THE AESTHETIC BEAUTY OF CHAU DOC
The typical scene of the West appears before our eyes: many duckweeds cover the water surface, winding into many green tangles that look pleasing.
ON THE ADVICE OF MY LOCAL FRIENDS, I DECIDED TO VISIT CHAU DOC CITY IN AN GIANG PROVINCE OF THE MEKONG DELTA AND I DISCOVERED THE SOUTHWEST OF VIETNAM FOR MY FIRST TIME. FOR THIS TRIP, MY FRIEND AND I SETTLED ON A PLAN TO SPEND 4 DAYS TO REALLY ENJOY WESTERN STYLE IN THE MOST RELAXED WAY.
After a 6-hour bus journey from Saigon, we finally arrived at our lodgings on Mount Sam. This mountain is also known by many other names like Vinh Te Son or Ngoc Lanh Son. Located 284 m above sea level, Mount Sam is one of the most famous tourist destinations in An Giang. There are 200 temples, pagodas, shrines and other holy places scattered from the foot of the mountain to the top. However, what I was really looking forward to when I came here was to enjoy the beautiful sunset.
Fortunately, when we reached Mount Sam, it also happened to be the time of sunset. We just breathed in the fresh air of the West, while watching the spectacular sunset over the Mekong Delta.
I traveled to Chau Doc in October so the rice fields below were all green - a fresh and pleasant green. The scenery was so beautiful and there were a few tourists so we could freely take photos and enjoy. The peaceful feeling made me immediately forget about the hustle and bustle of Saigon. It can be said that the sunset in Chau Doc is one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen. Not only that, we came to Chau Doc on the occasion of the full moon so every night we could see the bright and dreamy moonlight.
DISCOVERING THE TEMPLE WITH DEEP CAVES
In terms of the spiritual tourism in Chau Doc, everyone said that they must definitely visit the famous shrine of Ba Chua Xu at the foot of Mount Sam. But with the main purpose of sightseeing, we spent time to go to Phuoc Dien Pagoda, also known as Hang Pagoda. The pagoda was originally a simple convent built from about 1840 - 1850 by the nun Le Thi Tho (1818 - 1899), dharma name Dieu Thien. After extensive expansion and restoration, Hang
Pagoda has become a scenic spot on Mount Sam and has been recognized as a National Historic Site since 1980. To get inside the pagoda, visitors have to place their shoes outside and walk in bare feet for the rest of the route (this is quite long, including the yard and the cave). It takes about 2 hours to visit the whole pagoda. The scenery here is quiet and the architecture is quite unique and sophisticated. The miniatures in the outdoor space are as beautiful as the scene; there are many different angles to take photos. Up to the highest part of the pagoda, we took our time to admire the immense plain and enjoy the cool breeze.
The most interesting part for me was exploring the space inside the pagoda’s cave. The cave is quite deep with many niches with worshiping statues, making for a quiet and mysterious atmosphere. For the first time I visited a cave deep in the mountain with bare feet, in direct contact with the sacred land, which brought inexpressible emotions to me. This tour also had no guides. At first, I was a bit scared as if I was lost in a mysterious labyrinth with no way out. But just by listening carefully, you could hear the sound of water running. In a deep cave, water is a special signpost and just walking in the direction of the water, you can find the way.
AESTHETIC FLOATING SEASON IN MELALEUCA FOREST
We chose to go to Chau Doc in October because it is said that the floating season around September to November is the most beautiful. Before departure, I was a little worried that this season would be too rainy,
but fortunately it often rained in the evening or at night, and the morning was still sunny so that we could enjoy the outdoors. Chau Doc is always beautiful but the most unique season is probably the floating season, when the green duckweeds fill the water surface of melaleuca forest. The last day in Chau Doc, we were eager to visit Tra Su melaleuca forest. We always thought that there were many tourists but when we arrived there was almost no one, because it was a weekday. This made our melaleuca forest experience even more unforgettable.
The typical scene of the West appears before our eyes: many duckweeds cover the water surface, winding into many green tangles that look pleasing. The most impressive is when we went up on the Love wooden bridge. Under the bridge are the green duckweeds and above are the slender melaleuca trees. It really was a unique beauty that can probably only be found here.
Lunch in the melaleuca forest was also very delicious. We ordered honey grilled chicken and steamed snakehead fish, all of which were fresh and cooked in the western style. Here, you will be sitting to eat in wooden huts that perch above the water, creating a feeling of closeness to nature. Nearby, there is a bird observatory, but it is said that the best time to see the birds flying is the early morning and late evening, so we missed this experience. Before we said goodbye to the melaleuca forest, we also enjoyed the colorful bougainvillea and tried nungu drink and white olive. Tra Su melaleuca forest deserves to be an a prime tourist destination of Chau Doc.
OUTSTANDING WAS THE TRADITIONAL COSTUMES OF CHAM PEOPLE
Although we did not visit the Cham village, we happened to learn about the Cham traditional costumes in Tra Su melaleuca forest through the stories of the Cham women who work here. A noteworthy feature is that the girls can rent Cham costumes to take pictures for only 30,000 VND/ set. The costume I rented was a gorgeous rose gold damask dress made by Cham girls and came with a headscarf because Cham people are Muslim. The girls can also take photos with ao ba ba in Tra Su melaleuca forest, but here ao ba ba is sold only and not available for rental. For me a Cham costume would be much more different and striking. On this occasion of discovering Chau Doc, we overlooked many other famous tourist destinations such as Cam mountain, Ba Chua Xu shrine and Cham villages. If you like travel to relax, visiting only the three locations of Mount Sam, Hang Pagoda and Tra Su melaleuca forest can give you a quiet holiday but still no less exciting. The peaceful beauty of Chau Doc during the floating season left a deep impression on me and made me extremely satisfied with this trip. No matter how well you research before the trip, Chau Doc would surely bring you amazing surprises, especially the friendly and sincere people who will really make you want to return.