Rough Guide to Vietnam - Jan Dodd [110]
The Mekong Delta | Ca Mau and around |
Around Ca Mau
The marshes circling Ca Mau form one of the largest areas of swampland in the world, covering about 150,000 hectares. The Ca Mau Peninsula was a stronghold of resistance against France and America, and for this it paid a heavy price, as US planes dumped millions of gallons of Agent Orange over it to rob guerrillas of jungle cover. Further damage has been done by the shrimp-farm industry, but pockets of mangrove and cajeput forests remain, inhabited by sea birds, wading birds, waterfowl and also honey bees, attracted by the mangrove blossoms.
Minh Hai Tourist (see "Arrival and information") can arrange boat trips to several destinations around town, but with prices beginning at well over $100 per boat, travelling in a group makes it much more feasible. A much cheaper way of going about is to hop on a public ferry or speedboat to an outlying settlement, and rent a boat there. You will need some basic language skills for this, and must be prepared for intense haggling over prices. Local boatmen begin by asking sky-high prices, though most will accept 100,000–150,000đ per hour, depending on the size of the boat.
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The Mekong Delta | Ca Mau and around | Around Ca Mau |
Boats from Ca Mau
The most useful boat services are to be found at the speedboat jetty, located on the south side of town at 162 Phan Boi Chau. From here you can get to Rach Gia in under three hours for about $6, to Nam Can in 1 hour 15 minutes for around $3, or to Dat Mui (for Cape Ca Mau) in 3 hours for about $5. Regular ferries heading north (apart from Rach Gia) leave from Boat Station A (“Ben Tau A”), a few kilometres west of the centre, while vessels heading south and for Rach Gia depart from Boat Station B, 2km south of the town, on the west bank of the Ganh Hao River. This is also the spot to take a boat to the floating market, and is worth a look for its constant bustle even if you’re not going anywhere. For Can Tho (3hr; $6), you’ll need to go to Cong Ca Mau jetty, about 3km east of town.
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The Mekong Delta | Ca Mau and around | Around Ca Mau |
Mui Ca Mau
This voyage to the end of the earth may not quite be a Jules Verne epic, but it’s a fun and satisfying way to pass a day, as you get to visit not only the southernmost point of Vietnam but also the end of mainland Southeast Asia. Take a speedboat from the speedboat jetty in Ca Mau to Dat Mui and join in the throng of life in the delta. The boats can get pretty crowded, but if you’re lucky you might get a window seat to look out on the houses, shacks and boats that line the river. On arrival in Dat Mui, either rent a local boat or hop on a xe om (about 30,000đ return) to Mui Ca Mau (Cape Ca Mau) through a mangrove swamp for the last few kilometres.
Once at the cape, you have to pay 10,000đ to enter the national park, after which you can take a photo of yourself standing beside a boat-shaped monument marking the latitude (8 degrees north) and longitude (104 degrees east) of this remote location, then gaze out over the endless ocean and the mountainous Khoai Island just off the coast. There’s even a look-out tower from where you can get good views over the mangrove forests, and a restaurant on stilts over the water.
The Mekong Delta | Ca Mau and around | Around Ca Mau |
U Minh Forest
Heading northwest from Ca Mau, ferries leave Boat Station A regularly throughout the day to U Minh, famous for its cajeput forests. Lining the ferry route are water palms, modest groves of cajeput and fish traps consisting of triangles of bamboo sticks driven into the riverbed. From U Minh’s jetty it is about 5km further to the forest. Ask a boatman to take you to “Rung U Minh Ha” or tell them you want to