Many traditional craft villages are situated along these three rivers and the natural beauty and nearby mangrove forests have made the lagoon a popular tourist destination.

Sailing down the Huong River from Thuan An estuary, tourists can visit Dia Linh hamlet in Huong Vinh commune, where the craft of traditional wood carving is still preserved.

Thuy Tu tile making village, built on the silt of the Bo River and characterized by its red-roofed houses, is the next recommended stop.

An Thuan village is also worth a visit to learn about making green rice flakes flavored with hot and tasty ginger, sesame seeds and peanuts.

The narrow fishing boats and fishnets here and there in the transparent water add extra beauty to the lagoon.

Sunset in Tam Giang lagoon

Visitors can also tour Thai Duong Ha fishing village where the locals still preserve their traditional lifestyle, rituals and festivities such as the Cau Ngu festival for  fishermen to pray for the best catch.

Ru Cha, just opposite Thai Duong Ha village, in Thuan Hoa hamlet, Huong Phong commune, is a very rare primitive mangrove forest in the lagoon. It was mostly leveled during the last war but the five-hectare area has been restored and is now protected. It is popular to go trekking through the short Cha trees with big roots in this wetland reserve.

Small crabs find shelter among the roots of the Cha trees but be careful about getting too close to the trees because the resin will make your skin itch. If you do get some resin on your skin, the leaves of nearby Mop trees are good for soothing the itch caused by Cha resin.

Source: SGT

Some decades recently, the vitality of this village is still blown up by the thousands of pottery-kiln on fire day and night.

In the period about 12th – 14th century, there are a numbers of families in Bo Bat Pottery Village (in Thanh Hoa Province now). They were Bui, Phung, Tran and Vu families coming there to work pottery, selling it to people in city even doing business with foreigners. At first, it was called Bach Ho Group and when there are the thousands of pottery-kiln, it was called Bat Trang – the age of name is as approximately old as the age of group.

Who was the Bat Trang pottery ancestor? As a popular documentary he is Hua Vinh Kieu who gained a pupil scholar certificate under the reign of Ly. On the occasion of being sent to the north country under the Sung Dynasty ( China today) as Kings envoy, he learnt work and taught to people when he came back. He was regarded as the founder. But according to the “Dao Tuong Kinh Su Bi Ky” epitaph, Tran Hoe Doctor in Tu Chi built it. Quy duke, Nguyen Thanh Chau, in 1737. He was the founder. On the other theories, Luu Phuong was said to be the founder…

When it was seen on the Dai Viet administrative map, Bat Trang products were got the favor of people from the top citizen class in Thang Long to the poor peasant in country. Bat Trang family use items gone far abroad. From the early 15th century, China was the place with the tradition pottery work for the thousands of years and well known in the world but there were ever the tens of Bat Trang pottery sets in the tribute festival. Since then in every reign, in decline or prospect situations, Bat Trang Pottery Village still assured the worth of goods, kept position and passed every trial. It is proud of working, living, old origin in Bat Trang.

 In the Gia Lam proverb, there is a word: “living to be man in Bat Trang, dying to be tutelary spirit” that means it is very happy to be a man in Bat Trang because of the stable pottery work, big fortune. In Kieu Ki Village, there was a work of making Indian ink; material was the skin of buffalo. They had to kill buffalo and worship tutelary spirit so this tutelary was well off. Bat Trang likes a symbol of Vietnam traditional trade village.

It is a famous trade village, recently, there are over 6,000 people in 1,500 families with the total 153ha. The rate of pottery kiln in Bat Trang is the first rank at the other same villages in the world. Most men in Bat Trang follow the traditional work (nine of ten) except for person leaving home. After over an innovation decade, many traditional trade villages are recovered, the innovation and increase of Bat Trang Pottery Village are increasing unbelievably.

On the basic of tradition pottery technique, Bat Trang pottery workers have taken – abused-propagated greatly the progress of science technology into every stage in making pottery. It has made many types of top class pottery, that is useful and beautiful and it upgrades the sense of pottery art. The Bat Trang list of pottery getting high quality is longer more and more by day like bowl, dish, pot, cup, wine pot, a big flower-vase, leg lamp, lime-pot, big-bellied jar… It made by all sort of glazes as ancient pearl blaze, crackle glaze, dark glaze, indigo-blue flower glaze, grey flower glaze, melt glaze…

In 10/2004, Bat Trang Pottery Market was opened in the area of over 5.000m2. It is not only the place to display and trade but also an interesting tourist site in Hanoi.

