Chau Doc

A border town on the western edge of the Mekong Delta, with floating fish-farm villages, the Ba Chua Xu Temple and Tra Su Cajuput Forest, where Khmer, Cham and Vietnamese cultures meet.

Chau Doc lies in the An Giang area at the far western end of Vietnam's Mekong Delta, where the Hau River (Bassac) meets the Chau Doc River, right next to the Cambodian border (after Vietnam's 2025 administrative reorganisation, An Giang and Kien Giang provinces merged and Chau Doc city became a ward). It is a meeting point of Vietnamese, Chinese, Khmer and Muslim Cham communities with a strong religious atmosphere, and it is famous as Vietnam's "capital of fermented fish paste". Sightseeing falls into three areas: in town and on the river are Chau Doc Market, the floating village with its fish farms and the Cham village mosques on the opposite bank, best visited by boat early in the morning; about 5 km west of town, Sam Mountain is the spiritual heart, with the Ba Chua Xu Temple, Tay An Pagoda, Thoai Ngoc Hau Tomb and Hang Pagoda around its slopes, and the summit is the place for sunset; to the south, the That Son (Seven Mountains) area has Tra Su Cajuput Forest, the giant Buddha on Cam Mountain, Ta Pa Lake with its sugar palms and rice fields, Tuc Dup Hill and the Ba Chuc Ossuary, best covered on a day trip by hired car or motorbike. The best times are the flood season from Sep–Nov (when Tra Su Forest is at its most beautiful) and the dry season from Dec–Apr; the Ba Chua Xu Festival in the latter part of the fourth lunar month draws huge crowds, so book accommodation well ahead. Buses from Ho Chi Minh City take about 6–7 hours, or about 3 hours from Can Tho; there are also Mekong speedboats to and from Phnom Penh in Cambodia. Plan on 2–3 days.

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Itineraries