Day 1
Morning
Coming to the West in general and Dong Thap in particular, do not ignore the noodle soup, usually there are two types of dry and water, for breakfast. In Sa Dec city, visitors can choose some addresses such as Co Lien noodle soup, Ba Sam noodle soup, Nam Vang My Ngoc noodle soup.
Start your journey to visit Dong Thap by visiting the famous ancient house Huynh Thuy Le. Entrance fee 20,000 VND.
Huynh Thuy Le ancient house located in the center of Sa Dec city, on Nguyen Hue street. Not as large as Binh Thuy ancient house in Can Tho, the traditional three-room house in the Southwest has an area of about 250 m2, with precious wood as the main material, the boat-shaped roof roofed with yin and yang tiles. The house is still almost intact from the original, many corners for visitors to have beautiful photos.
In addition to the combined value of East and West architecture, the house is also famous for its connection to a borderless love affair of a French girl and a wealthy Chinese-Vietnamese prince in the early 20th century, the owner of the house. The love story is also the content of the literary work L'Amant, which was made into a movie, and filmed in this very house.
Right near Huynh Thuy Le ancient house, just a few minutes walk away Kien An Palace Pagoda. The pagoda, also known as Ong Guo Pagoda, is more than 100 years old, imbued with Chinese cultural architecture. The pagoda has three pavilions: East lang, West lang and main hall. 3-layer tile roof, top tile, middle tile, bottom tile. The tiles are roofed with dragon ripples, creating a tile roof in the style of five elements. Each end of the wave is a miniature palace, consisting of 6 palaces. The entire pagoda has no trusses, only mortise arms. On the walls are images from Journey to the West, The Three Kingdoms of Interpretation.
The temple was recognized as a national historic site in 1990, open from 6h to 18h every day of the week, free entry.
Midday
Referring to Sa Dec no one does not know Sa Dec Flour Village Food Court, a day stop for many tourists. There are dozens of folk cakes from cakes to savory cakes and teas, attracting many diners. There are dishes such as chickpea duckweed cake, Western lice shrimp, savory molded cake, banana cake, jackfruit leaf cake, bare-bare cake, beef cake, casting cake, tat, silkworm cake, pancake, soup cake.
Afternoon
About 15 km from Sa Dec city is Lotus Leaf Pagoda (Phuoc Kien Tu), belongs to Chau Thanh district. This is one of the curious destinations for tourists in Dong Thap because the temple has ponds full of giant lotus leaves, each leaf has a diameter of 2 to 3 m. Visitors can step into the leaves, stand or sit to take pictures. Lotus leaves can withstand weight up to 140 kg.
Visitors visit the lotus pond for free, but to sit on the lotus leaf to take pictures, there is a service to put wooden planks on the leaves, then take photos. Price from 30,000 VND once.
Note that on the way, there are many houses erecting signs "Send your car to the temple" offering motorbike taxi service to the temple. If you take a car, visitors should come close to the bridge to park the car, while motorbikes can cross the bridge into the temple grounds. The lake in front of the pagoda is small, visitors who go around to the right will reach the large lake, where there are many large lotus leaves.
Evening
Have dinner at one of the famous restaurants in Sa Dec such as Thanh Phat cuisine restaurant, Hai Lua restaurant, Tam Thanh restaurant.
Hamsters are a popular food and are also loved by many. Travelers should choose Grilled hamsters Every hamster spins. The mouse, after being cleaned, will take it to marinate spices and then turn to cook. When the rat meat is finished roasting, it will smell good, the meat is both chewy and still tender. This dish is served with vegetables, cucumber. If you cannot eat hamsters, visitors can choose many other popular dishes such as grilled snakehead, fish sauce hotpot, copper crab hotpot, crazy spirit fish hotpot.
Spend the night at a hotel in the center of Sa Dec. The city is small, so there are not many options, visitors should stay in the riverside area, on the streets of Tran Hung Dao, Hung Vuong, Nguyen Tat Thanh. Room rates range from 300,000 VND to 500,000 VND per night.
Day 2
Morning
Move to Gao Giong eco-tourism area, about 50 km from Sa Dec. Passing through Cao Lanh city, the capital of Dong Thap province, visitors can stop for breakfast with one of the dishes such as beef noodle soup, banh khot. If you still like to eat noodle soup, visitors should choose Thuy Quyen, 59, Huyen Mi, Ngoc Hanh.
Gao Giong is considered as the lungs of Dong Thap. It has more than 2,000 hectares of melaleuca forest, 40 hectares of land area is home to rare birds. This is one of the ideal places to get close to nature. Guests can take a stroll by boat or enjoy panoramic views from the elevated observation deck.
This tourist area has an easy location to find on Google Maps, easy directions, but about 3 km from the entrance to the road is quite small, only riding motorbikes or small cars.
Midday
For many years, Dong Thap has built a list of how to prepare 200 lotus dishes to promote and introduce to visitors. Therefore, it would be remiss not to try a meal with this frugal but delicious food. Popular dishes include lotus seed rice, lotus root salad, lotus chicken stew, lotus root stew soup, lotus seed stew soup, lotus seed soup, lotus root salad, lotus leaf tea, lotus tea, dried lotus root with salt and chili.
Addresses for lunch with lotus dishes: Dam Sen ecological food court, Twin Twin restaurant, Co Ba restaurant, Dai Nam restaurant. Near Gao Giong there is Sen Le Bo Community Ecotourism Spot. This is also home to a food court with many lotus dishes, prepared by farmers in a popular style. Visitors can sit and enjoy the food right at the lotus lagoon, both airy and enjoying the fragrance.
Afternoon
Tangerine Mutilation Ruins is a meaningful destination. This place is about 50 hectares, including 20 hectares of primeval melaleuca forest, 30 km from Cao Lanh city, convenient to move from both Cao Lanh and Sa Dec cities. The historical site combined with Xeo Tangerine ecology will give visitors the feeling of getting lost in the primeval forest with wild natural scenery. To Mutilated Tangerines you can go by land or river.
If you like to weave under the forest trees, visitors can walk along the unique path in the ruins, about 1.5 km long. Recognized as a national historical relic in 1992, Xeo Tangerine is a tourist destination about the source, where traces of the arduous struggle of Dong Thap militia are kept.
Also, a spiritual destination to visit in Dong Thap is the temple of the owner of Cao Lanh market, located on Le Loi Street, Cao Lanh City. The temple of the owner of Cao Lanh market (Mr. and Mrs. Do Cong Tuong) is famous sacred throughout the region, especially to the business world. Here, along with the Temple of Lady of Nui Sam are spiritual tourist destinations that attract a large number of people everywhere every Tet holiday.
A few alternative points
If you come to Dong Thap near Tet, visitors must visit Sa Dec flower village, which is considered as the kingdom of flowers. The village is more than 100 years old at its brightest at New Year's time. Lai Vung pink tangerine garden is also an ideal destination near Tet. If you come to Cao Lanh on Saturday, visitors also have the opportunity to participate in Tan Thuan Dong country market, with many typical local products.
Dong Thap also has a curious destination is Dinh Yen projection market, located on the bank of Hau River, in Lap Vo district, about 15 km from Cao Lanh city. The unique feature of the market is that it meets late at night until 2-3 o'clock, so it is also known as the ghost market, the underworld market. The market does not have stalls, mat buyers often find a fixed place to wait, while sellers carry mats to sell goods.
According to VnE