One of the most interesting sights in the Delta are the floating markets and associated river life. Cai Rang Floating Market is open all day but it is busiest from sunrise to about 9am. The main items sold there are farm products and specialties of Cai Rang Town, Chau Thanh District and neighboring areas. Every boat has a long upright pole at its bow on which samples of the goods for sale are hung.

During the early morning market hours, larger sized boats anchor and create lanes that smaller boats weave in and out of. The waterway becomes a maze of hundreds of boats packed with mango, bananas, papaya, pineapple, and even smuggled goods like cigarettes. Sellers do not have to cry out about their goods because their goods can be seen in a distance and their cries would not be heard in the vastness of the river and the noise of boat engines. Small boats that sell beer, wine and soft drinks go among the other boats to serve market-goers and visitors. Sellers tie their goods to a tall pole so that buyers can see from a distance what they are selling.

Each boat is loaded with plenty of seasonal goods. Activities at the market are also an occasion for tourists to study the cultural aspects of southerners. You can see the market in the distance, it does not look like much, just a mass of boats. The boats all display their wares on a mast so you can see what they have available.

To visit Cai Rang Floating Market, visitors can join a tour of the Mekong Delta. On the way to Can Tho, visitors can stop to visit My Tho and take a boat trip to visit orchards, bee farms and coconut candy establishments in Ben Tre.

Have you been to the Cai Rang Floating Market? If not yet, let’s take a 30 minute boat ride to the market. You will be actually awake and enjoying it! You wind find it very peaceful floating down the river in the early morning. Then, tell us why you think this market is a great place!

As far as 450 kilometers from the capital, there locates a highland in northwest Vietnam, namely Lai Chau (Province). This complex of plateaus is situated at the altitude of 1,500m above sea level, comprising high mountains, pure streams and rivers. It shares borderline with Yun Nan province (China) in about 273 km to the North, Son La, Dien Bien to the west and south, and Lao Cai to the east. Accordingly, the town has a similar weather to Sapa (Lao Cai), being cool and mostly foggy all the year round, making it a visionary land in between mountains. The annual average temperature is from 21oC – 23oC, with two seasons, hot-rainy and dry-cold seasons. The whole province’s area is about 9,071 sq. Km, with a population of only 325,000 people.

Tourists coming to Lai Chau may choose between following the main road, the national 12th highway (from Dien Bien Phu town to Ma Lu Thang border gate in Lai Chau), or the 4D road (from Sapa to Lai Chau).

Natural beauty & sight-seeings

Lai Chau is said to be the land of Ban and Dao flowers (hoa ban & hoa đào), the unique ones of jungles, which attract and inspire thousands of artists. Yet, most of all, as the nation’s highest mountainous region, the beauty of Lai Chau is structured by the high mountain ranges stretching from the Northwest to the southeast. It shares the Fansipan Mount – top of the Vietnam’s highest mountain range (Himalaya)- with Sapa (in Lao Cai). With the height of 3,143m, Fansipan is not only the highest in Vietnam but also in the Indochina peninsula, being considered “the roof of Indochina”. Among others, some plateaus such as Sin Ho, Ta Phinh, Dao San, etc. are even higher than 1,500m, thus being covered in cloud, fog, and purely cool atmosphere all the time.

Apart from high mountains, Lai Chau is also rich in narrow valleys, beautiful rivers and springs. The longest and largest river in the province is Da river. These together with others, such as Nam Na, Nam Mu flowing between the ranges, make several roaring and white frothy waterfalls in the quiet forests. One amongst the most popular waterfalls is Tac Tinh, which is higher than 50m with 2 classes, and frequently full of water flows, bringing a magnificient picture of natural beauty. Taking a boat along Da River, no visitor could help keeping eyes on the very fine landscapes, namely the roofs made of black stones, and mountains in clouds. The fanciful villages of ethnic minorities on the banks of the River are gathering in a picturesque scenery. For those fond of health-care elements, there are some hot and mineral water springs scattering in the province, for examples, Van Bo (in Phong Tho District), Na Dong, Na Don (Tam Duong), and some other hydroelectricity lakes.
Can you imagine that the caves and grottoes in the mountain ranges in the area still remain their original states, such as Binh Lu and Tien Son grottoes, which are no doubt the magic beauties of nature! Moreover, there exists a thousands-of-hectare forest, in the 6 km southwest of Lai Chau town, consisting of more than ten original caves. All of those are truly beautiful with sparking brightness and varied shaped stalactites and stalagmites. Thanks to this gifted scenery, the area is called “Phong Nha Grotto of the Northwest”.

