Viet Nam

 

Mekong Delta

My Tho - Around My Tho - Ben tre - Around Ben Tre - Vinh Long - Tra Vinh - Around Tra Vinh - Sa Dec - Cao Lanh - Around Cao Lanh - Can Tho - Soc Trang Around Can Tho - Around Soc Trang - Bac Lieu - Around Bac lieu - Ca Mau - Around Ca Mau - Nam Can - Long Xuyen - Around Long Xuyen - Chau Doc - Around Chau Doc - Ba Chuc - Tuc Dup Hill - Ha Tien - Around Ha Tien
Hon Chong - Rach Gia - Phu Quoc Island

AROUND MY THO

Phoenix Island
Until his imprisonment by the communists for his antigovernment activities and the consequent dispersion of his flock, the Coconut Monk (Ong Dao Dua; see the boxed text, opposite) led a small community on Phoenix Island (Con Phung), a few kilometers from My Tho. In its heyday the island was dominated by a wildly imagined open-air sanctuary (admission 5000d; 8-11.30am& 1.30-6pm). The dragon-enwrapped columns and (he multiplatform lower, with its huge metal globe, must have once been brightly painted, but these days the whole place is faded, rickety and silent. Nevertheless, it's good kitsch - there's even a model of the Apollo rocket set among the Buddhist statues! With some imagination you can picture how it all must have appeared as
THE COCONUT MONK
The Coconut Monk was so named because he once ate only coconuts for three years; others claim he only drank coconut juice and ate fresh young corn. Whatever the story, he was born Nguyen Thanh Nam in 1909, in what is now Ben Tre province. He studied chemistry and physics in France at Lyon, Caen and Rouen from 1928 until 1935, when he returned to Vietnam, got married and had a daughter.
In 1945 the Coconut Monk left his family in order to pursue a monastic life For three years he sat on a stone slab under a flagpole and meditated day and night. He was repeatedly impris-oned by successive South Vietnamese governments, which were infuriated by his philosophy of achieving reunification through peaceful means. He died in 1990.
Plaques on the 3.5m-high porcelain jar (created in 1972) on Con Phung tell all about the Coconut Monk. He founded a religion, Tinh Do Cu Si. which was a mixture of Buddhism and Christianity. Representations of Jesus and the Buddha appeared together, as did the Virgin Mary and eminent Buddhist women, and the cross and Buddhist symbols. Today only the symbols remain, as the Tinh Do Cu Si community has dissolved from the island.
the Coconut Monk presided over his congre gation, flanked by enormous elephant tusks and seated on a richly ornamented throne.
If you really wish to experience the fullness of the island, you can spend the night at the simple Con Phung Hotel (Tell; 075 822198; fax 075 894 940; r with/without air-con US$10/7; Rooms are comfortable, clean and simple, and the best quarters have river views. A restaurant serves decent traditional mains (set menu 50,000d to 80,000d).
Private boat operators can take you to and from the island as part of an organised tour (around 50,000d per hour). You might also keep an eye out for the Coconut Monk's complex as you chug by on the My Tho-Ben Tre ferry.
Dragon Island
Famed for its well-known longan orchards, Dragon Island (Con Tan Long) makes for a pleasant stop and stroll. The lush, palm-fringed shores of the island are lined with wooden fishing boats; some of the residents of the island are shipwrights. There is a small restaurant on the island. Dragon Island is a five-minute boat trip (per person 10,000d) from the dock at the southern end of Ð Le Loi.
Other Islands
Two islands in the vicinity. Tortoise Island (Con Qui) and Unicorn Island (Thoi Son) are worth popular stops for the coconut candy and banana wine workshops. On Tortoise Island is an excellent restaurant, the Du Lich Xanh Con Qui .
(Tell: 610 988; set menu 40,000-80,000d; lunch). It's a peaceful thatched-roof setting, surrounded by water hyacinths. Although you can visit these islands as part of a package tour from HCMC, you'll have much more fredom if you hire a boat yourself in My Tho. Budget around US$10 to US$14 for a three-or four-hour cruise, making stops along the way.
Dong Tarn Snake Farm
Operated by the Vietnamese military for profit and open to the public, the snake farm (admission 20,000d; 7am-5pm) at Dong Tam lies about 10km from My Tho in the direction of Vinh Long. It breeds snakes - mostly pythons and cobras - for eating, for their skins and for producing antivenin. At certain times the keep ers feed live animals, including ducks, to the pythons and other snakes. If this bothers you, you may want to forego a visit. A 15-minute video tells the history of the snake farm.
The restaurant here includes cobra on the menu and there's a shop where you can stock up on snake wine and cobratox - a cream made from venom, that's said to be good for treating rheumatism.
You'll need your own transport to get to Dong Tam Snake Farm. Coming from HCMC, continue for 3km beyond the turn-off to My Tho and turn left at the Dong Tarn Junction (signposted). From the junction, follow the dirt road for 4km, turn right and continue for 1 km until you reach the snake farm.