Tours out of Ho Chi Minh City and across Vietnam
Southern Vietnam
To the delta’s far corner, where the rice meets the sea
Ha Tien is a small port on the Gulf of Thailand, a stone’s throw from Cambodia, with limestone hills rising out of the paddies and a lagoon at its door. Few foreigners get this far.
Overview
The quiet end of the delta
The delta route most people take ends at Chau Doc. Ours keeps going. From Chau Doc a road runs south-west beside the Vinh Te canal, which marks the border with Cambodia for much of its length, through Khmer villages and rice that stretches to a line of hills. Two hours later you reach Ha Tien, where the delta meets the Gulf of Thailand and the landscape suddenly has rock in it.
Ha Tien is small, provincial and pleasantly unbothered by tourism. It has a lagoon with a bridge across it, a cave temple in a limestone outcrop, the tombs of the family that governed it three centuries ago, and a night market that serves crab and squid to people who have driven down from the delta towns. Beyond it, the coast road towards Rach Gia passes the rock stacks of Hon Chong.
- Length
- 4 days, 3 nights
- Chau Doc to Ha Tien
- About 2 hours
- Return
- Flight from Rach Gia or 7+ hours by road
- Best months
- November to April
- Style
- Private, with guide
Nights
Where you sleep
Day by day
Day by day
Day 1
Saigon to Can Tho
The first sight of the Hau river at Can Tho
Pick-up at 07:30 and three to three and a half hours south by expressway. Lunch in Can Tho, an afternoon at the Binh Thuy old house and on an orchard island, and an early night.
Day 2
Cai Rang at dawn, then west to Chau Doc
Sam mountain as the sun drops over the border
On the water at 05:30 for Cai Rang. It is a smaller market than it was a decade ago, now that much of the produce goes by road, but at six it is still a working market. Breakfast back at the hotel around 09:00.
We drive about three hours west to Chau Doc with lunch on the way, then go up Sam mountain in the late afternoon for the view across the rice to Cambodia, and down past Ba Chua Xu temple as the lights come on.
Day 3
The fish farms, the border road, Ha Tien
The border road beside the Vinh Te canal
At 07:00 a small boat takes you to the floating fish farms and across to the Cham village at Chau Giang. We leave Chau Doc around 10:00 and take the border road along the Vinh Te canal, about two hours with a stop at a Khmer pagoda and for palm sugar at a roadside stall.
After lunch in Ha Tien and a rest, we visit Thach Dong, a temple inside a limestone outcrop just outside town, and the hillside tombs of the Mac family who founded the port. At the end of the day we walk by the lagoon and eat at the night market.
Day 4
Hon Chong and home
The rock stacks off the beach at Hon Chong
We leave Ha Tien at 07:30 along the coast road to Hon Chong, where limestone stacks stand in the sea off a small beach and a cave pagoda opens onto the water. Two hours there, then on to Rach Gia, about an hour and a half further, for lunch.
From Rach Gia there is usually an afternoon flight to Saigon of about an hour. When the schedule does not suit your day, we drive the whole way instead, which is seven hours or a little more, and you reach Saigon in the evening. We confirm which it will be when we book.
Price
Price
| Travellers | Tier 1 — simple | Tier 2 — comfortable | Tier 3 — the good ones |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 travelling | from 565 | from 705 | from 1075 |
| 4 travelling | from 465 | from 580 | from 880 |
| 6 travelling | from 420 | from 525 | from 795 |
The return is the main variable: the flight from Rach Gia saves a day in the car and costs more than the road. Hotels in Ha Tien are simple at every tier, so the tier choice matters most in Can Tho and Chau Doc. Four or six travellers pay much less each, because the car and guide are four long days.
Included
What is included
What the price includes
- Private car and driver for four days
- English-speaking guide throughout
- Private boats at Can Tho and Chau Doc
- Three nights in hotels at your chosen tier, with breakfast
- Four lunches, entrance fees and drinking water
- Economy flight Rach Gia to Saigon when the schedule allows
What it does not include
- Dinners, drinks and tips
- Travel insurance and visas
- Extra nights on the coast or on Phu Quoc
- Personal spending at the markets
Practical
Timing and practical notes
November to April is the best time for the whole route, with the sea calm at Ha Tien and the roads dry. September and October bring high water in the western delta, which is beautiful from Sam mountain, and some rain on the coast. June to August is the south-west monsoon, when the Gulf coast can be grey and the sea at Hon Chong rough.
Ha Tien is also the ferry port for Phu Quoc, which is a crossing of an hour and a half or so on the fast boat in calm weather. If you have the days, finishing on the island instead of driving back is the best version of this trip; ask and we will add the nights.
Not for everyone
Who this does not suit
This is not the trip for a first visit to the delta if you only have a week in Vietnam. It is four days of mostly rural southern landscape, and the hotels are modest in the last two towns. If you need a smart hotel every night, you will find Ha Tien and Chau Doc a stretch.
It suits people who like the feel of the end of a road: border towns, small ports, markets with nothing aimed at visitors. If that sounds dull rather than appealing, two days in Can Tho will serve you better.
Common questions
Questions travellers ask most
Can we cross into Cambodia at Ha Tien?
There is a land border near Ha Tien towards Kep and Kampot. Whether your visa works at that gate depends on your passport and the current rules, which change; we check before booking.
Is there a beach at Ha Tien?
There are small beaches nearby and at Hon Chong, but this is not a beach trip. For proper swimming, add Phu Quoc by ferry.
Why not drive straight back from Ha Tien?
You can, but it is seven hours or more. The flight from Rach Gia turns the last day into a morning on the coast and a short hop home.
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Example journey
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