Historical relics

People take interest in Lai Chau not only because of its natural beauty, but also of its historical relics. One amongst them is Deo Van Long’s Palace located in Sin Ho District, which the palace of Thai King under the French colony. The palace, covered by the Thai-style architectural features, is also a place for educating the youth of national love. The second-ranking one is Le Loi’s stele, which was sculptured and set up on Da River bank, unveiling the story of Le Loi’s defeating an upraising troop in the Northwest, keeping the nation’s security. Also, there are some relics of ancient Viet people such as bronze drum and bronze tools, which are vestiges of the Eastern Culture.

People & Custom

The natural landscape is the accommodation of more than 20 ethnic minorities. Most of them are Thai people (33.5%), H’mong people (23.6%), Dao (14.4%) and Viet or Kinh people (11.2%), Ha Nhi people (5.6%) and some others. And there are two groups, who only live in Lai Chau, that is, Mang and La Hu people. Lots of ethnic people still keep their unique original tradition and custom, making the local culture diversified and worth a study.
What makes Lai Chau worth remembering is its various customs of each tribe, which has its own culture of funeral, wedding, worshipping, and so forth. The mentioned market is the most significant activity in life, which take place in the Thursday and Sunday morning. People from many tribes get together here in colorful clothes early in the foggy morning. Seen from above, the market looks like a flower with thousands of colors. The goods to be transacted are the local specialties, such as chickens, pork, honey, rice, tea, etc. Somebody says : “If you would like to figure out the unique local market, you must join one, which reveals the ethnic minority and mountainous life culture in clarity and details.

Festivals

Festivals are one among the most activities of Lai Chau in particular and mountainous regions’ in general. The most popular one in Lai Chau is “Hoa Ban festival”, which reflects the cultural and spiritual life of Thai people. In the second lunar month of the year, when it gets warmer and “hoa ban” (the significant kind of flower in the Northwest area), blossoms, “Hoa Ban festival” is celeberated. This is time for boys and girls to meet and get to know each other. The boy picks up the most beautiful flower and put it in his girlfriend’s hair. The girl hides under the fresh leaves. This is not only the time for love but also for Thai people to pray for good crops, happiness, expressing their gratitude to ancestors. The festival is always full of songs and prays.
Another famous festival is “Han khuong festival”, which takes place in spring. Once again, this is an opportunity for boys and girls to get to know each other by singing and dancing. “Han” means stage, “Khuong” means yard. When the festival starts, young, beautiful and unmarried girls sing love songs on the stage. Then, the boys sing songs for response. At the same time, they can look for a person who can share their feelings and then come, sit together and talk. After that, they date, and wait for the next appointment. And can you guess? After the festival, many couples get married. For old people, that is the time for memories.
“Gau Tao festival” – “spring traveling”, a festival of H’mong people, is held every spring. After Lunar New Year festival, couples go to the market just for spending time together. The boys play “Khen”, a kind of musical instrument for one another.

Lai Chau is exactly a captivating and typical mountainous land, absorbing huge numbers of tourists widespread. If you are interested in ethnic minority culture, you should really take part in a market or festival of Lai Chau, which unveils the mountainous culture in the way of a “love-blossoming” land!

Rising steeply from densely populated lowlands to a peak of 1529m above sea‑level, the forests support a large variety of ecosystems and micro‑habitats of high biodiversity, varying with altitude, aspect and the degree of human disturbance. In its original state, Tam Dao had one of the highest levels of species richness of any tropical forest with about 1,300 plant and 1,200 animal species, many of which are rare to Tam Dao or northern Vietnam. Therefore, located only about 70km northwest of Hanoi, rather close to the urban area, Tam Dao National Park is one of the last natural areas which has not been transformed into agricultural land.

Natural condition

Tam Dao National Park is based in the Tam Dao range, which is one of the terminal spurs of a larger mountainous area. It runs 80 km from north west to south east, and has more than 20 peaks with altitudes of over 1000m. The highest summit is Tam Dao North with an altitude of 1592 m. Three other peaks with beautiful scenery are Thien Thi at 1375 m, Thach Ban at 1388 m and Phu Nghia at 1300 m. Sharp peaks with sloping sides and numerous, deep partitions are characteristic of the topology.

