’t wealth that impressed me.

It was the feeling that people still possessed something many of us in modern societies had quietly lost.

(That experience changed the way I looked at life.

It pushed to do what I really for my life, quit job and started to see all over the world for many years,,,,)

Standing in southern Vietnam today, I couldn’t help wondering…

Will that way of life disappear too?

Just like the floating markets.

One thing that has always fascinated me about Japan is that it is one of the world’s most advanced countries in many ways, yet it has been surprisingly slow to embrace parts of the sharing economy.

Continue to Part 4