Chau Doc Vietnam

Chau Doc on the edge of the Mekong Delta is the stepping stone to Vietnam for travellers arriving from Cambodia. We arrived on the back of motorbikes that had collected us at the Cambodia/Vietnam border near the town of Tinh Bien which is 30km from Chau Doc (see Vietnam-Cambodia border crossings).
They dropped us at the very nice Trung Nguyen Hotel which overlooks the main market in the town centre. Nice, clean rooms with very helpful receptionist at just $10 a night. Another good budget option is the Thuan Loi Hotel which is right on the river where the ferry from Phnom Penh docks. The Song Sao Hotel is a good mid-range option located almost next to a small bookshop called 'the English Bookstore'. The charming owner loves to practice his English and will take you on private tours of the river.
Chau Doc Market  Chau Doc as seen from the river 
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The town is a busy, lively place with few tourists so not much hassle other than cyclos wanting to take you to Sam Mountain. It was good to be back in Vietnam again and a spicy lunch at Bay Bong restaurant was a nice change for the many coconut based dishes on the Cambodian menu.

Chau Doc Boat Trips

As you walk along the Bassac River towards the grandiose Victoria hotel you'll find no end of people trying to get you to hire their little boat to go out and see the fish farms which are common here. At around $2 an hour this isn't a bad way to experience river life but go early in the morning so that you can catch the river market.
Chau Doc Floating Market  Chau Doc river scene with woman rowing 
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Instead we chose to take a tour with the owner of the 'English Bookstore'. We met at his shop at 7am and walked down to the river where his friend's boat was waiting for us. First of all we headed south east along the river beyond the Victoria Hotel and met up with the approaching floating market. Our boat got right into the action and we were able to step onto one of the trader's boats as they sold all manner of fresh fruits and vegetables.
From here we crossed the river and went to see the floating fish farm houses which have fish cages under the living area. We then visited a Cham village and its mosque before returning to Chau Doc. This 2.5 hour private tour cost us just $7 for the two of us.

Sam Mountain

The other main tourist attraction of Chau Doc is Sam Mountain which is 6km from town so you'll need some transport. On our first night we were 'stalked' by one of the cyclo riders who seemed to pop up no matter which street we were on. He wanted $5 to take us to the mountain so we agreed to meet him the next afternoon and head there for sunset.
Chau Doc Floating Market  Chau Doc Taxi Cyclist 
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The cyclo rider picked us up at 3.30pm arriving with his wife and Downs syndrome daughter. The poor bloke works 24 hours a day to support his family as as his wife has to stay at home to look after their child. They could put her in a government school but then they'd never see her again. The cyclo man just puts his situation down to Lord Buddha and just gets on with it with a big smile on his face. A lesson to us all!
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A couple of moped riders gave us a push on the way to the base of Sam Mountain then our man showed us around Tay An Pagoda, the Temple of Lady Xu and the Tomb of Thoai Ngoc Hau. The moped drivers then took us to the top of Sam Mountain (for a small fee) then waited for us so that we could watch the sunset over the endless padi fields with Cambodia in the distance.
It was a hard cycle back in the dark without the help of the mopeds, even more so when we got a puncture. When we paid the rider more than he'd asked for and paid for his puncture to be repaired ($7.50 in total) he seemed quite concerned and informed us that we'd given him more than we'd agreed and wanted to be sure that we were aware of it!

Can Tho Vietnam

Can Tho bus station is only 1km outside the town centre yet we arrived from Chau Doc (3 hours for $5 via Long Xuyen) on a bus with no other passengers that went to another bus station some 6km from the centre. From here we took a Xe Loi (motorbike with trailor) back to the town centre.

Accommodation in Can Tho

We made our way to the Hoa Binh Hotel which was very run down with unfriendly staff and heavily overpriced at $30 a night. Our Xe Loi driver then took us to Hotel Restaurant 31 where the really friendy owner gave us a huge room on the top floor for just $10. This also proved to be a popular spot for locals in the evening with the restaurant always full and plenty beer drinking going on late into the night. Unusual specialities on the menu include snake and frog which you can select from the glass cabinet next to the reception.
The Ninh Kieu Hotel is right on the river and is a great deal at $25 a night. The Golf Hotel also looks very attractive as does the upmarket Victoria Can Tho Hotel across the river which has a regular shuttle boat service back and to across the river. A great choice if you're not on a budget is to stay at this hotel and their other one in Chau Doc and they'll provide a boat transfer between them.
Can Thoa Floating Market  Can Thoa Floating Market 
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There's no shortage of accommodation in this very pleasant and seemingly wealthy town. Strangely nobody hassles you to buy anything as you wander along the waterfront which adds to its appeal.

Eating & Drinking in Can Tho

I'd certainly recommend the Hotel Restaurant 31 for good local dishes in the company of plenty locals. Down on the main stretch overlooking the river there's a good selection of bars and restaurants. The Mekong Bar was a good spot from which to watch the world go by with a beer and some Vietnamese spring rolls.
The Nam Bo Restaurant is a superb place for an evening meal. Get a table on the terrace of this converted French villa and choose from a great selection of local and French dishes as well as plenty other western options. Had a great steak and chips for $3.50.

Boat Trip to the Floating Markets

Can Tho is the best place to see real floating markets and get amongst them. By staying here you can be on the river before first light and visit these markets before the tour groups from HCMC arrive destroying the authenticity of the moment. It's a really fabulous experience and one of our highlights of Vietnam.
Boat Excursion from Can Tho  Can Tho Boat Skipper's Family 
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We met our boat driver at 5.30am at the hotel then walked in the dark down to his longtail boat at the riverside. The town was already busy as we set off and the sun was rising as we headed for the first of the floating markets at Cai Rang. A handful of other tourists were also there meandering in and out of the merchants' boats as they did their business.
Further down the river we arrived at the Phong Dien floating market which was even more fascinating as most of the crafts are rowing boats with only a few having motors. We were the only foreigners here and were able to float around the heart of the market amongst the traders.
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We now headed off around various canals which was interesting for a while but soon became rather repetitive ("same, same, but different" as the locals say). The trip could easily be four or five hours long instead of the eight that it took. The longer the better was the idea. Lunch was certainly novel when the driver took us to his riverside house where his wife had prepared lovely food for us and we had a game of billiards with a glass of rice wine on his terrace. That was unexpected.
Can Tho was my favourite place in the Mekong Delta thanks to its laid back ambience, its friendly people, the absence of any sort of hassle from street sellers, the good bars and restauarnts and this day excursion to see the floating markets really was the icing on the cake. If you're only staying in two places between HCMC and Cambodia I'd suggest Can Tho and Chau Doc.

 
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