The boundary of the national park is located at an altitude of 100 m around the Tam Dao range. There is a larger buffer zone (which has area of approximately 535 km2) which surrounds the national park which has an altitude below 100 m. Seventy per cent of the area of the park is covered by natural and artificial forest. The natural forest is about 220 km2 and the human altered forest is about 30 km2.

Due to the tall mountainous range that splits the area into two parts, the national park’s climatic condition is divided into two areas with different rainfalls. This difference and some other factors such as the effect of human activity divide the park into some smaller climatic zones which increase the bio-diversity in the park.

Flora

Tam Dao National Park is covered by a rich flora consisting of 490 species the high classes belonging to 344 genera and 130 families. Forests abound with rare and valuable flora such as: “Sam bong’ “Po mu” fokienia hodginsii) “kim giao” (polocarpus fleuryi) ‘Lat hoa’ (chukrasia tabularis) “Lim xanh” (Erythrophlocum fordii) “Do quyen” (Rhoclodentron simmi) “Sen mat” (Madhuca pasquieri) “Thong tre” (Podocarpus nerlifolius) (all are valuable wood).

Out of over 2000 plant species, 904 species are considered useful to humans. They have been classified into eight groups. There are 42 species endemic to Tam Dao National Park and also 64 other species considered rare including Dendrobium daoensis, Camellia longicaudata, Camellia petelotii, Asarum petelotii, Molas tamdaoensis, and Paris delavayi.

Fauna

The National Park is the habitat of diversified fauna, with 281 species 80 families and 26 orders, belonging to 4 main classes: animals birds reptiles and amphibious ones including many rare and valuable species which are high commercial value and at the same time of important scientific research significance: white-cheeked black monkey, snake-headed fish, silver pheasant, wood grouses, etc…

Eleven of these species are endemic to Tam Dao National Park including the snake species Amphiesma angeli and Boiga multitempolaris, the amphibian Paramerotriton deloustali and eight species of insects; 22 species are endemic to North Vietnam including nine bird species, four reptiles, three amphibians and six species of insect; six are endemic to Vietnam (five bird species and one species of amphibian).

Moreover, visiting the park, you have a chance to view Tam Dao Town which was established at the beginning of the 20th century. The town is nestled in a valley covering only 3 km2. There now remain some villas and palaces built by French colonists. It has Thac Bac (The Silver Fall), Rung Rinh Peak and Tam Dao 2, a remnant of another resort built many years ago. Another tourist location is Tay Thien site. It includes Tay Thien Quoc Mau Temple (literally The “Temple of East Heaven National Mother”) and many pagodas. Along with Thien Vien Truc Lam (literally: “Dhyana Palace in Bamboo Forest”) in Da Lat and Yen Tu, Thien Vien Truc Lam Tay Thien is a center of Vietnamese Buddhism.

Tam Dao National Park is really a promising area, a center for forest ecological research on rare and valuable flora and fauna. The park is ready to welcome domestic and international visitors.

Ta Cu is a well-known landscape in Binh Thuan province not only because it features tropical rainforest ecology with a cool climate, fresh air, rich flora and fauna from which a lot of medicinal herbs and animals as well as rare species recorded in the World Red Book, but also because it has Linh Son Truong Tho Temple, a work listed as a national historical relic by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 1993. Visitors will be stunned at century old trees, the scene of ancient pagoda, meditative Buddha statues, and sacred marks left since the foundation of the pagoda more than 130 years ago.

Spectacular primitive beauty

Reaching Ta Cu Resort by cable car, you will see the entire scene below from the cabin. Lying below the cabin are green gardens with straight lines of dragon fruit trees and far ahead is Ke Ga Lighthouse facing the deep blue sea. The moving cabin takes you through broken clouds above broad, shady, century old trees. You will feel like you are in a fairy land. If you reach the resort by road, you must pass more than 2,500 metres of mountainous track, and go through ancient forest, climb over rocks, ravines and steep slopes bearing impressive names like Da Ban Ha (upper rock table), Da Ban Ha (lower rock table), Doc Bang Lang (Crape-myrtle slope), Doc Yen Ngua (horse saddle slope) to get to Ta Cu Temple. The temple complex leans onto the mountain. Although it has been restored and repaired many times, it still keeps original traits like curved roof with two dragons flanking the moon on the top.

