Chau Doc Travel

Best time to visit

Like other provinces in the Mekong Delta, Chau Doc (An Giang, Vietnam) has a tropical monsoon climate. There are two distinct seasons in a year: the rainy season and the sunny season.

Generally, the weather is quite pleasant all year round for travelers to visit Chau Doc because average temperatures vary very little. In May, June, July, the temperature in Chau Doc is quite high but it doesn’t interfere with the tourists. In the rest of the year (from August to November), there is a lot of rain in here which often leads to extensive floods. However, during this time, you can experience the life of locals in Chau Doc when traveling by small boats up the river.

Check the below table for the general idea of Chau Doc weather throughout the year.

Chau Doc’s current weather and 7-day forecast

CHÂU DÔC WEATHER

Here are top things to do in Chau Doc:

Sam Mountain

With an area of about 280ha and moderate height of 241m, Sam mountain is a very popular tourist destination that anyone when visiting Chau Doc has to visit. The mountain is covered with shady trees all year round. In the summer, Sam mountain with the red color of flamboyant flowers nestled among the winding canals around. Sam Mountain is a gathering place for a system of ancient temples, pagodas, and interesting caves, creating a scenic, charming in the fertile plains.

Ba Chua Xu Temple

The temple was built in 1820 at the foot of Sam Mountain to worship Ba Chua Xu (a local goddess). The local goddess is so scared that your wishes will come true if you offer incense to her. Therefore, in the festival held at Ba Chua Xu Temple from the 23rd to the 27th of April (Lunar calendar), a huge number of pilgrims flocks to the temple. There are 4 rites taken place during the ceremonies with a lot of cultural and traditional activities.

Chau Doc Floating Market

In Mekong Delta tours, visitors definitely must visit Chau Doc floating market with the unique ancient features of the An Giang river. For local people, they rarely use the phrase “Chau Doc floating market” but only familiar with the words “take a boat”. These are short words to refer to the exchange, trading in Chau Doc floating market. Especially when coming to this market, the owner of the boat does not offer the goods by sales pitch, but by hanging the products, they plug the pole into the river and hang the product up so that the buyer can easily find what they are looking for. The most abundant and characterized in Chau Doc floating market is tropical garden fruit. You should remember to get up early to attend the market when it’s most crowded between 6 – 7 am.

Chau Giang Cham Village

Chau Giang Cham Village is a famous village of the Cham community in An Giang province, not only attracted by the ethnic character but also by the cultural beauty of the land of gods. For those who want to learn about Cham ethnic culture and people, this must be the destination that cannot be ignored in their trip to Vietnam. Chau Giang Cham Village stands out with the unique architecture of its wooden stilt houses. The stilt houses here are usually small and made of precious wood which has very high durability. In front of the house, there is a wooden ladder and the entrance door is often lower than the guest’s head, which implies that the guest must bow to the house and the host before entering.
Most of the villagers are Muslim so the cathedral is also a destination bearing bold Cham character in Chau Giang Cham Village. After passing through Chau Giang ferry landing, visitors can visit the historic cathedral Mubarak, which is a high-value place that is prominent for these cultural beliefs.

Tra Su Indigo Forest

Referring to the Mekong River is referring to Melaleuca forests, and it would be a great omission if you missed the Tra Su indigo forest, a great ecotourism destination with many rare animals. What is better than having nothing to think, just drop yourself in the boat floating in the water stream and immerse under the shade of indigo. In Tra Su indigo forest, nature is like embracing the human heart by bringing the peace that you hardly find in the crowded city.

Cam Moutain (Forbidden Moutain)

Cam Mountain, also known as Thien Cam Son, is located in An Hao Commune, Tinh Bien district, with an altitude of about 710m above sea level. With a cool year-round climate, Cam Mountain is always covered by the green forests and countless blooming flowers. You can choose to spend a night at Cam Mountain to fully enjoy the peaceful silence and the cool breeze of the mountainous areas.

In addition, the mountain also owns religious architecture as big as Asia’s largest Maitreya Buddha, Van Linh Pagoda,  or Large Buddhist Temple…

In Chau Doc, there are not many hotels, but you still can find hotels in Chau Doc from cheap to luxurious to suit your needs. There are two areas that tourists most often rent to travel is the center of the town and Sam mountain. According to the review on booking.com, these are top 4 hotels in Chau Doc. You can take a look and make up your mind with some of the best accommodations in Chau Doc.

