Through the Mekong

Arrive at Chau Doc border by speedboat from Phnom Penh around 17.30, you will be picked up by private guide and car, transfer to your hotel for check-in. Overnight in Chau Doc.

After breakfast visit Chau Doc’s local market which overlooks the confluence of three rivers, and later take a boat to Chau Giang District where a tiny mosque serves the local Cham community. The Cham minority who dominated coastal Vietnam from the 2nd to the 9th centuries were originally Hindu, but became Muslim as a result of contact with Arab seafarers and merchants in the Middle Ages. In Southeast Asia Islam was disseminated primarily by merchants who, following the monsoon winds, lived in various coastal towns for months at a time. The Chams also practice silk weaving and you may have the opportunity to see them at work. The architecture here is rather distinctive.

You’ll visit a beautiful Khmer temple, and later visit the floating houses that double as catfish farms, now a huge industry for the country.

Visit Sam Mountain, an important pilgrimage site that is frequently visited by pilgrims from all over the Mekong Delta. There are dozens of pagodas and temples around Sam Mountain and reaching the peak is the highlight of the visit. The views from the top are spectacular (weather permitting) and you can easily look out over Cambodia. Lunch at local restaurant then Departure toward Can Tho, hotel check-in upon arrival. Overnight in Can tho.

After enjoying breakfast at the hotel take an early departure at 0630 to see the Mekong’s largest floating market, Cai Rang. As in Cai Be hundreds of boats congregate with a piece of fruit or a vegetable attached to a pole at the bow signifying what is for sale on each. 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 other types of produce. Following head back to Can Tho where you will have time to freshen up before journey to Ho Chi Minh City.