Vietnam's 'rice basket', the
Mekong Delta is a
watery landscape of green fields and sleepy villages, everywhere
crisscrossed by the brown canals and rivulets fed by the mighty
Mekong
River. Its inhabitants - stereotyped as friendly and easygoing - have
long toiled on the life-sustaining river, with their labours marked by
the same cycles governing the waterways. The delta, which yields enough
rice to feed the country with a sizable surplus, was formed by sediment
deposited by the Mekong. The process continues today, with silt deposits
extending the shoreline by as much as 80m per year. The river is so
large that it has two daily tides. Lush with rice paddies and fish
farms, this delta plain also nourishes the cultivation of sugarcane,
fruit, coconut and shrimp. Although the area is primarily rural, it is
one of the most densely populated regions in Vietnam and nearly every
hectare is intensively farmed. The uniquely southern charm with its
welcoming introduction to life along the river is the real draw, and
visitors can explore quaint riverside towns, sample fruits bartered in
the colourful floating markets or dine on home-cooked delicacies before
overnighting as a homestay guest. Other highlights include visits to
local orchards, flower markets and fish farms. There are also bird
sanctuaries, rustic beach getaways like Hon Chong and impressive Khmer
pagodas in the regions around Soc Trang and Tra Vinh. Those seeking an
idyllic retreat will find it in
Phu Quoc, a forested island dotted with
pretty beaches, freshwater springs and empty dirt roads (ideal for
motorbike adventures). Good diving and white-sand beauty have led to its
growing popularity, with a mix of cheap bungalows and five-star resorts
along an uncrowded coastline.
The Mekong Delta was once part of the Khmer kingdom, and was the last
region of modern-day Vietnam to be annexed and settled by the
Vietnamese. Cambodians. mindful that they controlled the area until the
18th century, still call the delta 'Lower Cambodia'. The Khmer Rouge
tried to follow up on this claim by raiding Vietnamese villages and
massacring the inhabitants. This led the Vietnamese army to invade
Cambodia in 1979 and oust the Khmer Rouge from power. Most of the
current inhabitants of the Mekong Delta are ethnic Vietnamese, but there
are also significant populations of ethnic Chinese and Khmer, as well as
a few Chams. When the government
introduced collective farming to the delta in 1975, production fell
significantly and there were food shortages in Saigon (although farmers
in the delta easily grew enough to feed themselves). People from Saigon
would head down to the delta to buy sacks of black-market rice, but to
prevent 'profiteering' the police set up checkpoints and confiscated
rice from anyone carrying more than 10kg. All this ended in 1986 and
farmers in this region have since propelled Vietnam forward to become
the world's second-largest rice exporter after Thailand.
Can Tho
The largest city in the Mekong,
Can Tho is a buzzing town with a lively
waterfront and a colourful mix of narrow back streets and wide
boulevards that make for some rewarding exploration - especially after a
few days spent in the wilds. As the political, economic, cultural and
transportation centre of the Mekong Delta, Can Tho hums with activity;
while its access to nearby floating markets make it a major draw for
tourists, who come here to boat along the myriad canals and rivers
leading out of town.
CAN THO MUSEUM
The enormous, well-presented Can Tho Museum
has exhibits of the history of Can Tho resistance during foreign rule as
well as displays on the culture and history of the province. There's a
life-size pagoda and ample English signage.
MUNIRANGSYARAM PAGODA
The ornamentation of Munirangsyaram Pagoda
(36 ÐL Hoa Binh) is typical of Khmer Hinayana Buddhist pagodas: it
doesn't have any of the multiple Bodhisattvas and Taoist spirits common
in Vietnamese Mahayana pagodas. In the upstairs sanctuary a 1.5m-high
repre-sentation of Siddhartba Gautama, the historical Buddha, sits
serenely under a Bodhi Tree.
Built in 1946. The Mumrangsyaram Pagoda serves the Khmer community of
Can Tho, which numbers about 2000.
