Chau Doc, the border country

Chau Doc is a market town at the point where the delta stops being a maze of channels and starts to feel like border country. The national tourism authority counts around 200 religious sites on the slopes of Sam Mountain, a hill of about 284 m that rises abruptly from the plain on the edge of town. At its foot stands the temple of Ba Chua Xu, the Lady of the Realm, and the Tay An pagoda, dating from 1847. The festival of Ba Chua Xu, held from the 23rd to the 27th day of the fourth lunar month, was added to UNESCO's list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity in December 2024. In festival week the town is packed.

On the river, a floating fish-farm village of about fifty years' standing raises catfish in cages under houses on pontoons. Across the Hau, at Chau Giang and Chau Phong, live Cham communities; the Mubarak mosque, first built in 1750 and rebuilt in 1922, is the only mosque in An Giang ranked a national relic.

About 20 km away lies Tra Su, an 850-hectare melaleuca forest where storks and egrets nest. You go in by motorboat and then by rowed sampan through channels carpeted in duckweed. It is open all year, from 06:30 to 18:30, and at its fullest from September to November when the floodwater is high. Early is better: an independent guide names 06:30 to 08:30 as the best time to visit.

The high-water months, roughly September to November, are the reason many people come. The national tourism authority names them as the time for Tra Su, and in 2025 the flood peak at Chau Doc was forecast for 8 to 13 October. December to February is dry and a little cooler, and Tra Su stays open daily. April and May are hot, at the end of the dry season. The Ba Chua Xu festival, from the 23rd to the 27th day of the fourth lunar month, fills the town; check where it falls in your year.

These fees come from a respected independent guide rather than the reserve itself, so check them on site. We have no published entrance fees for Sam Mountain's temples to quote. On our packages the Tra Su entrance and boats are included lines on your quote; the Sam Mountain cable car is optional and priced separately.

Local food is cheap and worth trying: bun ca Chau Doc, a fish noodle soup served with yellow dien dien flowers, palm-sugar sponge cake, and the fermented fish, or mam, that Chau Doc market is known for.

• If you dislike long drives and have only three days; the return to Ho Chi Minh City is about five hours
• If your dates fall in the Ba Chua Xu festival week and you dislike crowds
• If you are travelling in April or May mainly for Tra Su; the water is low and the heat is at its peak
• If you have already seen flooded forests elsewhere and care little for temples