Chau Doc - The Land Of The Palmyra Palm

Chau Doc is the most famous city in the An Giang province, even though it is not the capital city. There are four ethnic tribes dwelling together throughout this city: the Kinh (the majority people group of Vietnam), Chinese, Khmer and Cham. The combined influences of each tribe has enriched the gastronomy, traditions and customs, architectural, artistic and religious culture in Chau Doc.

If you are travelling in Cambodia and would like to extend your adventure into Vietnam, Chau Doc should be your first stop. The city is located near the Vietnamese - Cambodian international border gate and is an attractive tourism destination in Southwest Vietnam. With its abundant temples and pagodas, Chau Doc is well-known among religious pilgrims. Of special interest is Ba Chua Xu temple, which hosts one of the biggest spiritual festivals in Vietnam at the end of lunar April every year (during April or May in the Roman calendar, depending on the year).

Chau Doc market is often called the capital of salted fish (Vietnamese people call it Mắm), where you can learn about the seventy different kinds of Mắm made from freshwater fish.

An impressive feature of Chau Doc’s landscape are the picturesque fields of palmyra palms standing proudly against the evening clouds. These trees are like the collective soul of this border land and also provide an important source of income for the local people. The sweet nectar from their flowers is a wonderful natural bounty, used to make palmyra palm juice, palmyra palm cake, and exotic palmyra palm sugar, which is mildly sweet, healthy and can be eaten as a snack. Chau Doc is one of the few cities containing both rivers and mountains in the Mekong delta, providing active visitors with an exciting opportunity to enjoy both climbing and boating tours. Notably, Chau Doc is a great place to enjoy delicious beef recipes, particularly the well-known “Bò Bảy Món Núi Sam”, which means “seven beef dishes at the base Sam mountain”.