CANTONESE CONGREGATION PAGODA
Occupying a splendid location facing the Can Tho River, this small
Chinese pagoda (Quan Cong Hoi Quan; Ð Hai
Ba Trung) was built by the Cantonese Congregation. The original one was
constructed on a different site about 70 years ago. The current pagoda
was built with funds donated by overseas Chinese more recently. Can Tho
used to have a large ethnic-Chinese population, but most of them fled
after the anti-Chinese persecutions (1978-79).
CENTRAL MARKET
Many local farmers and wholesalers arrive at this
market (Ð Hai Ba Trung) by boat to buy and Sell. The fruit
section, near the intersection of Ð Hai Ba Trung and Ð Ngo Quyen, is par
ticularly colourful and stays open until late evening.
MILITARY MUSEUM
Devoted to all things militaristic, this museum
has the usual assort-ment of American War weaponry and Ho Chi Minh
portraits. Missiles and a fighter aircraft sit on the front lawn.
CAN THO WATER PARK
For a bit of glorious chlorinaled fun, try the
Can Tho Water Park (Tell: 763 343; Cai Khe Ward; water park/pool
only 40,000/25,000d; 9am-6pm). Among the attractions are water slides
and a wave pool Children under 1m tall are admitted free.
THE FRUITS OF VIETNAM
One of the great rewards of travelling through the Mekong is sampling
the extraordinary array of fruits available at markets, orchards and
street stalls all over the region. A handful of fruits worth seeking
include the following:
Buoi (pomelo) - this gargantuan grapefruit
has thick skin and sweeter, less acidic fruit than ordinary grapefruit.
Chom Chom (rambutan) tiny fiery red fluit
with hairy skin, and tender sweet white flesh. Most prevalent during the
rainy season (May to October).
Ðu Du (papaya) - Vietnam boasts 45 species
of papaya; it's great in juices or raw when ripe (orange to red flesh),
and used in tangy salads when green.
Dua (pineapple) - another common Mekong
fruit, some aren't so sweet. Locals sometimes doctor them up with salt
and red chilli powder.
Khe (starfruit) - a five-pointed, shiny
skinned fruit that is intensely juicy.
Mang Cau (custard apple) - inside this
fruit's bumpy green skin lie black pips surrounded by white flesh -
which indeed taste very much like custard.
Mang Cut (mangosteen) - violet,
tennis-ball-sized fruit. Cut open to reveal white sour-sweet flesh. Kind
of like durian for beginners.
Mit (jackfruit) - giant, blimp-shaped fruit
containing chewy yellow segments. It's loaded with vitamins.
Nhan (longan) - this tiny fruit has light
brown skin, a translucent juicy white pulp and is used for many purposes
in the Mekong (it's even dried and used for kindling).
Oi (guava) -green, edible skin with pink
flesh, the guava is loaded with vitamins and is great raw or in juice.
Sau Rieng (durian) - with a memorable
odour, this huge spiky fruit has creamy rich interior of a taste
somewhat resembling custard; you'll either love it or hate it.
Thanh Long (dragon fruit) - unusual in
appearance, dragon fruit is a large red fruit with spiky fronds tipped
with green. It has a mild, crisp flesh with numerous edible seeds.
Trai Vai (lychee) - very common, this
small, round red spiky fruit has a white fleshy inside, which is
particularly sweet.
Xoai (mango) - mangos come in several
varieties; the sweetest are large round ones with bright yellow skin.
Connoisseurs say the best come from Cao Lanh .
Vu Sua (star apple) - a round, smooth trust that produces a sweet, milky
juice (its name means milk from the breast).
Chau Doc
Perched on the banks of the Bassac River,
Chau
Doc is a pleasant town near the Cambodian border with sizable Chinese, Cham and Khmer
communities. Its cultural diversity - apparent in the mosques, temples,
churches and nearby pilgrimage sites - makes it a fascinating place to
explore even if you aren't headed to Cambodia. Taking a boat trip to the
Cham communities across the river is another highlight, though its
addictive market and peaceful waterfront make fine backdrops to a few
days of relaxing before heading out.
Owing to the popular river crossing between Vietnam and Cambodia, many
travellers pass through Chau Doc.
