The Mekong Delta in An Giang province

• ›  Thoai Ngoc Hau Tomb in Chau Doc town, An Giang province
• ›  Chau Doc Town in An Giang province

The Mekong Delta, the biggest rice – growing area of Vietnam, is one of the most famous tourist destinations in the South in specific and in Vietnam in general. When mentioning about the Mekong Delta, people usually offer as Vietnam’s rice basket. Since it is enrich with alluvial soils by the large river system, the Mekong Delta provides three harvest a year. In addition to rice, the area also produces coconut, sugar cane, fruits and fishes. Although Mekong Delta is a rural area, it is one of the most densely populated areas in Vietnam and most of the land is under cultivation.

My Tho, Vinh Long, Can Tho and Chau Doc are main cities in the Mekong Delta area. My Tho is the nearest city you reach if you come from Ho Chi Minh City. Its proximity to Ho Chi Minh City has made My Tho the most popular destination for day-trippers to the delta looking for a taste of authentic delta life. To travel around the delta area, visitors will take a sampan parked along the rivers. Coming here, visitors will have chances to try many tropical fruits in the local gardens as well as the Elephant’s Ear Fish dishes.

Vinh Long, located about 65km deep inside the delta, will be the next stop for day-trippers from Ho Chi Minh City. The most popular destinations that visitors can easily see in Vinh Long are the luxuriant islands. Most of the islands are covered to fruit orchards and the narrow canals are often linked by flimsy-looking wooden bridges made from the trunks of coconut palms or bamboo and known as monkey bridges. The Cai Be Floating Market, which is usually gathered in the early morning, gives great chances to capture some lively pictures that show the all products are sold on hundreds of small floating boats. Sellers usually advertise what they are selling by suspending a sample of their products on the top of a long pole. On the way back to Vinh Long it is possible to stop off to visit small riverside workshops including blacksmiths, rice huskers, thatchers and coffin makers!

Located about 30km from Vinh Long, by riding a ferry, visitors will arrive Can Tho, the busy commercial center of the Mekong Delta. Can Tho is one of the more attractive delta towns but as in the entire of the Mekong Delta the best landscapes are on the water. Started in the early morning, Cai Rang Floating Market, which us 6km from Can Tho, is the biggest market in Mekong Delta. For a memorable boat trip the Victoria Can Tho Hotel operates sunrise and sunset cruises on the Lady Hau, a renovated traditional rice barge. A gorgeous sight outside of town is the stork garden at Thot Not where hundreds of egrets, herons and cormorants gather in the treetops to roost late in the afternoon.

The last town on your the Mekong Delta trip will be Chau Doc, the real frontier town that neighbors Cambodian border, lies at the foot of giant Sam Mountain. Residing in this town is diversity of many minority communities such as Cham, Khmer and ethnic Chinese communities. Consequently, the distinctive architectural styles of each community can be seen in their places of worship around the town. The most exciting ways to discover this area is tripping on a floating boat along the river that offers you the typical sights of delta life such as floating fish farms, houses with wooden pens suspended underneath where live fish are kept. Chau Doc’s Sam Mountain is home to dozens of temples and shrines and is a popular pilgrimage site for ethnic Chinese as well as Vietnamese.