Mekong River Trips

03/01/2024

Ben Tre

03/05/2016

Thoi Son Island, accessible by a 45-minute boat ride on the Mekong River from My Tho City, is located in Chau Thanh District, Tien Giang Province.
Characteristics: The path through the island is bordered with fruit trees bearing plums, mangoes, and longans.

Since 1990, Thoi Son has become a tourist resort welcoming hundreds of visitors. The tiled-roof houses surrounded by many generations of fruit-bearing trees, the cozy little restaurants in bonsai tree gardens make of Thoi Son Island the ideal location for a short rest.

The path through the island is bordered with fruit trees bearing plums, mangoes, and longans. Visitors will also enjoy Con Phung Island, and coconut sweets and jams.

Tien Giang Tourism Company has invested in a hotel complex that will accommodate from 300 to 500 visitors.

25/04/2016

Ba D**g Beach coast is lined with white sand for 10km. The air is clear and fresh.

During the colonialism era, the French built a resort and used it to rest and swim. This resort is also enjoyed by Vietnamese who spend weekends and vacations there.

Unfortunately, wars have destroyed all the road system to Ba D**g Beach. Tra Vinh Province authorities are now evaluating the possibility to rebuild the road system. Tra Vinh tourism office also plans to renovate and exploit Ba D**g seaside resort and turn it into an attractive tourist site in Cuu Long River Delta.

18/04/2016

The town of Ca Mau borders the U-Minh Forest, a vast mangrove forest covering 1000 sq km of Ca Mau and Kien Giang provinces. Local people use certain species of mangrove as a source of timber, charcoal, thatch and tannin. When the mangroves flower, bees feed on the blossoms, providing both honey and wax.
As well as being an important habitat for waterfowl, the U-Minh Forest – the largest mangrove forest in the world beyond the Amazon basin – was a favourite hideout for the VC during the American War. The Americans responded with chemical defoliation, which caused enormous damage to the forests. The heavy rainfall slowly washed the dioxin out to sea and the forest is returning. Many eucalyptus trees have also been planted here because they have proved to be relatively dioxin-resistant.
Unfortunately the mangrove forests are being further damaged by clearing for shrimp-farming ponds, charcoal production and woodchipping, although the government has tried to limit these activities. In 2002 an area of 80 sq km was preserved as U Minh Thuong (Upper U-Minh) National Park.

11/04/2016

A revolutionary base during the anti-French and US resistance wars, the 20ha cajeput forest of present-day Xeo Quyt has been reclaimed and become an attractive historical and ecological tourist site in the southern delta.

To visit the boundless watery cajeput forest in the Plain of Reeds by boat is really an interesting excursion. Boating in the cajeput forest of Xeo Quyt requires a lot of skill. To move forward, the boat glides between cajeput trees, whose roots are rough and covered with a brown and thin multi-layer skin. The air is cool and humid and has the fragrance of the cajeput flowers and latex. Now and then, a bird singing or fish splashing produces a sudden sound that echoes amid the quiet environment.

The forest looks like a floating painting. Around it, climbing plants grow along the cajeput trees and brighten under the sunlight. All bring about an atmosphere of a nature full of vitality and wildness. Xeo Quyt reminds visitors of the former vast cajeput forests in the Plains of Reeds and U Minh areas. Although being heavily devastated during the war, in 1975 by the end of the war, more than 100,000ha of submerged forests remained, covering parts of Long An, An Giang, Kien Giang, Bac Lieu and Ca Mau provinces and producing a wonderful ecological system of the alluvial land at the Mekong River's estuary. The cajeput forests work as a great water reservoir to fight against salt water and acidity and regulate the humidity during the dry season. During the war, they were ideal destinations for the liberation army men. The crisscrossing canals, built in the early 20th century, became transportation routes and enabled the local people to reclaim land, develop forestry and prevent fire. At the time, the so-called "socio-cultural and economic cajeput forest development" was encouraged and it is linked with the national history of land reclaiming and defence.