Victoria Chau Doc Hotel – Luxury hotel in Chau Doc

Address: No.1 Le Loi Street, Chau Doc Town, Chau Doc City, An Giang Province

Standard: 4.5 stars

Situated on the banks of Bass River, Victoria Chau Doc Hotel offers cozy accommodation with river views, famous floating markets, and fish raft villages, as well as Cham villages. There are many options for customers: dipping in the outdoor pool or having a meal at the on-site restaurant.

All rooms and suites feature large windows that offer plenty of natural light. The accommodation also provides a flat-screen cable TV and a mini-fridge. Some rooms also have a private balcony. There are also private bathrooms, along with shower facilities and slippers.

Ideally located on the rooftop terrace., The Victoria Spa offers 5 massage beds with scenic views, where you can see the peaceful Hau River. Ask the staff at the 24-hour front desk, they will help you with different services, such as currency exchange, luggage storage, and bicycle rental.

Victoria Nui Sam Lodge – The best mid-range hotel in Chau Doc with luxury furniture

Address: Vinh Sam 1 Stress, Nui Sam Ward, Chau Doc City, An Giang Province

Standard: 3.5 stars

Victoria Nui Sam Lodge, which is on Mount Samm, features an outdoor pool with scenic natural surroundings, as well as free Wifi in both rooms and public areas. The accommodation is about 7 km from Chau Doc Market and Chau Doc River, which is accessible to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

All rooms provide a cable TV, minibar, and coffee or tea making facilities. Private bathrooms contain shower facilities, toiletries, and a hairdryer. The French doors lead to the private terrace with views overlooking the tranquil nature. La Giang Restaurant at the hotel serves local Vietnamese dishes along with Asian and Western taste. Refreshing beverages are also available.

Guests can take full advantage of the business center, banquet or meeting facilities. The hotel also offers services such as laundry, currency exchange, and luggage storage.

Murray Guesthouse – Nice and comfortable accommodation in Chau Doc

Address: No.11-15 Truong Dinh Street, Chau Phu B Ward, Chau Doc City, An Giang Province

Standard: 2 stars

Located in the city center, Murray Guesthouse takes a 10-minute walk from the banks of the Bass River. Throughout the house, free Wifi access is available, along with free motorbike parking.

The room is simply furnished, which has air condition and tiled floors, a wardrobe with a safety deposit box, minibar, cable TV, desk and seating area. The private bathrooms offer a shower Murray Guesthouse also provides luggage storage, laundry, and ironing services. Guests will enjoy free billiards. Riverboat tickets to Cambodia are available, as well as information about local buses and local destinations.

The dining area is located in the breakfast lounge and offers a variety of Vietnamese cuisines.

The guest house is 800 m far away to 30/4 Park and 2 km to Chau Doc Bus Station. To get to Can Tho City, it takes about 3 hours to drive away, while Ho Chi Minh City is 270 km away.

Hung Cuong Hotel – A cheap hotel with a beautiful view of Chau Doc

Address: No.96 Dong Da Street, Chau Doc City, An Giang Province

Standard: 2 stars

Hung Cuong Hotel is a modern hotel offering air-conditioned rooms with a view of Chau Doc River and offers free Wifi.

The hotel has a restaurant, 24-hour reception, and free private parking.

The hotel is 500 m away from Chau Doc Market and 84 km from Rach Gia Airport.

At the hotel, you will find all the rooms are equipped with a flat-screen cable TV, a desk, and a minibar. There is also a seating area and a private bathroom with shower, hairdryer, and free toiletries.

Hung Cuong Hotel also offers ticket service, tour desk, and luggage storage.

Chau Doc has many delicious and special delicacies you shouldn't miss out.

Chau Doc Snakehead Fish Noodles

Anyone who comes to the Mekong Delta can surely never forget the taste of snakehead fish noodles here, which are characteristic of Chau Doc. The sweetness of fresh snakehead fish, the delicious smell of noodles, and sesban flowers have made the bowl of western fish noodles so passionate.

Banh Bo Thot Not (Sponge Cake With Toddy Palm Sugar)

Toddy Palm ( Thot Not) is a unique specialty of the Mekong Delta area, which is processed into many different extraordinary dishes. Western Vietnamese people choose the old Thot Not fruit to mash for water and mix with rice flour. In addition, the sugar uses in the sponge cake should be toddy palm sugar in order to make a dark yellow layer for the cake’s coat. After steaming, Banh Bo Thot Not will be spongy and redolent of toddy palm sugar and coconut milk, which makes tourist cannot resist.

