Lots of tourists think that they can get a full look of the Mekong Delta in just one day, and while you may be able to jam pack a single day with fun and activities, it’s only scratching the surface of options and possibilities. The Mekong Delta is truly a unique ecosystem with diverse communities, and you can’t find a place like this anywhere else in the world. This place deserves more than just a day tour, but if all you have is a day, then let’s try to make the most out of it!
Soc Trang is a coastal province in the Mekong Delta, located at the southern mouth of the Hau River. Soc Trang has a unique culture, reflected in the daily life of the Soc Trang people, from language, social relations, land titles, village names to religious beliefs, cuisine and ceremonies of the Vietnamese, Chinese, Khmer and a few Champa.
No traveller in their right mind would skip Vietnam’s Mekong River Delta. The colourful collection of towns sprinkled along the banks of the Mekong River are blessed with dazzling blue skies, brimming with exotic fruits, and dotted with markets, temples and colonial-era mansions. It’s a place to nap in a hammock or drift downstream in a sampan. It’s where you’ll have your most memorable meals in Vietnam. And of course, it’s where you’ll meet the warmest Vietnamese around, as well as ethnic minorities who have made their homes on the water. Here are five destinations in the Mekong Delta for modern-day explorers.
Con Dao is an archipelago located in the East Sea of Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province, Vietnam, 45 nautical miles from the Hau River. Vung Tau 97 nautical miles. Con Dao is also known by different names such as Con Son, Con Lon or Con Non, also known by the Khmer call Koh Tralach. Con Dao is also known as Poulo Condor shown in the English and French text.
Visiting Tien Giang, a land of the Mekong Delta, you will be satisfied with what this place brings.
Cai Be is an idyllic slice of the Mekong Delta, just two hours from Ho Chi Minh City. Although the rest of Vietnam uses the saying “thoai mai di” (take it easy), the people of Cai Be live by it. A town of mostly fruit farmers and river fisherman, Cai Be operates on a relaxed schedule: the morning is for commerce and hard work, the rest of the day is about taking it slow. Rise early to witness market life play out on the water, then kill time cycling through Tan Phong Islet, sipping "ca phe sua da" in a hammock, and floating down leafy canals. Here are some reasons you’ll love your time in Cai Be.
Chau Doc - home of many Kinh (Vietnam's ethnic majority), Khmer, Cham and Chinese people is only a few kilometers from the Cambodian border and located on the Hau diffluence (Bassac River). There is lively boat traffic on the river and also an impressive floating market. The stress market is the worth a visit too. One of the pleasures of visiting Chau Doc is simple walking around; the river bank is a popular spot. Locals are a little shy but may talk to you as you walk. Chau Doc may be a little city, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in colours and is probably the only place where pastel colours are chosen beautify store fronts.
The vegetation of Tram Chim National Park comprises a mixture of seasonally inundated grassland, regenerating Melaleuca forest and open swamp. Melaleuca is distributed throughout the national park, both in plantations and in scattered patches in areas of grassland or open swamp.
German-Mexican photographer Sebastian Hanke captured the colorful bustle of floating markets across the Mekong Delta during a recent trip.