CHAU PHU TEMPLE
In 1926 the Chau Phu Temple (Dinh Than Chau
Phu; cnr Ð Nguyen Van Thoai & Ð Gia Long) was built to worship the
Nguyen dynasty official Thoai Ngoc Hau, who is buried at
Sam Mountain.
The structure is decorated with both Vietnamese and Chinese motifs.
Inside are funeral tablets bearing the names of the deceased and some
biographical information about them.
MOSQUES
Domed and arched Chau Giang Mosque, in the
hamlet of Chau Giang, serves the local Chain Muslims. To get there, take
the car ferry from Chau Giang ferry landing in Chau Doc across the Hau
Giang River. From the ferry landing, walk away from the river for 30m,
turn left and walk 50m.
The Mubarak Mosque (Thanh Duong hoi Giao),
where children study the Koran in Arabic script, is also on the river
bank of posite Chau Doc. Visitors are permitted, but you should avoid
entering during the calls to prayer (five times daily) unless you are a
Muslim.
There are other small mosques in the Chau Doc area. They are accessible
by boat, hut you'll need a local guide to find them all.
FLOATING HOUSES
These houses, whose floats consist of empty metal drums, are both a
place to live and a livelihood for their residents. Under each house,
fish are raised in suspended metal nets: the fish flourish in their
natural river habitat; the family can feed them whatever scraps are
handy; and catching the fish re quires less exertion than fishing. You
can find these houses floating around Chau Doc and get a close-up by
hiring a boat (but please be respectful of their privacy). To learn more
about the workings of these fish cages.
FISH FARMING &
BIO-FUEL
Fish farming constitutes around 20% of Vietnam's total seafood output
and is widely practised in An Giang province, in the region near the
Cambodian border. The highest concentration of 'floating houses' with
fish cages can be observed on the banks of the Bassac River in Chau Doc,
near its confluence with the mighty Mekong.
The fish farmed here are two members of the Asian catfish family, basa
(Pangasius bocourti) and tra (P hypophthalmus). It is interesting to
note that even with two tides a day here, there is no salt water in the
river. Around 18,000 tonnes of fish are exported annually, primarily to
European and American markets (as well as Australia and Japan), in the
form of frozen white fish fillets.
The two-step production cyclo starts with capturing fish eggs from the
wild, followed by raising the fish to a marketable size - usually about
1kg. Fish are fed on a kind of dough made by the farmers from cereal,
vegetables and fish scraps. The largest cage measures 2000 cubic metres
and can produce up to 400 tonnes of raw fish in each 10-month production
cycle.
One of the more interesting developments affecting fish-farming was
announced in 2006, when Saigon Petrol and An Giang Fisheries
Import-Export Company (Agifish) agreed to set up a joint venture to
produce bio-fuel from the fat of the tra and basa catfish. Some 400,000
tonnes of the two fish are consumed annually in the
Mekong River
provinces, and if some of its by-products could be utilised the effects
would be groundbreaking. One kilogram of fish fat can yield 1L of
bio-diesel fuel, according to one project specialist, meaning some
60,000 tonnes of bio-diesel fuel could be made yearly if all the tra and
basa fat could be utilised from the processing plants in the region.
Agifish, which sets its initial projections at producing 10,000 tonnes a
year, claims the bio-fuel will be more efficient than diesel, that it's
nontoxic and will generate far less exhaust. After the factory is up and
running (it's slated to be built near Can Tho), Agifish claims it will
be a boon to the local economy, to local fish farmers who will earn more
money, and even to the environment. Those who've gotten a whiff of nuoc
mam (fish sauce) and thought, 'you can power a dump truck on this stuff
aren't far off the mark.
AROUND
CHAU DOC
Phu Chau
(Tan Chau) District
Traditional silk making has brought fame to Phu Chau (Tan Chau) district
across
southern Vietnam. The market in Phu Chau has a selection of
competitively priced Thai and Cambodian goods.
To get to Phu Chau district from Chau Doc, take a boat across the Hau
Giang River from the Phu Hiep ferry landing, then catch a ride on the
back of xe om (about 15,000d) for the 18km trip to Phu Chau district.
