Chau Doc is one of the beautiful places in Mekong River Delta - as close as you can get to Cambodia without being in it. As an incredibly friendly and bustling little city, Chau Doc has a color scheme to match its ambience, with bright pastel hues of green, blue and purple adorning many of the newer shop fronts.

A highlight of a visit to Chau Doc is a boat trip on one of the small paddle boats that collect near the western end of the park. For a few dollars an hour they'll paddle you around the many floating raft houses and fish farms. Enjoying this trip at dawn can be very rewarding.

A second attraction, just outside Chau Doc, is Sam Mountain - more of a hillock in fact -- which offers an excellent view of the flat plain surrounding. The views are pretty rather than spectacular, though when combined with a visit to the pagodas around the hill's base, this makes a worthwhile afternoon jaunt.

Chau Doc is also the closest large town to the Vietnamese/Cambodian river border crossing.

• Chau Doc Highlights
• Sam Mountain
• Tay An Pagoda
• Ba Chua Xu Temple
• Tra Su Cajuput Forest
• Tuc Dup Hill