Two Days Exploring An Giang in Flooding Season

An Giang, the southwest province bordering Cambodia, has many landscapes and unique cuisine.

Vehicles

Car : From Ho Chi Minh city, you can buy tickets at Mien Tay (Western) bus station or of the private carmakers on Le Hong Phong street, a ticket costs about 170,000 VND -200,000 VND.

Motorcycle : Chau Doc - An Giang is about 250 km from Ho Chi Minh city, so tourists can travel by motorbike for convenience. You move along Highway 1 to An Thai Trung T- jnuction (An Huu market), turn right and then cross Cao Lanh Ferry, go along Tien river bank to Moi (New) Market. After that, you past Thuan Giang ferry (Hau river) to Nang Gu ferry, then drive about another 30 km along Highway 91 to reach Sam Mountain.

Accommodation

Hotels and guest houses in An Giang are mainly located on Sam Mountain, Chau Doc market area and Long Xuyen. Hotels, motels in Sam Mountain area have rather high price, so they are generally chosen by pilgrims. If you're travelling, you should stay in Chau Doc market area so that it is convenient to visit the sights during the day and entertain and dine in the evening.

Tourist attractions

Tra Su indigo forest: you should visit this place early in the morning to watch the water- fern. If you go to late, the water- fern will be pushed into two sides by the previous groups, so it is not beautiful anymore. You should depart at around 6 am - 7 am to see flocks of birds flying away. On the way, you can see pretty much more scenic sights, the ripen rice fields, clear water lake.

The green water- fern in Tra Su indigo forest

Ta Pa Lake: is the lake formed by the quarrying. The lake’s water is clear; also, beneath the lake is a layer of moss so it always has blue color. Visiting Ta Pa lake, you'll have opportunity to see the ripen rice paddies at the foothills, each plot is like a large carpet.

Ta Pa lake

Cam (Forbidden) Mountain : the entrance ticket to Cam mountain costs 20,000 VND per person, after a path, you have to leave your vehicles with the car keeper and catch motorbike taxis to get to attractions of the mountain with a price of 80,000 VND per person (both going up and down). In Cam mountain, there are many waterfalls, lakes, big old trees… which are worth being spent money and time to visit.

Cam area is like a giant hollow

Bung Binh Thien Lake: is about 30km from Chau Doc. This is a freshwater lake, close to the border with Cambodia. If you come here in October, you can see beautiful lotus pond and water with 2 distinct colors. There is a family providing the boat rental service to visit the lake and take to the lotus pond. The price is 50,000 VND including a life jacket. Boat rental area is located near a temple, you can ask the locals, they'll show you the way carefully.

The wharf on Bung Binh Thien lake

Eating and drinking

An Giang is famous for bún mắm (a fermented thick Vietnamese vermicelli soup) which you should try to not miss the specialties of this region. You can find and enjoy this specialty in Chau Doc market or around Bo De Dao Trang (Bodhgaya). You can also try fish noodle in the old theater area.

Bún mắm- the specialty of An Giang

A lot of snacks are sold that you should try as the cakes, tea, beef soups, “beef climbing”, palmyra at Chau Doc market... The prices range from 20,000 VND to 35,000 VND each. The cakes are usually cheaper.

Schedule for Reference

You can visit all the tourist attractions in An Giang just in 2 days.

Day 1: You get on the car to Chau Doc, An Giang in the previous evening and you will arrive in about 5 am. You can have breakfast in Chau Doc market, then ask to rent motorcycles at the hotel (the rent is around 100,000 VND a day). You can start by visiting Tra Su forest, Ta Pa Lake. On the way back to Chau Doc, you can visit Forbidden Mountain, overnight in Chau Doc town and enjoy the night by pedicab.

Day 2: Departing early in the morning to Sam Mountain, then to Bung Binh Thien lake. When return to the hotel at noon, you carry out the check- out procedure and have lunch. After that, you wait for the transit car to pick you up and take you to the station returning to HCMC.