It remains unknown when Linh Son Truong Tho Pagoda was built by Monk Tran Huu Duc, but it was said to be between 1870 and 1880. The distance from the gate to the pagoda is traversed by more than 300 stone steps. On the eastern versant of To Pagoda is Long Doan Pagoda characterised by pyramidal roof with harmonious yin-yang tile layers. In the campus of Ta Cu Pagoda lie the founder’s tomb and successive master monks. The sanctum is built with imposing stones in a large area full of fruit trees.

Destination of religious, spiritual tourism

Linh Son Truong Tho Pagoda is attached to Buddha architecture, tower tombs, temples and seven-treasure pond. Following stone steps, you will come to the scene of a pure land and find the group of Tam The Phat (three Buddha worlds): Buddha Amida (7 metres high), Quan The Am (Goddess of Mercy) and Dai The Chi (Mahasthamaprapta) (6.5 metres high). Tam The Phat is one of seven grades of pure land, according to Quan Kinh and Kinh Di Da texts sketched by Master Monk Thich Vinh Tho in 1960. White statues stand out in the mountains and forests. Moving forward, you will marvel at a magnificent and unparalleled declining Thich Ca Mau Mi Phat statue (Shakyamuni Buddha), measuring 49 metres long and 11 metres high. The lying statue, with back to the mountain and head on the arm, depicts the Shakyamuni Buddha entering Nirvana. Construction on the statue began in 1962 and was completed nearly four years later. Toward the foot of the statue is a cave with the entrance wide enough for a man to enter. Going deeper into the murky cave, you will feel the cool darkness and depth. Explorers usually burn incense along the way they go past to mark the way back.

Change to serve tourists better

Since its establishment, the company has served millions of visitors from far and wide. The number of visitors soars during traditional festivals or the death anniversary of Founder Tran Huu Duc. Apart from restoring Linh Son Truong Tho Pagoda and carving Buddha statues on natural rocks on the Ta Cu Mountain, the company also focuses on embellishing the scenery and improving service quality. The company is operating a restaurant system, including Huong Duong (Sunflower) down the mountain and Thien Thai (Eden) on the mountain. Each restaurant can serve from 500 to 800 guests. In 2008, the company continued putting into operation the Thuy Ta restaurant and water amusement centre. On June 1, 2011, it opened the garden coffee house called Vuon Lim – Ta Cu. Surrounded by luxuriant foliage and green space, featuring free playgrounds for children, you will rest assured in the cosy ambience full of music, taste specialty dishes prepared by chefs and served by considerate bartenders. The company plans to build a 24-hectare peaceful and relaxing resort showcasing nature’s beauty at the foot of Ta Cu Mountain.

Visiting Ta Cu resort, you will be immersed in nature, enjoy a peaceful and pleasant moment, and shake off daily concerns in a retreat with your family and friends.

Opening your tourist map, you can easily find the position of Vietnam’s center of flora diversity – Bach Ma National Park. It is located in central Vietnam, in Thua Thien Hue province, around 700 km south of the country’s capital Hanoi and 1,000 km north of Ho Chi Minh City

Outstanding characteristics. The climate in Bach Ma National Park is tropical with two distinct seasons, dry season and rainy season, caused by monsoon.

Hence, tourists might be surprised at the changeable weather, which goes from sunshine to darkness, and clouds to rains. Mainly from September to December, it receives approximately 8,000-mm rainfall each year. You can encounter hot and dry winds from May to August and even typhoon from June to November.

Does the name Bach Ma (“white horse”) arouse in your mind any association? In Vietnamese tradition, it refers to the white cloud which continually caps its peak. On approaching the park, you will see the evidence of Vietnam War remains in the form of some hills that still have not been fully recovered from the spraying of defoliants.

Nature’s gift.

Bach ma’s position, at the sharing border with Northern and Southern Vietnam, is combined with a variety of habitats, ranging from the coast to high mountains. The flora of Bach Ma includes 2,147 species which represents around one-fifth of the entire flora of Vietnam. Among these, 86 species are listed as endangered species in the Red book of Vietnam. The main vegetation types comprise moisture green forest, montane forest, and scrubby-grass covering area much occupied by the locals

Fauna.  Bach Ma National Park takes pride in its endemic and rare species. Up to now, 1,493 species including 132 species of mammals (half of which are well known in Vietnam), 358 bird species, 31 reptile species, 21 frog species, 57 fish species and 894 insect species are identified. The elusive Sao la (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis) was only discovered in Vietnam in 1992. Do not be surprised if you see a pheasant!, this species used to be common in forests at the mountain foot, yet was already considered to be extinct by the 1940s. More than 50 years later, it was rediscovered in the park and has become the symbol of Bach Ma National Park.

