VN · An Giang · 10.70°N 105.13°E

chau doc

Mekong border town with Cham villages, floating houses and Sam Mountain.

Best time
December to April is dry and easy for travel. From around August to November the floodwaters rise, when Tra Su forest is at its greenest. The Lady Xu festival on Sam Mountain draws huge crowds in the fourth lunar month.
How long
2 days, 1 night
Getting there
Fly from KL to Ho Chi Minh City (about 2 hours), then about 5–6 hours by bus or car. Fast boats also run down the river from Phnom Penh, a popular way to combine Cambodia and Vietnam.
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VN · An Giangchau doc10.70°N 105.13°Egowherelah.com
Dear group chat,Mekong border town with Cham villages, floating houses and Sam Mountain.— gowherelahTo: whoever’s drivingChau DocVN, An Giang
KLchau doc
≈ 922 km from KL, as the crow flies
Vietnam, Châu Đốc, a city in the heart of the Mekong Delta bordering Cambodia.

Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0

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Photos: Wikimedia Commons, credited on each.

A busy river town on the Hau River, a branch of the Mekong, near the Cambodian border. Vietnamese, Khmer, Chinese and Muslim Cham communities live side by side, and you come for the floating fish farms, the temples on Sam Mountain and the flooded forests nearby.

Makan

  1. Bún cá Châu ĐốcRice noodles in a turmeric-yellow fish broth, the town's signature breakfast.Map ↗
  2. MắmChau Doc is famous for its fermented fish pastes. Browse the stalls at the market.Map ↗
  3. Cham halal foodOne of the few places in Vietnam where halal food is easy to find, in the Muslim Cham villages.Map ↗
  4. Palm sugar sweetsSugar palms grow all over the region. Try the palm sugar sweets and fresh juice.Map ↗

Things to do

  1. Sam MountainTemples and pagodas climb the hill, including the Lady Xu Temple, one of the Mekong Delta's big pilgrimage sites. The top looks out over the border plains.Map ↗
  2. Floating fish farmsBoat trips visit houses on the river that raise fish in cages underneath.Map ↗
  3. Cham villagesAcross the river, stilt houses, weaving and mosques such as the Mubarak Mosque.Map ↗
  4. Tra Su forestGlide by boat through a flooded melaleuca forest full of birds, about an hour's drive away.Map ↗

Good to know

  • Dress modestly in the Cham villages and at the mosques and temples.
  • If you carry on to Cambodia by boat or road, bring your passport and check current entry rules before you go.

Last checked October 2026. Things change, so check opening times, fees and transport before you go.