Kids in Tri Ton diving for their live 😅
It was so weird to us, people from a small Northern village that a Southern family from An Giang living there. But the beauty of it is they brought to our town the most delicious sweet soup I ever had in my whole life (known as "chè bưởi" in Vietnamese). In a little kid's mind, I believed that Southern people have magic in their hand that they could make every dessert tastes good. I always dreamt that one day I would travel to An Giang to "dive" into the chè bưởi from locals.
People in Long Xuyen, An Giang waiting for traffic light.
Finally that dream came true to me, two years ago. We took a flight from Hanoi to Saigon then from there, rent a motorbike to drive all the way of 200km to An Giang - the largest province in the South-West of Vietnam, along Mekong Delta.
⚠️ Lesson from the fools: Everyone please pay attention at the entrance turn from Saigon to the South-West (Miền Tây), right next to the high-way that you would be confused. You would drive to the wrong way and potentially get fined $25 by the cops, like us.
Caught old grandpa wearing the coolest shirt on our way out of Long Xuyen, An Giang
Dirt road in Tri Ton
We skipped Long Xuyen - the city of An Giang, slept over in Chau Doc city one night and drove to Tri Ton the next day. But the main reason is just Chau Doc literally has the best chè bưởi that only costs $0.31 a cup. I finished 3 of them in 5 minutes.
That must be the epic moment of my life.
Che buoi An Giang
I would not doubt to say that Tra Su Cajuput Forest is the signature of An Giang in general and Tri Ton, especially. The ticket is somewhere around $7 and they will drive you around the water forest for at least 20 minutes. Really quite and wild but I honestly think it's just feel like any other touristic place.
Personally Ta Pa lake is my favorite among the nature in Tri Ton, would really recommend you guys come at noon since it is the most peaceful time, no one comes. The water is really shallow so you definitely should take a jump if you know how to swim.
Tra Su Cajuput Forest
Tà Pạ Lake
Not far from Ta Pa Lake is Co To Mountain. Hike to the top or drive up there, it's up to you. But with the view from the top of Co To, you have no choice but hold your breath.
A view from Co To Mountain
Even though they're the biggest town in An Giang, Tri Ton is the least density one of the whole province. Since this beautiful town's border is next to Cambodia, Tri Ton has a community of Khmer people living there. I could not count how many Khmer temples they have built in Tri Ton, but they all look so colorful. The kids told me they went to public school to learn Vietnamese and at the weekend, they participate in Khmer class at the temple to learn their original language from the monks. I believed that they talked to each other mostly in Khmer and only speak Vietnamese when having conversation with Kinh people.
Xiem Can Temple of Khmer people
Khmer kids. These kids are so funny, they told me 1x1=2
I do not know how long it will take to discover Tri Ton, but I am sure it won't take too long to fall in love with this lovely town.
Hope you guys enjoy my post and please stay tune with my next blog about other amazing places in An Giang.