6 Best Sights in Mekong Delta, Vietnam

Twelve kilometers (7.5 miles) outside Soc Trang, in the village of Dai Tan, this is the largest Khmer pagoda and religious school (for novice monks) in the area. The original pagoda, built in 1815, was destroyed during the Vietnam War and was rebuilt in 1969 using bowls and plates—hence the name (chen means bowl). The garden has several thatched huts in which pilgrims can meditate, and a lively market operates in front of the pagoda gates.

This is a vibrant Vietnamese temple that was built more than 200 years ago by a Chinese family called Ngo. A descendant, Ngo Kim Tong, who died in 1970, spent 42 years fashioning the pagoda's brightly colored statues, dragons, and gargoyles. Inside are candles so big and so broad—each about 40 feet high and so wide that two people extending their arms around it can barely reach each other—that have been burning continuously for more than 40 years.

The centerpiece of the cultural center of Ho Nuoc Ngot (Freshwater Lake) is an artificial lake with swan-shape paddleboats. The lake complex also includes garden cafés, a swimming pool, a movie theater, a children's funfair, and a playground. Ho Nuoc Ngot usually hosts the opening ceremony for the Khmer community's annual Ngo boat races on the lake on the 13th, 14th, and 15th days of the 10th lunar month.

The beautiful Khmer pagoda and nearby communal longhouse and meditation center are off the road behind graceful palm groves and huge banana trees. The richly worked interior of the pagoda houses extensive gilded wood carvings. Originally constructed in the 16th century, the pagoda was rebuilt in the French-Khmer style at the turn of the 20th century. It's an almost ethereal photo opportunity if you can snap monks posing in the foreground.

In a large stucco French-Khmer colonial-style building, originally built as a Khmer school in the 19th century, the museum's collection includes Khmer statues and clothing, antique pots and utensils, and two long and colorful racing boats. During the French-Indochina War the building served as the headquarters for the local French militia, and during the Vietnam War it was a headquarters for American troops.

Legend has it that about 400 years ago Khmer monks constructed this pagoda, 3 km (2 miles) from Soc Trang, to honor the flying foxes (a type of bat) that live in the surrounding fruit trees. In Buddhism bats are considered sacred and, above all else, lucky. Strangely, the bats don't eat the fruit of the trees on which they live but feed on fruit trees several miles away. The best time to see these nocturnal creatures is dawn or dusk. Keep an eye out for the graves of five-hoofed pigs behind the temple; these creatures are believed to be bad luck so are given to the temple to be cared for until their death.