The cajeput forests, submerged in the red brown water, are an ideal habitation for numerous kinds of birds, fish and wild animals, typical for the tropical region. The cajeput timber, due to its flexibility and resistance to rotting, are often used in house building and basement floors. Xeo Quyt, a small part in the vast cajeput forests, was a successful undertaking to restore and preserve the cajeput forests to their original historical and ecological background. Further preservation will be considered and implemented. But more importantly, effort should be made by everyone to protect the unique ecological system of the entire submerged area, whose history has developed along with land reclaiming and defending of the fertile southern region.

22/03/2016

Forbidden Mountain is the highest mountain in the range of That Son, which is blessed with cool climate and spectacular natural scenery.
Forbidden Mountain Tourist Area is located at the foot of the mountain. The cable car system here is the first system of its kind in the Mekong Delta and the second long route in Vietnam

17/03/2016

RV Jayavarman Cruise
Start your day on the Mekong with Thai Chi lessons on the Sun Deck. Or bathe in the rays of dawn shining through your balcony as you lay in bed. A journey full of reverberating sights, colors and sounds awaits you. Whether it is a refreshing sundowner drink at the lounge or a pampering time at the "Apsara" beauty salon, this is a time for reflection and relaxation. When night falls, dancers perform and dinner is served. The ship changes hue at night and the staff emerge the following morning in their exquisite Cambodian traditional outfit.
http://www.mekongrivertrips.com/Mekong-Cruise-Tours/8-Days-Mekong-Delta-Cruising-with-RV-Jayavarman/

8 Days Saigon, Siem Reap Cruising with RV Jayavarman: Luxury Mekong River Trip Saigon and Siem Reap

11/03/2016

The Mekong Eyes combines regional boat-building traditions with modern comforts to become the perfect holiday vessel to cruise the Mekong Delta in style. At 39 m long and 8.5 m wide, the Mekong Eyes river cruiser was built out of an old, traditional rice barge with the finest quality wood, and artfully decorated by skilled craftsmen of the Mekong Delta.

11/12/2015

Cavern Pagoda

Also known as Phuoc Dien Tu, this temple is halfway up the western (far) side of Sam Mountain, with amazing views of the surrounding countryside. The lower part of the pagoda includes monks’ quarters and two hexagonal tombs in which the founder of the pagoda, a female tailor named Le Thi Tho, and a former head monk, Thich Hue Thien, are buried. The upper section has two parts: the main sanctuary, and an astounding complex of caverns and grottoes.

The main sanctuary features the statues of A Di Da (the Buddha of the Past) and Thich Ca Buddha (Sakyamuni, the Historical Buddha), while in the caverns and grottoes you'll find a host of deities, including a 1000-arm and 1000-eye Quan Am. There's also a mirror room of Buddhas and an effigy of Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen Buddhism.

According to legend, Le Thi Tho came from Tay An Pagoda to this site half a century ago to lead a quiet, meditative life. When she arrived, she found two enormous cobras, one white and the other dark green. Le Thi Tho soon converted the snakes, which thereafter led pious lives. Upon her death, the snakes disappeared, but remain in statue form in one of the darn cavern passages.

07/12/2015

Phong Dien Floating Market
The Mekong Delta's most intimate and best floating market, Phong Dien has fewer motorised craft and more stand-up rowing boats, with local vendors shopping and exchanging gossip. Less crowded than Cai Rang, there are also far fewer tourists. It's at its bustling best between 5am and 7am. The market is 20km southwest of Can Tho; you can get there by road but many operators now offer a six-hour combined Cai Rang–Phong Dien tour, returning to Can Tho through quieter backwaters.

03/12/2015

Hang Pagoda
This modern Khmer pagoda is also known as the stork pagoda after the birds that nest in the tall trees here. It’s a beautiful, peaceful complex and watching dozens of white egrets and storks wheeling overhead is an attraction in itself, but bring a hat. If you're lucky, you'll get to see the orange-robed acolytes beat the heck out of the enormous drum in the courtyard. The pagoda is located 6km south of town, about 300m past the bus station.

30/11/2015

The road in Mekong Delta (South of Vietnam) is much more comfortable for cycling than the mountainous parts. But the scenery is just as idyllic with rice paddies expanding to the horizon.There is a particularly dense network of rivers, canals and streams where people have their house, their boats and even markets floating on. Cyclers can experience quaint riverside towns, a dazzling variety of greens and colorful floating fruits on the rivers.