Chau Doc on the edge of the Mekong Delta is the stepping stone to Vietnam for travellers arriving from Cambodia. We arrived on the back of motorbikes that had collected us at the Cambodia/Vietnam border near the town of Tinh Bien which is 30km from Chau Doc (see Vietnam-Cambodia border crossings).

They dropped us at the very nice Trung Nguyen Hotel which overlooks the main market in the town centre. Nice, clean rooms with very helpful receptionist at just $10 a night. Another good budget option is the Thuan Loi Hotel which is right on the river where the ferry from Phnom Penh docks. The Song Sao Hotel is a good mid-range option located almost next to a small bookshop called 'the English Bookstore'. The charming owner loves to practice his English and will take you on private tours of the river.

The town is a busy, lively place with few tourists so not much hassle other than cyclos wanting to take you to Sam Mountain. It was good to be back in Vietnam again and a spicy lunch at Bay Bong restaurant was a nice change for the many coconut based dishes on the Cambodian menu.

Chau Doc history

The site of Chau Doc was long in history a territory of the Kingdom of Funan. The territory became Vietnam’s about 300 years ago. The town is near the picturesque mount of Sam where the Sam mount lady (Vietnamese: Ba Chua Nui Sam) is worshipped. The Sam Mount Lady Ceremony is held every April of lunar calendar (May) every year.

Chau Doc population

Vietnamese, Champa, Khmer live together in harmony here. The three main religions in this region are Mahayana Buddhism (Kinh/Vietnamese,Hoa/Chinese); Theravada Buddhism (Khmer/Cambodian), and Sunni Islam (Cham). The total population is around 120,000 [1] with a vast majority of Kinh (Viet) on the Khmer Krom space.

Chau Doc economy

The honous paper in Châu Phú templeChâu Đốc is famous for its variety of fish sauces (nước mắm) and mainly "mắm tai", a kind of anchovy. The local economy is based on culture of basa catfish export and on tourism. The town is a busy trading center due to its border position with Cambodia.