• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 1368 0

US$21–50), opposite the GPO at 10, 30 Thang 4, with prime views of the river, has long been the town’s smartest place to stay; its tidy rooms all have air-conditioning, hot water and TVs, and those upstairs have riverfront balconies. However, the newly-opened Minh Quan (073/397 9979; US$21–50) at 69, 30 Thang 4 provides some stiff competition with its tasteful furnishings and modern fittings, and rooms at the front have good river views too. Also with river views but further west of the centre, the newish Rang Dong (073/397 0085; www.rangdonghotel.net; US$11–30) at 40/5 Section 3, Ward 6, Le Thi Hon Gam, has rooms with air conditioners, cable TV and fridges, as well as an older, more central and cheaper branch at 25, 30 Thang 4, with simple, functional rooms (073/387 4400; US$10 and under). The Cong Doan (073/387 4324; US$10 and under), beside the GPO at 61, 30 Thang 4, has similarly spartan but light double rooms which can accommodate up to four people.

The Mekong Delta | My Tho and around |

The Town

The abiding reason for a trip to My Tho is to explore its surrounding waterways by boat (see "Arrival and information"), but landlubbers will get a working impression of the majestic Tien Giang by strolling along waterfront 30 Thang 4. The river’s traffic – which ranges from elegant sampans to vast, lumbering cargo boats, unpainted and crude – is best viewed from Lac Hong Park at the street’s eastern end, where you’re sure to catch sight of the most characteristic feature of the boats in the delta – feline eyes painted on their prows. These continue an ancient tradition and were originally intended to scare off “river monsters”, probably crocodiles. In the evenings, especially at weekends, this corner of town is packed as families stroll up and down, interspersed with sellers of balloons, popcorn and even tropical fish. At night, young lovers huddle on their motorbikes, while men play shuttlecock football on the street under the intent gaze of a statue of nineteenth-century anti-French hero Nguyen Huu Huan, who studied in My Tho.

Follow the direction of the canal up past Trung Trac and you’ll soon be gobbled up by My Tho’s vast daily market, which is at its busiest early in the morning. As well as the usual piles of fruit, cereals and tobacco, several stalls sell ships’ chandlery, their heaped fishing nets almost indistinguishable from the fresh noodles on sale nearby. Head west of the town centre on Ly Thuong Kiet, for the Cao Dai Temple, which is worth a look for its colourful architecture.

The Mekong Delta | My Tho and around | The Town |

East of the canal

The southernmost of the bridges spanning the canal deposits you at the start of waterfront Phan Thanh Gian, home to My Tho’s modest Chinese Quarter, though there’s little to betray its existence other than a feverish sense of commerce. Shopfronts here are piled to the rafters with sugar-cane poles, watermelons and fish awaiting transportation to Ho Chi Minh City, as well as half-hatched eggs (containing chick embryos), prized as the perfect complement to a bia hoi.

A short walk or cyclo journey (about 10,000đ) northeast of Phan Thanh Gian to Nguyen Trung Truc’s attractive Vinh Trang Pagoda, with its rajah’s palace-style front facade, is a worthwhile side-trip. Since its construction in 1849, it has been renovated several times, most recently in 2002. The entrance, round to the right, leads into the heart of the temple, where a tiny courtyard is flanked by the cubicles where the monks sleep. The main chamber, beyond the miniature mountain to your left, is characterized by dark-wood pillars and tons of gilt woodwork, but of more interest are the eclectic influences at play in the pagoda’s decor – classical pillars, Grecian-style mouldings of urns and bowls of fruit, and glazed tiles similar to Portuguese azulejos. Outside, the tombs of several monks stand near a pond patrolled by huge elephant-ear fish, while a tall, standing Buddha image watches over the front gate.

The Mekong Delta | My Tho and around |

Eating and drinking

Though there’s nowhere