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Ca Mau
Ca Mau is situated in one of
the largest swamplands in
the world, surpassed only by
the Amazon basin. This
provides Ca Mau with its
unique attraction of the
U-Minh mangrove forest.
U-Minh Forest
U-Minh, which in Vietnamese
means "twilight" and which
is red as "ou ming" is the
largest mangrove swamp
forest that can be found in
the world excepting the
Amazon. Once in U-Minh
forest you can take very
interesting walks around the
rice fields, indigo and
mangrove forests and
honeybee breeding areas. It
is very quiet and spacious,
making a worthwhile day trip
from Ca Mau. Unluckily, the
newest of this zone is a
very bad news that a vast
area had been burnt during
the dry season in early 2002
and thus limited most of the
present visits
Bird Parks
There are two bird parks
that you can visit from Ca
Mau. The first, Bac Lieu
bird garden can be found
about 3 km out of Bac Lieu.
The second bird garden is in
Minh Hai in Vuon Chim in the
Bam Doi District
Rach Gia
This laid back fishing town
is the capital of the Kien
Giang province and faces the
Gulf of Thailand. The main
part of town is on an island
connected by four roads that
cross the channel. Some of
the tastiest and cheapest
local food is sold on the
northern end of Hung Vuong
Street. Rach Gia is
considered a stronghold of
the Cao Dai faith
It is almost worth getting
up at 5 or 6 am to watch the
boats come in from a night
of fishing. The fishing
docks on the sea side of the
island are a hive of
activity while all the fish
are being sorted
Phu Quoc island
Situated in the Gulf of
Thailand, close to both Ha
Tien, Rack Gia and the
Cambodian coast, Phu Quoc
Island possesses excellent
white sand beaches and great
snorkeling opportunities.
Some of the islands to the
South of Phu Quoc are also
great for swimming and
viewing the marine life
Hon Chong
Hon Chong is a sleepy
seaside village where a few
days could be spent laying
in a hammock, exploring the
surrounding islands and
caves or both. It makes for
a nice break from the bedlam
of the larger town of the
Delta, and you can escape
from the heat by taking a
swim at some of the nicest
beaches in Vietnam. The
population of Hon Chong is
about fifty percent Khmer
owing to its proximity to
Cambodia
Ha Tien
Ha Tien, a very beautiful
beach and market town, is
situated virtually on the
Vietnamese-Cambodian border
and offers a diverse spread
of Vietnamese life. There is
a high percentage of Khmers
living in this area,
reflecting the historical
significance of the area
that has changed hands
between Cambodia and Vietnam
and in the late 1970s bore
the brunt of Khmer Rouge
raids across the frontier.
Today ha Tien is a bustling
smuggling town between two
former enemies, but for the
traveller, the main
attractions of the area are
the superb beaches
Chau Doc
Chau Doc sits on a tributary
of the Bassic River and is
an incredibly friendly
bustling little city. The
people here are known for
being very warm and
approachable. Chau Doc is
also right on the Cambodian
Border and if you were able
to enter Cambodia by boat,
you would pass through here
Sam
Mountain
The main attraction of
Chau Doc is Sam Mountain.
Situated 7 km from town
along Bao Ho Thoai Street,
the mountain has a number of
pagodas at its base, and
some kind of army listening
post on the top. The main
pagoda gets full marks for
kitsch. Although the pagodas
at the base of the mountain
are nothing to write home
about, the view from the top
of the mountain is well
worth the climb
Market
Chau Doc has a large
covered street market on Le
Cong Thanh Street. Here you
can get everything from
something tasty to eat to a
new Hi Fi. There is also a
great food market by the
river, past the post office
Ba
Chuc
Ba Chuc is situated
between Chau Doc and Long
Xuyen where there is a
temple and ossuary dedicated
to over 3,000 Vietnamese
that the Khmer Rouge
massacred in September 1978.
It is very moving and well
worth visiting
Soc Trang
Soc Trang is situated on
Highway 1 and makes for a
perfect place to break the
journey from My Tho to Ca
Mau. With a 500 kg Vampire
pig and a psychedelic pagoda
to see, Soc Trang is well
worth a visit to experience
a bit of the bizarre side of
life in Vietnam
Soc Trang is the home to two
fascinating pagodas. The
first one is the Khmer Bat
Pagoda. The grounds are
spacious and serene and the
pagoda is lovely. About
20,000 fruit bats with
dog-like faces live on the
grounds of the pagoda, and
an individual bat can weigh
up to half a kilo. What
gives the pagoda a twilight
zone appeal is the fact that
the bats only live on the
trees within the pagoda
grounds, and they eat no
fruit from within the
pagoda. For surreal appeal
there is also a five year
old 500 kg Vampire Pig in
residence. This Pig has five
‘toe things’ instead of the
usual four and to top it
off, the Pig has fangs which
are really weird
The second is Dat Set (Soil)
Pagoda. This is a truly
incredible pagoda boasting
hundreds of statues made of
soil. Even the building and
pillars were once made of
soil, but have since been
replaced with more stable
concrete. There is a huge
dragon and a huge tiger
statue that protect the gold
mountain, whilst a lion
protects the silver
mountain. However the most
intriguing part of the
pagoda is the candles. There
are four large candles, two
of which have never been lit
and stand at 2.6 m high,
weighing 200 kg. The other
two candles have been
burning continuously for the
last twenty years and are
only half done. There are
crazy multicolored
flickering lights everywhere
giving the pagoda a
psychedelic Christmas
feeling |
