WHAT TO DO IN CHAU DOC AND BEN TRE: MEKONG DELTA, VIETNAM

From the mythological looking like scenery of the Tra su forest, where you can unwind from your busy trip for a few hours observing the wildlife, to the bustling streets of Chau Doc and Ben Tre, the Mekong Delta was one of my favorite places in Vietnam.

The combination of tropical nature, very friendly locals, markets teeming with all sorts of goods and pristine temples gives the place a special charm that will make you shine once you are  back from your trip and remembering you were once there. As it is happening to me right now when I am writing these lines and evoking my stay there.

After three days in Chau Doc, that left me speechless as I did not expect so much from this place at first, I traveled to Ben Tre by sleeping bus and stayed there for a couple of  days.

Are you looking for some other exciting Asia itineraries? Visit Nepal and spend one day in Kathmandu

What to do in Chau Doc: Mekong delta, Vietnam

Chau Doc belongs to the An Giang province and it is the first stop for the boats that come from Cambodia into Vietnam. It is located in the junction of the Chau Doc and Hau rivers.

The city boasts a blend of natural landscape with historical sites and temples.  The highest point in the Mekong delta is situated around 6 km from the city and you can have a great panoramic view of the delta, including Cambodia.

I visited all these sites hiring a local guide that brought me around with a rickshaw but you can also get on an organized Mekong delta tour or rent a motorbike.

Get a glimpse of Chau Doc spiritual soul at Sam mountain ( Nui Sam )

Sam mountain is the highest point in Chau Doc and it portraits a beautiful scenery of the rice paddy fields and the Mekong delta. The perfect place for your panoramic photos of the Mekong delta.

It houses a great amount of temples and relics and it is a place of pilgrimage, with its peak during the month of May when its annual festival is held.

“ Sam” in Vietnamese means crab and there are two hypothesis about the name´s origin: the mountain take its name as it is home to many king crabs and the mountain looks like a king crab lying on the floor from the distance.

There is a military post on top of the mountain, a remain of when the Khmer rouge crossed the Vietnamese border and killed many people.

Tip: As this is a Buddhist  sacred site do not forget to cover your legs and shoulders. There might still some areas of the mountain where you will be allowed to be more relaxed and show your shoulders  but not as a general rule.

At the base of the mountain before the Chua Hang cave pagoda you can find a really exotic garden to relax where there is a a buddha wearing glasses.

    Tay An temple

This temple is not far away from the Sam mountain ( Nui Sam ).  There are two elephant statues at the front as well as a statue of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.

Inside the temple there is a myriad of statues of buddhas and other divinities that date back to the 19thcentury. It features also several stupas dedicated to deceased monks, being the more notable, the Tay An master that expounded the dharma across the Mekong delta.

This temple attracts many pilgrims each year during the period of the Buddhist festivals.

     Chua Hang Cave Pagoda

This pagoda built inside a cave in the Sam mountain( Nui Sam) dates back to the XI century. It was built by request of a king´s wife that traveled to the region after having a spiritual dream.

There is holy water at the entrance of the pagoda that you must drink asking for wish that will be granted to you by the buddhas. I was healing from arm injury when I visited Chau Doc and I asked for fast recovery that indeed happened. The story about my journey through Vietnam and Cambodia to come in other post.

Ba Cha Xu temple

This is a temple built in the honor of a prosperity goddess of the Vietnamese ethnic religion. An annual festival is held annually where people dance and bring offerings to the goddess.

Get some local insights by visiting Fish farm and floating market

Fish farming has been part of the Mekong delta economy for a long time and fish is a big export product of the region. Fish farms are located in floating villages and are usually family owned business.

The family feed the fish that live in cages under the houses to later process them and export them.

You can find fish farms all around the Mekong delta but Chau Doc is the only place where fish farms are part of a larger entirely floating village.

For visiting the fish farms and floating village you can pass by the local market on the riverside and talk to one of the many boat riders. The price is negotiable. I did this and had a very nice experience, although my boat driver and the people in the fish farm did not speak English so it could have been a better option to book a tour to get a bit more of a context for the visit.

You can combine your fish to the fish farm with a visit to the floating market.

Cham minority village

The Champa civilization has its roots in the II century after reaching its zenith in the XII century starting fading away a couple of centuries later.

Even if most of the Cham people living on the coastal areas practice the Hinduism. The cham people of Chau Doc practice a form of sunni Islam.

Cham women in the villages are still weaving beautiful shawls and pieces of clothes that are for sale when you visit the village.

Unwind and observe the wildlife at Tra su forest

Tra su forest it truly jewel for nature lovers. I loved so much this place and think it deserves much attention that I have written a whole blog post about it.

READ MORE:

Tra su forest, an idyllic place in the Mekong delta

Is Luang Prabang worth visiting?

Things to do in Inle lake

Plantation fields

My rickshaw drivers stopped for some time at the fields so that I could observe the farms working. I highly recommend paying a visit to on the paddy rice fields.

Fill your palate with the exotic taste of Vietnam

Local food market

Walk in the market and try some of the delicious street food or search for some Vietnamese vegan food if those are your preferences.

Best restaurant in Chau Doc

Find here a picture below of my favorite place to eat during my stay in Chau Doc. The food is simply delicious and you can get some Dalat wine to drink with your meal for a very affordable price.

I did not get any meal for free or any reward for promoting this restaurant but the owners were so kind and the food so good that I would like to recommend it to other travelers.

What to do in Ben Tre: Mekong delta, Vietnam

Ben Tre is city in the Mekong delta, in Vietnam. The city is located in the Bao island 85 km distance from Hoh Chi Minh city and it is one of those places where the clock seems to slow down as you gaze at the river and watch the sun sinking on the horizon.

If you are looking for stunning sunsets in the Mekong river perhaps you would like to visit Don Det in Laos Check out this post about Don Det by my fellow travel blogger Samantha Taylor.

Get lost in the local markets

There is something very enlightening in wandering around a new destination with no purpose of visiting any tourist attractions and simply observe the local life.

There is a very good opportunity to do this in Bentre as the place is bustled with life during night and day. There are lots of streets markets and plenty of local restaurants with exquisite sea food.

Take a Mekong delta tour that bring you to:

I am not really a very big fan of organized tours but in this case I really recommend to take a tour. The tour can be booked at any of the many local shops and will navigate through different areas of the Mekong delta while visiting some local business.

The tour consists of three parts, one by motor boat, the second one by rowing boat and the third part by bicycle. I you cannot ride a bicycle, as it was my case, as a result of an injury you can request a tuk tuk to ride you during this part.

Coconut candy factory

You will learn here everything about the coconut candies making process.

Brick factory

Brick factories are a very important economic activity. In the past Vietnamese people made bricks out of timber, clay mud and palm leaves.

The Mekong delta tour in Bentre brings you to a former government owned factory that is now privately owned.  You will learn about the process of making bricks nowadays.

Honey bee factory

You will learn about how bee pollen and honey are produced and will learn some facts about bee behaviors. I did not dare to touch the bees, but I saw the people working there touching what it seem to be thousands of bees.

I bought bee pollen here and it was really good quality.

Textile artisan factory

A textile factory is also part of the visit and you will see how people are making the materials and will be able to participate in the process.