CHAU DOC

Chau Doc, An Giang province is as close as you can get to Cambodia without being in it. The Bassac River flows through the town and is a border crossing for river borne traffic, and the small Sam Mountain has an excellent view of the flat plain on the other side. It’s an attractive, busy place with a good hotel and several interesting attractions. It became part of Vietnam in the middle of the eighteenth century as a gift, a reward for helping the Cambodian monarch to put down an insurrection. Unsurprisingly, it has a high proportion of ethnic Kh’mer people among its population, easily identifiable by their darker skins and a chequered scarf instead of Vietnam’s ubiquitous conical hat. There’s also a fair number of ethic Cham and Chinese people, and enough Christians to fill a local cathedral, making up a rare pot-pourri of cultures and religions.

There’s a large market selling local produce and commodities. As might be expected, there are also plenty of smuggled goods changing hands in both directions. Deep in the market, the Quan Cong Temple is a rewarding visit. It’s a flamboyant Taoist structure with good murals and effigies dominated by a ruddy-faced Quan Cong. Further along the riverfront there are several traditional stilt houses. A short boat trip across the Bassac takes you to several floating fish farms. They’re modified houseboats - a trap door in the floor provides access to nets under the boat where the fish are grown. A little further takes you to the other bank and a Cham community. Once you’ve tiptoed across the stepping-stones to avoid the mud, you walk through the stilt house village to the mosque. Although sharing the same linguistic and historical tradition, the Cham are divided into two quite distinct religious communities, the Hindu Chams and the Cham Bani, or Muslims. The latter live mainly in the Chau Doc area and are easily distinguished by the men's preferred headgear - a crimson fez with a long golden tassel, or white Muslim prayer cap.