Activities in buffer zone. This huge biodiversity has created the amazing paradise on the ground for nature-lovers! There is a range of activities carried out with the collaboration of local people in the villages of the national park’s buffer zone. One of them is the establishment of medicinal plant gardens in Khe Su village, located about 2 km far from the park entrance. The village encourages tourists to devote some 40,000 VND (more than USD2) for its development fund.

If you are eager for bird-watching, you are in the right place! More than one-third of the bird species of Vietnam are found in here! You can see a number of pigeons, bulbuls, malkohas, crow pheasant, herons and egrets but sights of parakeets, kingfishers or jungle fowl!

Incredible! How can I get there?

Bach Ma National Park is relatively easily accessible from Hue (40 km), Da Nang (65 km) and Hoi An (90 km). The park headquarters and entrance are about three km from the small town of Cau Hai, where the park road meets National Route No1. Bus is the ideal means of transport if you would like to contemplate the landscape along the road. There’s a railway station in Cau Hai, and frequent buses from Hue and Da Nang.

A pristine hick area with pure ecological environment created partly by the green of coconut tree lines and large fruits gardens has made Ben Tre a nation’s precious green ecological complex in southern Vietnam.

“Who’s standing there looking like a coconut shadow, with long hair gone in the wind? .. That is Ben Tre’s girl…” is the famous song about Ben Tre, a green land with coconut trees, fruits gardens, rivers and canals…
Ben Tre province (a delta province) is located at the end of the Cuu Long River Delta. It has borders with the East Sea to the east, with 60 kilometer-long coastline. The province is 2,322 sq. km2, around 85 kilometers far from Hochiminh City.

Ben Tre is featured with a plain geography, which is scattered around by sand dunes and adorned by rice fields, fruit plant gardens, and numerous rivers and streams, canals and arroyos. The four Tien Giang river branches, including My Tho, Ba Lai, Ham Luong and Co Chieu rivers, split Ben Tre into 3 islands of Minh, Bao, and An Hoa. All contribute to an ecological system of rivers, canals, arroyos and green trees, facilitating transportation, hydro-electricity, and more importantly, ecological tourism potential.

Climate

As a typical tropical area, Ben Tre lies in the monsoon tropical climate with two seasons: rainy season from May till October, and dry season from November till April. The annual average temperature is 26oC-27oC. The average rainfall is 1,250-1,500mm/year. It is the favorable natural conditions that help Ben Tre gain such a pure and green ecological environment.

Formation

Ben Tre used to be part of Hoang Tran palace, in Hoang Tran town, southern Vietnam, which was set up in 1803, and renamed into Vinh Tran in the following year. In 1832, King Minh Mang enlarged and split the town into two provinces, An Giang and Vinh Long. The latter comprised 3 districts Hoang An (or Hoang Tri) (today’s Ben Tre), Dinh Vien (today’s Vinh Long), and Lac Hoa (today’s Tra Vinh). Ben Tre was then the “arrondissement administratif” (important administrative county) of Vinh Long province. During the French occupying period, the districts (counties) were to be turned into provinces according to the Decree No. 20/12/1899 by the Governor-General of Indochina. A part of Vinh Long, particularly Hoang An District, became the naturally favored Ben Tre Province of today.

What is it famous for?

Historical value

One of the attractive points to tourists is Ben Tre’s historical values. During the severe wars against foreign invaders, Ben Tre was regarded as the “General Uprising Land”, which initialized the armed patriotic struggle high tide against Ngo Dinh Diem puppet regime by Southern Vietnam’s Liberation Front. The war became most fierce in 1960. Regardless of genders, ages, and occupations, thousands of Ben Tre people arose, fight and heroically died for their homeland liberation. Drawn by Ben Tre locals, people in Sa Dec, Vinh Long, Tra Vinh and elsewhere together violently arose. Thanks to the very Vietnamese heroic spirit like in Ben Tre, finally we have a peaceful Vietnam of today. A heroic and historical Ben Tre is actually worth a visit by both inbound and outbound tourists.

