The Mekong Delta has many charms of vast fields, poetic rivers and many attractive specialties. A summer trip to the Mekong Delta is an experience you should try. Let's start with Ben Tre, the famous homeland of coconut.
Weather
Located in the Southwest region, with a warm and sunny climate all year round, visitors can come to Ben Tre at any time of the year. But the most suitable are the summer months of June, July and August, when you can admire the colorful natural picture and enjoy delicious fresh fruits picked right from the trees such as mangosteen, durian, rambutan...
Try your hand at being a farmer in the West to catch fresh fish and enjoy them right on the spot. The best dish is grilled snakehead fish. Photo:Photopedia.
Places to visit
Determining the schedule will help you easily prepare convenient transportation, saving time. Ben Tre has many attractions and below are a few suggestions.
- Con Quy: located in Chau Thanh district with specialties of delicious fruits and shrimp and fish. Visiting Con Quy, tourists can also enjoy "don ca tai tu" which is imbued with the identity of the Southern river region.
- Con Phung: located on an island floating in the middle of Tien River in Tan Thach Commune, Chau Thanh District. Coming here, visitors can take a motorboat along the island to visit coconut candy processing facilities, coconut souvenirs or take a horse-drawn carriage to visit the fruit garden, stop by a house thatched with coconut leaves to drink tea with honey and kumquat, and enjoy tropical fruits.
- Vam Ho Bird Sanctuary: located in My Hoa and Tan Xuan communes, Ba Tri district, is a gathering place for many rare bird species. Coming here in the afternoon, visitors will encounter amazing natural scenes with vibrant sounds and brilliant colors.
- Fruit garden: there are two places for you to visit: Cai Mon orchard in Cho Lach and Tien Long, Tan Phu in Chau Thanh district. You can enjoy the cool green space of the orchard, enjoy fresh fruits that you pick yourself and eat right there. The ticket price includes one time entering the orchard and enjoying any kind of fruit freely, but you will have to buy gifts to bring home.
- Nguyen Dinh Chieu's mausoleum: located in An Duc commune, Ba Tri district, is the resting place of the great poet of the nation, patriot and people's doctor. Every July 1, Ben Tre people always hold a traditional festival here to commemorate the famous poet, a son of the South.
- Dong Khoi Guerrilla Village: located in Dinh Thuy Commune, Mo Cay District. Coming here, visitors can visit the exhibition area, which displays primitive weapons that Ben Tre people used to fight against invaders in the past.
You can freely enjoy fruits while strolling through the orchard in Cho Lach, Cai Mon. Photo:Vietnamtourism.
Means of transport
If you depart from Saigon, you can go to Mien Tay bus station, district 6 to find a suitable car with prices ranging from 80,000-120,000 VND. Travel time is 1.5-2 hours.
Besides, you can travel by motorbike to comfortably enjoy the scenery along the way. You should depart at 4am or 9am (because 6am - 8am is easy to get stuck in traffic). Follow National Highway 1A to My Tho city, you can stop to enjoy breakfast with a bowl of noodles. Then you ask for directions to Rach Mieu bridge, cross the bridge and turn right and you will be in the center of Ben Tre city.
Or you can choose a tour according to your preference from travel agencies in Saigon for your convenience in sightseeing.
Rest
If you are a backpacker, traveling by personal vehicle, you should find a local's house to rest, learn about the local lifestyle and enjoy traditional specialties of the countryside.
In addition, there are many motels and hotels in Ben Tre city for you to easily choose from such as: Cong Doan hotel, 3-star Ham Luong hotel, Cuu Long hotel, Thu Thu motel, Que Huong motel. At night, you can go to the rooftop of these hotels to enjoy night coffee and watch the Ben Tre streets along the river.
Specialty dishes
- Smashed banana: The banana is smashed flat and grilled over charcoal, served with coconut milk. The hot, crispy, fragrant taste of the banana combined with the richness of the coconut milk will delight you.
- Banh canh bot xat: the cake is made from rice flour, thick broth cooked with duck meat and ginger fish sauce. This is a typical Western specialty.
- Pomelo sweet soup: made from peeled pomelo peel, soaked in salt and cooked. The sweet soup is added with durian so it always has a unique flavor.
- Coconut rat meat: the animal that lives on coconut trees is processed into a favorite dish of local people. You can enjoy many dishes such as: grilled, steamed, cooked in curry and most especially steamed rat in a rice cooker.
- Coconut worms: is a unique dish that only exists in Ben Tre, the coconut land, and is very popular. Coconut worms are soaked in fish sauce and then fried with butter. This unique dish is considered the most nutritious and special dish in Ben Tre.
- Fruits: nature has endowed the West with fertile alluvial land, so the fruits here are very rich. You can enjoy any kind at quite cheap prices such as mangosteen, durian, rambutan, longan, grapefruit and especially don't forget wax coconut.
Keepsake
If you travel a short distance, you can buy specialty fruits such as mangosteen, Cai Mon durian, green-skinned grapefruit, and 5-roi grapefruit. If you keep them for a long time, you can buy My Long rice paper, Son Doc rice paper, coconut products such as coconut jam, coconut candy, coconut wine, etc. and some beautiful handicrafts made from coconut.
Don't forget the unique souvenirs made from coconut. Photo:Magyar1975.blogspot.
