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Return to the simple life on Dung Islet.


Soc Trang Town, the administrative center of Soc Trang Province, is about 300 kilometers or six hours by car from Ho Chi Minh City.

When visiting the Mekong Delta province, a land filled with age-old Khmer pagodas, travelers should spend some time on Dung Islet, a well-known ecotourist site.

Dung Islet is also called Ho Chau, Kac Tung, Giung Islet, or Chang Be Islet. It covers about 25,000 hectares and has nearly 60,000 residents.

To get there, go to Dai Ngai District and take a ferry to Dung Islet.

From a distance, the islet looks like a giant fish lying in the sun. The island is ringed with big mangrove apple trees that form a canopy over the road that encircles the whole island. It is the only road on the island and serves as a dike to protect the island’s interior from high tides.

There are many different types of orchards on the island - longans, sapodillas, oranges, and mangoes. In the middle of Dung Islet are fertile gardens growing sweet potatoes and cassava.

Tourists can visit the orchards and be served fruits on request. The gardens have fruit all year round, so people can visit them in any season.

Vo Thanh Van Hamlet has Vietnam’s biggest mangrove apple protective forest. It runs along both sides of Trang Rivulet to the sea.

In recent years, Dung Islet has become a popular ecotourist site because of its beautiful rivers, streams, and green orchards. Visitors enjoy the simplicity of life on the island – walking across log bridges and eating fresh fruit from the garden.

Reported by Diem Thu