The green ecological complex

If you could look through your airplane’s window down to Ben Tre, you would feel like it were some heaven’s green land! Covering the whole land is the color of green, green, and green trees adorned with pure rivers meaderring in between rows of trees. When seen from above, these rivers look like huge tortuous gentle snakes, which probably stimulates your curiosity For concrete understanding, Ben Tre is the convergence of three huge islands, An Hoa, Bao, and Minh, who owed their division from the four significant rivers: Tien Giang, Ba Lai, Ham Luong, and Co Chien. Besides so many rivers & canals, the province is favored by nature in terms of a plentiful fauna-flora system, and a pristine series of all-the-year-round green tropical fruits gardens (hick towns). All these excellent natural elements lead to a fresh-aired environment of large green coconut & fruits gardens, and an ecological system, enchanting a huge number of tourists, especially foreign ones.

Tropical Fruits & Food

The extremely tasty tropical fruits and local delicacies are desired by all visitors. Tropical fruits are available at all fruits gardens during the year, for instance, sweet mango, custard-apple, mangosteen, durian, longan, rambuton, and other kinds of fruits with segments. You can also easily find typical southern specialties here, for example, salted fish (incld. small fish paste or “mắm  tép”, “còng”, “nêm”, “ruốc” or salted shredded meat, field fish, etc.), sour-tasted soup (such as fish soup cooked with carambola, tamarine, “chùm ruột”, “bần”, and fresh herbs like peppermint, beansprouts, banana flowers), bitter-tasted soup (such as bitter-melon and centella soup), braised fish (such as anabas, ball fish, “kèo” fish, “lóc” fish, and so on), kinds of shrimp, crabs, eel, frog, and so forth.
Particularly, Ben Tre boasts a unique specialty, coconut products which are available at coconut gardens. Examples are coconut candies, coconut oil, coconut quintessence, etc, from which about 50 dishes can be made. Theses days, this special kind of delicacy is sold to many areas nationwide. Besides, some other delicacies of Ben Tre are also well known, such as My Long girdle cake, Son Doc “phồng  tôm” (rice chupatty with powdered shrimp), Phu Le rice alcohol, and so forth. Should you have a chance to trip around, tasting those specialties, I can assure that you will never forget such a marvelous feeling!

Religious life

As in other areas of Vietnam, Ben Tre’s Buddhism has also much improved. Famous pagodas in the region are Hoi Ton, Tuyen Linh, and Vien Minh. All of those have a long history of around 3 centuries, and are amongst the worthy destinations for those who are interested in religion, besides ecological tours.

Festivals

Festivals in Ben Tre contain all the seaside villages’ festive features. The two most important ones are Phu Le and Nghinh Ong festivals. Phu Le is a temple in Ba Tri district, organizing festivals twice per year to pray for favorable weather and fruitful crops. Wheareas the latter is held annually for fishermen to gather and amuse themselves through a series of ceremonies, entertainment, and feats activities. If luckily arrived on these occasions, you would be enchanted by the cosy world of people in waterway & riverside area.

How to get there?

Ben Tre is only 14 and 85 kilometers far from My Tho and Ho Chi Minh City respectively. What make most tourists feel excited is that they can take a ferry-boat from My Tho to Ben Tre. For a local journey, you may hire a high-speed ship at a very reasonable price.

Tourist activities

•     Phung Islet or Ong Dao Dua Islet (Cồn Phụng or Cồn Ông Đạo Dừa): numerous original architectural works, and craft villages (producing coconut products and honey

•     Snail Islet or Hung Phong Islet (Cồn Ốc or Cồn Hưng Phong): a lot of coconut and fruits gardens
•     Fairy Islet (Cồn Tiên): a beautiful sand bank, the ideal annual recreation place of many locals
•     Vam Ho Bird ground (Sân chim Vàm Hồ): shelter of nearly half a million sorks and night herons, and other wild species, date-palm jungle, and a plentiful flora (incld. water coconut, custard-apple, guava, French beans, date-palm, sea water morning glory, etc.)
•     Cai Mon Fruits Garden (Vườn cây ăn trái Cái Mơn): the cradle of Southern fruits, containing a number of tropical fruit kinds (sweet mango, durian, rambuton, longan, mangosteen, etc.), and many animal-shaped plants
•     Dai Dien ancient House (Nhà cổ Đại Điền): a famous beautiful old house of the Huynh, remaining in its origin

My Tho is known for its huge district of exotic fruits and offers many best kinds of fruits in the Mekong Delta. Let’s once come to My Tho fruit market and you will realize…

The Mekong River Delta is the richest and most fertile area in Vietnam; the river itself has its source as far north as Tibet and passes through more countries in Asia than any other river. The name signifies the river “of nine dragons”, the atmosphere is languid and the heat is tough; the mangroves rule the swamps; and the canals’ dark waters have tales to tell.

