Travelog - A travel guide to Vietnam

Mytho is a delightful town, situated about two hours by bus south west of Ho Chi Minh city. Sitting on the bank of The Mekong River, Mytho is divided into two by a tributary of the river. From here you can do a number of short boat trips to various islands and floating markets within the surrounding are. It is also a good place to catch the overnight long boats to a variety of locations including Chau Doc and Long Xuyen. A quiet evening in Mytho can be spent on your veranda watching the sun set and the fishing fleet unload after dark. During the day you ca spend hours in a nearby cafe simply watching life go by, or on the river, cruising the day away. The Mytho experience is enhanced by the fact that the streets are generally extremely quiet. Mytho is mot a place where you need to worry about being decapitated by a bike carrying six people and half a ton of corrugated iron speeding along at 100 kph.

Along 30 thang 4 street is an amazing demonstration of the bizarre Vietnamese taste for really tacky photos. Rather than have their photo taken with the background of the flowing Mekong River, photographers have erected all manner of cardboard backings with snow scenes, stuffed deer and to add that final tough of authenticity, their assistants are dressed as pandas. Just a bit down from the strange signs there is a quiet little park where you can savor a baguette and watch the sun set

Con Phung island
This island is also known as the Island of the Coconut Monk named after a monk, Ong Dao Dua, who meditated on the island for three years during which he ate nothing but coconuts. An active supporter of the reunification of Vietnam, he strongly believed that reunification could be achieved by peaceful means. In the early 1960s he founded a community in support of this ideal, and as a result was imprisoned by President Diem on a number occasions. At his time, the island became a sanctuary for those who were attempting to escape the ravages of war. Ong Dao Dua also headed his own sect, which was a bizarre mix of Christianity and Buddhism. The large cross that you may stumble upon in his sanctuary is not a swastika, but actually communist victory his community dissolved, and the island is now a little run down. You can reach Con Phung island by boat from Mytho which takes about half an hour.

Snake farm
If you enjoy having enormous pythons wrapped around you, this is the place for you as snakes are greed here for anti-venom and medicinal purposes. If snakes do not turn you on, then bay be the turtles will. The Snake Farm is home to two yellow turtles, the only two living of their species known to the human race. They live to 1,000 years old so these ones have another 800 years to look forward to. The Thai government offered US$ 250,000 for the turtles, but the Vietnamese authorities declined the ‘generous’ offer, so that they could keep these very special creatures.