Sam Mountain
There are dozens of pagodas and temples, many of them set in caves,
around Sam Moun-tain (Nui Sam), which is about 6km southwest of Chau Doc
via Ð Bao Ho Thoai. The Chinese influence is obvious and Sam Mountain is
a favourite spot for ethnic Chinese (both pilgrims from Vietnam and
abroad).
Climbing the peak is a highlight of a visit to Sam Mountain. The views
from the top are excellent (weather permitting) and you can gaze over
Cambodia. There's a military outpost on the summit, a legacy of the days
when the Khmer Rouge made cross-border raids and massacred Vietnamese
civilians.
Walking down is easier than walking up, so if you want to cheat, have a
motorbike take you to the summit. The road to the top is on the east
side of the mountain. You can walk down along a peaceful, traffic-free
trail on the north side, which will bring you to the main temple area.
The summit road has been decorated with amusement-park ceramic dinosaurs
and the like. But there are also some small shrines and pavilions, which
add a bit of charm and also remind you that this is indeed Vietnam and
not Disneyland.
TAY AN PAGODA
This pagoda (Chua Tay An) is renowned for the fine carving of its
hundreds of religious figures, most of which are made of wood. Aspects
of the building's architecture reflect Hindu and Islamic influences. The
first chief monk of Tay An Pagoda (founded in 1847) came from Giac Lam
Pagoda in Saigon. Tay An was last rebuilt in 1958.
The main gate is of traditional Vietnamese design. Above the roof are
figures of lions and two dragons fighting for possession of pearls,
chrysanthemums, apricot trees and lotus blossoms. Nearby is a statue of
Quan Am Thi Kinh, the Guardian Spirit of Mother and Child.
In front of the pagoda are statues of a black elephant with two tusks
and a while elephant with six tusks. Around the pagoda are monks' tombs.
Inside are Buddha statues adorned with psychedelic disco lights.
TEMPLE OF LADY XU
Founded in the 1820s, the Temple of Lady Xu
(Mieu Ba Chua Xu) faces Sam Mountain, not far from Tay An Pagoda. The
first building here was made of bamboo and leaves; the last
reconstruction took place in 1972.
According to legend, the statue of Lady Xu used to stand at the summit
of Sam Mountain. In the early 19th century Siamese troops invaded the
area and, impressed with the statue, decided to take it back to
Thailand. But as they carried the statue down the hill, it became
heavier and heavier, and they were forced to abandon it by the side of
thepath.
TOMB OF THOAI NGOC HAU
A high-ranking official, Thoai Ngoc Hau (1761-1829) served the Nguyen
Lords and, later, the Nguyen dynasty. In early 1829, Thoai Ngoc Hau
ordered that a tomb be constructed for himself at the foot of Sam
Mountain. The site he chose is not far from Tay An Pagoda.
The steps are made of red 'beehive' stone (da ong) brought from the
southeastern part of Vietnam. In the middle of the platform is the tomb
of Thoai Ngoc Hau and those of his wives, Chau Thi Te and Truong Thi
Miet. Nearby are several dozen other tombs where his officials are
buried.
CAVERN PAGODA
The Cavern Pagoda (Chua Hang, also known as Phuoc Dien Tu) is about
halfway up the western side of Sam Mountain. The lower part of the
pagoda includes monks' quarters and two hexagonal tombs in which the
founder of the pagoda, a female tailor named Le Thi Tho, and a former
head monk, Thich Hue Thien, are buried.
The upper section has two parts: the main sanctuary, in which there are
statues of A Di Da (the Buddha of the Past) and Thich Ca Buddha
(Sakyamuni, the Historical Buddha); and the cavern. At the back of the
cave behind the sanctuary building is a shrine dedicated to Quan The Am
Bo Tat.
According to legend, Le Thi Tho came from Tay An Pagoda to this site
half a century ago to lead a quiet, meditative life. When she arrived,
she found two enormous snakes, one white and the other dark green. Le
Thi Tho soon converted the snakes, which thereafter led pious lives.
Upon her death, the snakes disappeared.
