Chau Doc and Sam Mountain, where four communities meet

Chau Doc itself is a busy market town, now a ward of An Giang province, facing the confluence of the Hau River and its channels. Its interest lies around it. Just outside town, Sam Mountain rises about 284 m out of the plain, and VNAT counts some 200 religious sites on its slopes. At its foot stands the temple of Bà Chúa Xứ, the Lady of the Realm, whose festival UNESCO inscribed in 2024 and describes as shared by the Kinh, Khmer, Cham and Hoa communities of Chau Doc.

Across the river, Chau Giang and Chau Phong are Cham villages of stilt houses, mosques and weaving workshops; the Mubarak mosque dates from 1750. On the river itself, the floating fish-farm houses are a way of life VNAT dates back about fifty years. The honest catch: Sam Mountain is a pilgrimage site first and a sight second, and in the festival month it is packed. Come early in the morning and it is a different place.

Tây An pagoda was built in 1847, in the Thiệu Trị reign, and mixes Vietnamese, Indian and Islamic forms. The tomb of Thoại Ngọc Hầu (Nguyễn Văn Thoại) dates from 1822. A cable car of about 900 metres with 37 eight-seat cabins runs up the mountain, and the summit is also reachable by road. In October 2025 the provincial authorities presented a plan to charge a visitor fee around the Bà Chúa Xứ temple, Tây An and the tomb; no amount was given, and we could not confirm it is in force.

At the mosques of Chau Giang, visitors cover shoulders and knees, women bring a headscarf, and non-Muslims generally do not go inside during prayer times. A boat across from Chau Doc takes fifteen to twenty minutes. Oc Eo – Ba Thê, the Funan port site and a special national relic since 2012, is about 66 km south and makes a day visit.

Two at the least, three if you can. Sam Mountain belongs to the early morning, before the pilgrims; the Cham villages belong to a different half-day, timed around prayer; and the river is an afternoon. With a third night you add Oc Eo – Ba Thê, or Tra Su cassia forest, a nature visit about 20 km away that is at its most striking in the high-water months.

One night means arriving after a drive of four and a half hours or more, seeing the mountain in the middle of the day at its busiest, and leaving at dawn. You would see the busiest hours and little else.

• From Ho Chi Minh City: about 235 km by road, four and a half to five and a half hours by private car. FUTA (Phương Trang) runs buses on a Ho Chi Minh City–Long Xuyen–Chau Doc route.
• From Can Tho: about 120 km along the Hau River, two to two and a half hours.
• From Phnom Penh: the Hang Chau speedboat leaves Phnom Penh at 12:30 and reaches Chau Doc at about 18:30; the fare published for June 2026 to June 2027 is VND 1,580,000. The border is the Vinh Xuong – Kaam Samnor river crossing; Vietnam’s 2023 e-visa list includes Vinh Xuong.
• To Ha Tien: about 93 km, an hour and a half to two hours.

• In the Bà Chúa Xứ festival week, unless the festival is your reason for coming
• With only one night — you will see the mountain at its most crowded and little else
• If religious sites do not interest you; Chau Doc’s attractions are almost all sacred places
• If you want a quiet riverside retreat with nothing scheduled — the town is busy and commercial

Chau Doc has three nights on the Four Cultures route, two on Delta to the Sea and four on the Festival Journey. From here, Ha Tien is the westward continuation.