Tra Vinh Boasting more than 140 Khmer temples scattered about the province, Tra Vinh is a quiet place for exploring the Mekong’s little-touted Khmer connection. The town itself is fairly quiet and sees little tourist traffic, owing to its somewhat isolated location on a peninsula. Getting there is a straight up and back trip, because no car ferries cross the rivers here (motorbikes can be ferried by small boats).
About 300, 000 ethnic Khmer live in Tra Vinh province. At first glance they might seem to be an invisible minority since they all speak fluent Vietnamese and there’s nothing outwardly distinguishing about their clothing or lifestyle. However, digging a little deeper quickly reveals that Khmer culture is alive and well in this part of Vietnam. Many of its numerous pagodas have schools to teach the Khmer language – many Tra Vinh locals can read and write Khmer at least as well as Vietnamese.
Getting there & away Tra Vinh is 65km from Vinh Long and 205km from HCMC. Buses to HCMC depart regularly (60, 000d, 4½ hours) from Tra Vinh’s intercity bus station on Ð Nguyen Dang, on the south side of town.
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