My Tho is always the first stop on tourists’ bus tour, and you are going to get a lesson on exotic fruit; even if you are not passionate on the subject, the mere color and shape of some of these delicacies will change your mind.

It appears that the durian has earned its place as the “King of Fruits” among the peers. The fruit is distinctive for its large size, unique odour, and formidable thorn-covered husk. It is huge, green on the outside, and smells like Camembert cheese on the inside. The fruit can grow up to 30 centimetres long and 15 centimetres in diameter, and typically weighs one to three kilograms. Its shape ranges from oblong to round, the colour of its husk green to brown, and its flesh pale-yellow to red,

Rambutan depending on the species. The edible flesh emits a distinctive odour, strong and penetrating even when the husk is intact. Regarded by some as fragrant, others as overpowering and offensive, the smell evokes reactions from deep appreciation to intense disgust. Hold your nose and take a bite! It is much more delicious than its odour!

You are also enjoying another kind of fruit – rambutan. The rambutan is very similar to lychee and tastes like a sweet, chewy apple. The rambutan is a medium-sized tropical tree in the family Sapindaceae, and the fruit of this tree. It is probably native to Southeast Asia, although its precise natural distribution is unknown. It is closely related to several other edible tropical fruits including the Lychee, Longan and Mamoncillo.

Longan is a wonderful and delicious tonic fruit to build energy, to nurture the heart, and to add luster and beauty to the skin. It is believed that Longan is not only great for the skin, but is also a fantastic sex tonic. For that reason, Longan is considered as a special

Mango tonic for women who wish to be both beautiful and sexual. It has a 2000 year reputation as a special love tonic. Longan is equally beneficial to men. It is believed to have a calming effect and to add radiance to the eyes. Longman is Vietnam’s most profitable, farmers in the Delta have already sacrificed coconut farming for this fruit. Well, it is a mad fruit!

Mango consists of numerous species of tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. Mango is one of the most extensively exploited fruits for food, juice, flavor, fragrance and color, making it a common ingredient in new functional foods often called superfruits. Mango fruits are oval and egg shaped with smooth, soft skin.  The skin is usually a combination of green, red, and yellow. The interior flesh is bright orange and soft  with a large, flat pit in the middle. The ripe fruit is variable in size and color, and may be yellow, orange, red or green when ripe, depending on the cultivar. When ripe, the unpeeled fruit gives off a distinctive resinous sweet smell. In its center is a single flat oblong seed that can be fibrous or hairy on the surface, depending on the cultivar.

Dragon fruit

The most attractive one is the dragon fruit (Thanh Long in Vietnamese), because it looked like a flower about to bloom. It has interesting black seeds inside and a white flesh, so that when it is cut, the red rind gives it a really lovely frame. Dragon fruit is cactus family, origin in Central America desert area. Thanh Long is planted in Vietnam, especially in the Southern areas, since the beginning of century 20; and since the beginning of 1990 it becomes a product. Vietnam is a country that exports dragon fruit with a large trade scale. Dragon fruit is a fruit that has high nutrition value, a lot of water and mineral substance; makes liver well and laxative. Dragon fruit is good for people who get high blood pressure and obese. Beside that, dragon fruit can limit development of diabetes, thus dragon fruit is a kind of fruit that many people like best.

Pineapple

Pineapple is the common name for an edible tropical plant. This herbaceous perennial plant grows to 1–1.5m tall with 30 or more trough-shaped and pointed leaves 30–100 cm long, surrounding a thick stem. The pineapple is an example of a multiple fruit: multiple, spirally-arranged flowers along the axis each produce a fleshy fruit that becomes pressed against the fruits of adjacent flowers, forming what appears to be a single fleshy fruit. Pineapple is commonly used in desserts and other types of fruit dishes, or on its own. Pineapples are the only bromeliad fruit in widespread cultivation. It is one of the most commercially important plants which carry out photosynthesis.

The star apple or “vũ sữa” is very sweet and creamy. You will also see guava, banana, custard-apple, water-melon, strawberry and lots of others.

You are strongly recommended to pay a visit to the My Tho fruit market and you will join in with the asmosphere of the local people and enjoy the delicious fruits