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Mytho
Mytho is a delightful town,
situated about two hours by
bus south west of Ho Chi
Minh city. Sitting on the
bank of The Mekong River,
Mytho is divided into two by
a tributary of the river.
From here you can do a
number of short boat trips
to various islands and
floating markets within the
surrounding are. It is also
a good place to catch the
overnight long boats to a
variety of locations
including Chau Doc and Long
Xuyen. A quiet evening in
Mytho can be spent on your
veranda watching the sun set
and the fishing fleet unload
after dark. During the day
you ca spend hours in a
nearby cafe simply watching
life go by, or on the river,
cruising the day away. The
Mytho experience is enhanced
by the fact that the streets
are generally extremely
quiet. Mytho is mot a place
where you need to worry
about being decapitated by a
bike carrying six people and
half a ton of corrugated
iron speeding along at 100
kph
Along 30 thang 4 street is
an amazing demonstration of
the bizarre Vietnamese taste
for really tacky photos.
Rather than have their photo
taken with the background of
the flowing Mekong River,
photographers have erected
all manner of cardboard
backings with snow scenes,
stuffed deer and to add that
final tough of authenticity,
their assistants are dressed
as pandas. Just a bit down
from the strange signs there
is a quiet little park where
you can savor a baguette and
watch the sun set
Con
Phung island
This island is also known as
the Island of the Coconut
Monk named after a monk, Ong
Dao Dua, who meditated on
the island for three years
during which he ate nothing
but coconuts. An active
supporter of the
reunification of Vietnam, he
strongly believed that
reunification could be
achieved by peaceful means.
In the early 1960s he
founded a community in
support of this ideal, and
as a result was imprisoned
by President Diem on a
number occasions. At his
time, the island became a
sanctuary for those who were
attempting to escape the
ravages of war. Ong Dao Dua
also headed his own sect,
which was a bizarre mix of
Christianity and Buddhism.
The large cross that you may
stumble upon in his
sanctuary is not a swastika,
but actually communist
victory his community
dissolved, and the island is
now a little run down. You
can reach Con Phung island
by boat from Mytho which
takes about half an hour.
Snake farm
If you enjoy having enormous
pythons wrapped around you,
this is the place for you as
snakes are greed here for
anti-venom and medicinal
purposes. If snakes do not
turn you on, then bay be the
turtles will. The Snake Farm
is home to two yellow
turtles, the only two living
of their species known to
the human race. They live to
1,000 years old so these
ones have another 800 years
to look forward to. The Thai
government offered US$
250,000 for the turtles, but
the Vietnamese authorities
declined the ‘generous’
offer, so that they could
keep these very special
creatures
Can Tho
Can Tho is a thriving
metropolis with huge
streets, little action and
loads of mosquitoes.
Although Can Tho has its own
market by the riverside,
where you can get excellent
ice-cream, the principal
attraction would have to be
the nearby floating markets.
Being rather industrious,
the centre of Can Tho is
quite busy and noisy with
motorised cyclos roaring up
and down the streets
combined with throngs of
people going about their
lives. The riverside can
have its quiet moments, but
Can Tho is also a burgeoning
are a number of pagodas
worth visiting, and for the
trivia fans, Can Tho is the
home to much of Vietnam’s
fish sauce
Markets
Cai Rang Market is situated
about 8 km from Can Tho by
road or a 20 km loop by
boat. This market is quite
nice and sells a variety of
fruit and vegetables and
operates from
5 am to 11 am, though the
markets are better the
earlier you can get there. A
cyclo from Can Tho will take
about 15 minutes to get to
Cai Rang Market. Another
market, Phung Hiep market,
is 31 km from Can Tho. This
is the snake market, selling
a plethora of living,
wriggling and often
poisonous snakes. Pythons
and Cobras are sold here by
people from the countryside
who have caught them by
hand, whilst others have
come to purchase snakes for
restaurants, medicinal
reasons or personal
consumption. This market is
open from 5 am to 5 pm. If
travelling by boat, you can
add a dimension to your day
by stopping and visiting
some of the fruit gardens,
which sell pineapple,
rambutan and papaya amongst
many other fruits
Vinh Long
The town of Vinh Long is set
on the edge of its principal
attraction, the Mekong
River. More precisely it is
the beautiful islands that
you can visit from here that
may attract you to use Vinh
Long as a base. Vinh Long is
uncharacteristically large
for the Mekong Delta,
displaying an abundance of
tall buildings and Karaoke
bars to tempt your vocal
chords. At one stage in
Vietnam’s history, Vinh Long
was at the center of a
Christian stronghold.
Although Christians no
longer dominate in the area,
there is still a cathedral
that is worth looking at
Most people that visit Vinh
Long use it as a base to
explore the islands which
are home to people that grow
exotic produce. One of the
more popular islands to
visit has several rambutan
and bonzai tree gardens with
many different fruits and
flowers that you can visit
Ben Tre
Ben Tre is made up of seven
districts with Chau Thanh
being the main city,
surrounded by many islands
that are covered in coconut
trees. Ben Tre is known
throughout Vietnam for its
masses of coconut palms, and
during the war the coconut
oil was used as a valuable
substitute for kerosene.
This are is relatively
untouched by tourism, and
this is evident in the fact
that NOBODY speaks English
in Ben Tre. Even the tourist
office has trouble
communicating. Communication
problems aside, you will
find the people of Ben Tre
to be exceedingly friendly
and the countryside is
beautiful. There is also a
daily fresh produce market
that is extremely colorful
and worth visiting. Due to
the limited exposure to
tourism, Ben Tre can leave
you with a purely cultural
experience |
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SAIGON & MEKONG DELTA
The far south of Vietnam is
one of the two main rice
bowls of the country.
Dominated by the Mekong
Delta, the surrounding lands
are comprised of low lying
rice paddies and the rivers
are bordered by dense
mangroves and palms. The
tributaries of the hectic
Mekong River highway provide
a comprehensive network of
canals and channels. The
rivers are the best methods
to explore the region at a
leisurely pace and offer the
opportunity to experience
the truly unique Mekong
River lifestyle.
What follows is an
exploration of the Delta in
a clockwise direction,
beginning south of Ho Chi
Minh City at Mytho, visiting
areas both very popular with
travelers, and those which
are virtually unknown.
Cruising up river on the
roof of a boat laden with
all manner of fish produce,
as the sun sets over the
distant coconut tress, is a
truly remarkable experience |
