If you have fallen in love with the simple beauty of the Mekong Delta, you must visit Chau Doc floating village at least once. This is a village specializing in raising fish in cages on the Hau River, about 4 km west of Chau Doc town center.
Each typical village on the S-shaped strip of land has its own beauty that captivates the hearts of travelers. If the stone village in Cao Bang has hundred-year-old stone houses, the ancient village of Loc Yen Quang Nam is as beautiful as a picture, then the floating village of Chau Doc is known for its rustic, simple beauty. This place is called a floating village because the floating houses and fish rafts are nestled close together to form a "village". The most crowded are the floating houses gathered in the river section of Tan Chau district, the village stretches nearly 10km.
Chau Doc floating village is known for its rustic, simple beauty.
Compared to life on land, living on the river has many inconveniences, but in return, people in the floating village do not have to spend money to buy land, the cost of building wooden houses is low, and most importantly, they can live in harmony with nature and easily look after the fish rafts they raise.
The floating village on Chau Doc River is a freshwater fish farming village that was formed in the 60s of the last century. At first, there were only a few floating rafts raising fish naturally, without feeding because of the good water source. However, from the 70s onwards, due to the high economic benefits, the number of fish rafts increased significantly and gradually became a key economic point of An Giang.
The highlight is that from 1990 to 2005, the Chau Phu, Phu Tan, Cho Moi, Vinh Nguon regions had over 2,000 fish rafts with an average annual harvest of over 20,000 tons/year. Most of the fish raised in the floating rafts of the regions are catfish breeds such as tra fish and basa fish, mainly for export to Western European and North American markets.
In recent years, when basa and tra fish are no longer popular in the market, people have switched to raising all kinds of meat fish such as: grouper, he, silver carp, grouper, pomfret... Thanks to the increasing prices of meat fish, fish farmers in Chau Doc have been doing well, bringing high economic efficiency, helping many families have a comfortable life.
Chau Doc floating village has no romantic beauty nor anything luxurious, but it is the simplicity that depicts a special picture of the river village. Coming here, you will be immersed in the space of floating houses swaying along the upstream of the Mekong Delta and the two branches of the Tien and Hau rivers.
The architecture of the “houses” in the floating village is also very unique. These houses on the river are usually made of painted wood, with roofing, a 5m deep bottom made of star wood, and covered with stainless steel mesh to raise fish rafts. Although they are wooden houses and drifting with the waves, almost every family has full amenities. Some houses also have balconies with beautiful flower pots, and hammocks to lie on to enjoy the cool summer afternoon. Although the life of the Western people is not too luxurious, it has its own interesting things, they enjoy the simplest things in life.
Sitting on a raft swaying with the current, watching the water hyacinths drifting, every visitor can feel the cool breeze dispelling the stress and fatigue of daily life.
The scenery on the river is more peaceful and poetic when it is just getting dark. At this time, the trading activities on the raft villages are no longer bustling, families gather together after a hard day's work. The floating raft villages on the river begin to light up. The lights from the raft houses reflect on the water, looking like a floating city at night on the river, creating a magical and shimmering scene.
