Rough Guide to Vietnam - Jan Dodd [94]
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The Mekong Delta | My Tho and around | Around My Tho | The islands |
Ong Dao Dua, the Coconut Monk
Ong Dao Dua, the Coconut Monk, was born Nguyen Thanh Nam in the Mekong Delta, in 1909. Aged 19, he travelled to France where he studied chemistry until 1935, when he returned home, married and fathered a child. During a lengthy period of meditation at Chau Doc’s Sam Mountain (see "Around Chau Doc") he devised a new religion, a fusion of Buddhism and Christianity known as Tinh Do Cu Si. By the Sixties, this new sect had established a community on Phung Island, where the monk lorded it over his followers from a throne set into a man-made grotto modelled on Sam Mountain. The monk became as famous for his idiosyncrasies as for his doctrine: his name, for instance, was coined after it was alleged he spent three years meditating and eating nothing but coconuts.
Unfortunately, the Coconut Monk never got to enjoy his “kingdom” for long: his belief in a peaceful reunification of North and South Vietnam (symbolized by the map of the country behind his grotto, on which pillars representing Hanoi and Saigon are joined by a bridge) landed him in the jails of successive South Vietnamese governments, and the Communists were no more sympathetic to his beliefs after 1975. Ong Dao Dua died in 1990.
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The Mekong Delta | My Tho and around | Around My Tho |
Dong Tam Snake Farm
Located 10km west of My Tho and run by the military, the Dong Tam Snake Farm (daily 7am–5pm; 20,000đ) breeds snakes for their meat and skins. Watching the sluggish pythons and cobras sleeping in cages is not a pretty sight, though there are several other animals on display in a small zoo, including porcupines, monitor lizards, otters, monkeys, eagles, peacocks and an enormous albino turtle. One of the farm’s most popular products is Cobratox – a cream that includes cobra venom and stings on application, but is rated by many as an effective cure for rheumatism. A xe om to the farm costs around 20,000đ.
The Mekong Delta | My Tho and around | Around My Tho |
Cai Be Floating Market
Cai Be’s floating market is one of the most popular in the delta, and also the most distinctive because of its backdrop of a slender cathedral spire. Throughout the day boats of all sizes throng in the waters of the Tien Giang, with fruit vendors displaying a sample of their produce suspended from a stick. The market reaches its busiest at around midday when busloads of visitors on organized tours roll in to Cai Be village from Ho Chi Minh City, 110km away. They are shepherded on to boats for a few hours to explore the market and fruit orchards on nearby islands before zipping back to the city. While this may be convenient for those who are short of time, it’s all a bit rushed, and the midday heat can be oppressive. If you have a more relaxed schedule, meandering through the picturesque channels of An Binh Island between Vinh Long and Cai Be market, or overnighting in a home-stay (see "Boat trips from Vinh Long") before visiting the market in the morning, offers a more rewarding experience. Cai Be is about 40km west of My Tho and lies just south of Highway 1.
The Mekong Delta |
Ben Tre
The few travellers who push on beyond My Tho into Ben Tre Province are rewarded with some of the Mekong Delta’s most breathtaking scenery. Until recently this province was isolated by the Mekong’s wide arms around it, but the new bridge from My Tho (opened in early 2009) is likely to bring a rush of visitors. Famed for its fruit orchards and coconut groves (Vietnamese call it the “coconut island”), the province has proved just as fertile a breeding ground for revolutionaries, first plotting