Seven Beef Dishes

Seven beef dishes of Sam Moutain include boiled beef, baked beef, mixed beef, beef porridge, fried beef, beef rattles, and beefsteak. The typical feature of making seven beef dishes is that the cook does not buy ready-to-eat meat at the market but does the whole live steer or calf.

Tung lo mo -: A special kind of beef sausage

This is the traditional dishes of the Cham people in An Giang, which is also known as sausage. This product is made from the intestines, fat, and cow’s thighs that have been cut up from the bone. After deodorizing with alcohol and ginger, the cook mixes the beef in proportion with the traditional spices of the Cham. Then they stuff this mixture into cow’s gut and expose to sunlight for 3-4 days. The most delicious “tung lo mo” is grilled on the charcoal stove with cinnamon, papaya, cilantro and dipping sauce. The common price of one kilo of beef sausage is at about VND 160,000 – VND 180,000.

Typical dishes made from sesbania sesban flowers (Bong dien dien)

Sesbania sesban flowers are the popular food of Chau Doc people, especially in floating season. They can be cooked with sour soup, pickled or served as raw vegetables. When coming to An Giang in the rising season, everyone will know about sesban sour soup. You will taste the sweet of the vegetable and fish, the sour of the tamarind and the spicy that the chili brings about.

They also use sesban flowers to make fried shrimps or traditional pancakes. When watching the rain pouring down outside in the middle day of the flooding season, a bowl of sesban soup and a pancake are the best bet.

Goi sau dau – Neem salad: A specialty food of An Giang

Neem is a species of wild plants, mostly found in Chau Doc and Bay Nui area of An Giang. The neem leaf is small, long and thin. When it is young, the color of the sprout is purple. Neem is processed into many dishes, the most common is dipping in the fish sauce. It is considered rare food in the world. The salty flavor of the sauce in addition to the bitter taste, the sweet back of the leaves will make the taste is hard to describe. The more you eat, the more pleasure you feel.

Getting to Chau Doc

Chau Doc is about 250km from Ho Chi Minh City and it takes about 6 hours on car to reach. There are two transportations that many visitors choose to come to Chau Doc is by bus or motorcycle:

By Motorbike:

From the city center follow National Highway 1A through Long An, Tien Giang and then Via My Thuan Bridge to Vinh Long. Just past the bridge you will see on the right is National Highway #30 go along this road through Dong Thap, Vam Cong ferries will go to Long Xuyen city. From here, go head another 50 km to reach Chau Doc. Motorbike is the adventure to see en route beauties of tropical gardens along Mekong Delta provinces.

Bus to Chau Doc

Public bus from Ho Chi Minh to Chau Doc is daily. En route it has some stops at provinces of Mekong Delta area. Here are some bus companies to travel.

Hue Nghi car: departed at 4 Banh Van Tran ward 4 district 11 Ho Chi Minh city. The stop to Chau Doc railway station 91, Chau Phu B. Ticket price is around 7 usd/ticket.

Phuong Trang Car: departs at Western Bus Station 395 An Duong Vuong Street, An Lac Ward, Binh Tan Dist. Ho Chi Minh city. Stops at Chau Doc Bus Station 91, Chau Phu B. Tel 02838 309309 – 19006067.

Hung Cuong car: departs Pho Co Dieu street, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City. Stops at Chau Doc railway station, Dist. 91, Chau Phu B. Tel: 0838 572624. Price: 8 usd/ticket

We recommend you check the latest bus schedule and price via rome2rio.com

By private transport

This is the most convenient and expensive to travel to Chau Doc. Along the way you can stop at provinces in Mekong Delta such as My Tho, Ben Tre, Can Tho, Tien Giang, etc.

How To Travel Around Chau Doc?

Travel within Chau Doc, the most unique and interesting is the buggy “Xe Loi”, however, only in the near, the price of the car, you agree with the owner of the vehicle according to the distance traveled.

Motorbike: Most hotels offer motorbike rentals at prices ranging from 8usd / day.

Taxi: Mai Linh Taxi (02963 922266), Hoang Long Taxi (02963 688688), Duc Thanh Taxi (02963 852403).

Boat: Boat to visit fishing villages or Cham village, you go to the boat landing area in the park with the symbol of two fish and agreed on the price of boat owners.

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