Tra Vinh, the pagoda country

Tra Vinh is a provincial town of shaded streets, a market and a river, and it would be unremarkable if it were not surrounded by Khmer pagodas. VnExpress counted more than 140 of them in the old province in 2014. They are not built for tourism: they are monasteries where boys from Khmer families spend time as novices, where villages hold their festivals, and where the community gathers in the sala to eat and decide things. The architecture follows Cambodian models, with steep tiered roofs, naga serpents along the eaves and guardian figures at the doors.

That is also the limit of Tra Vinh. There are no major museums beyond the Khmer culture museum by Ao Bà Om, no resort hotels, and few restaurants with English menus. If pagodas do not interest you, two nights here will feel long. If they do, Tra Vinh is quiet, and the countryside pagodas — Chùa Hang with its cave-like gate and woodcarving workshop, Nodol with its egrets — are the closest you will come to seeing a Khmer village pagoda as its community uses it.

Ao Bà Om is a rectangular pond of about 500 by 300 metres, about 7 km south-west of the centre on National Road 53. The legend behind its name tells of a contest between the men and women of the village to dig a pond in a drought: Bà Om led the women, hung lanterns in the trees that the men mistook for the morning star, and won. The dầu and sao trees around it are a hundred years old or more, and their roots stand above the ground. Chùa Âng, beside the pond, is traditionally dated to the tenth century — legend gives 990 — and the Khmer culture museum on the same site holds more than 800 objects, images and documents.

Two. The first afternoon goes to Ao Bà Om and Chùa Âng, which sit together on the edge of town. The second day goes to the countryside pagodas around Chau Thanh and Tra Cu, which are at their liveliest early in the morning, when the monks are on their rounds and the egrets are still in the trees at Nodol.

With one night, you arrive after a drive of two and a half to three hours, see Ao Bà Om in the late afternoon and leave the next morning; the countryside pagodas are lost. With three, add a slow morning at the market and a second visit to a pagoda for an evening ceremony if one is held — your guide asks.

• By road from Ho Chi Minh City: about 127 km through Ben Tre, two and a half to three hours by private car. Since August 2025 the second Rạch Miễu bridge carries traffic over the Tien River on this road.
• By bus: FUTA (Phương Trang) runs a Ho Chi Minh City–Ben Tre–Tra Vinh–Vinh Long route; fares vary by date.
• From Can Tho: about 80 km, an hour and a half to two hours, which also makes Can Tho airport (VCA) the nearest air link.
• From Soc Trang: about 63 km by the road that crosses the Hau River by ferry, or about 143 km via the Can Tho bridge.

• If you have only two or three days in the delta; Chau Doc gives more variety for the drive
• If pagodas are one interest among many rather than the reason you are going
• If you need hotels with spas, pools or international restaurants
• In the hottest weeks of April, if you do not cope well with heat — or come and keep to the early hours

If Tra Vinh fits, the Khmer Delta journey spends two nights here and the Four Cultures route one night. Neighbouring Soc Trang completes the Khmer picture.