My Tho is a city of Tien Giang Province. It’s located on the North side of the downstream of Tien River. Its North and West borders are Cho Gao Province, Chau Thanh District on the East and the South is Tien River and Ben Tre Province. This is the traditional gateway to the Mekong River Delta, owing to its proximity to Ho Chi Minh City. Famous in the town is the noodle soup, Hu Tieu. It is typically a clear pork broth with rice vermicelli and wheat flour noodles combined. My Tho is also famous for its Bo Vien or beef balls. There are very busy stalls near the My Tho Market that serve only Bo Vien in beef broth or with Hu Tieu noodle. It is eaten with very hot chili sauce.
As the regional capital, My Tho is the main market which receives all the produce from everywhere across the region as well as fish and seafood from My Tho’s large ocean going fishing fleet. The very large and exuberant market is one of the biggest sources in Southern Vietnam for dried fish and other dried seafood products such as Muc Kho (dried squid). At night the market is dedicated to the dealing and sorting of Mekong River fish, particularly catfish for Ho Chi Minh City’s wholesale markets. Produce, especially fruit and vegetables, is delivered by boat directly to the market.
It can be said that My Tho is a popular starting point for tourists to take a boat trip on the Mekong River for Vietnam Vacation.
Cao Dai Temple
My Tho Cao Dai Temple was built in 1971-1973. It is smaller than the one in Tay Ninh but that is an interesting place for visiting. Cao Dai is a syncretistic, monotheistic religion, officially established in the city of Tay Ninh, southern Vietnam, in 1926. Cao Daiism is the religion’s shortened name, the full name is Dai Dao Tam Ky Pho Do. Concerning the term Cao Dai, literally, Cao means “high” and Dai means “dais as in a platform raised above the surrounding level to give prominence to the person on it”. Figuratively, it means that highest spiritual place where God reigns. Caodaiists often use the term Duc Cao Dai (Venerable Cao Dai) as the abbreviated name for God, the creator of the universe, whose full title is Cao Dai Tien Ong Dai Bo tat Ma-ha-tat. According to Caodaiists, the full title was purposefully chosen by God because within it is representations of the Three Teachings: Saint, Sage and Buddha. Caodaiists credit God as the religion's founder. They believe the teachings, symbolism and organization were communicated directly from God. Even the construction of the Tay Ninh Holy See is claimed to have had divine guidance. Cao Dai’s first disciples, Ngo Van Chieu, Cao Quynh Cu, Phạm Cong Tac and Cao Hoai Sang, claimed to have received direct communications from God, who gave them explicit instructions for establishing a new religion that would commence the Third Era of Religious Amnesty.
Vinh Trang Pagoda
Vinh Trang Pagoda was a small leaf hermitage set up in the early 19th century by District Chief Bui Cong Dat. In 1849, the Most Venerable Abbot Thich Hue Dang put it up a big pagoda and named it Vinh Trang Pagoda. The Abbot’s successor was the Most Venerable Thich Thien De. In 1890, lay-Buddhists came to the Royal-Chartered Linh Thuu Pagoda to invite the Most Venerable Thich Chanh Hau take charge of the Abbot of the Pagoda. In 1895, he had the Pagoda reconstructed. The pagoda has many netlike panels, horizontal boards and oblong boards of the parallel sentences. These netlike panels were elaborately carved. The Most Venerable Thich Minh Dang who had the Triple Gate, the main hall and the Patria. The pagoda has many netlike panels, horizontal boards and oblong boards of the parallel sentences.
Vinh Trang Pagoda is the greatest pagoda of Tien Giang Province, in an area of 2.000m2 with many beautiful trees. It was built in 1849 in My Phong Village, My Tho City, in the shape of “Nation” letter of Chinese characters. The pagoda includes four large departments connected with each other: the front department, the main department, the worship department and the back department, bearing a combination of European-Asian architecture and creating a splendid beauty, solemnity, but purity.
The beautiful structure features a mixture of Chinese, Vietnamese and Angkor (Cambodian) architectural styles. The pagoda consists of five buildings, two ornamental yards and 178 pillars. The extremely beautiful structures in the pagoda are two triumphal arches bearing an art of inserting bottle and porcelain fragments which create harmonious pictures illustrating the Buddha’s legendaries. Inside the pagoda, there is a set of pictures “eight angels riding on animals” another set of statues of the Amitabha Holy Trinity carved in bronze, as big as a man, and more particularly, the set of the eighteen Arhants, wood carving work, is the only one, not two, in the west of South Vietnam, made by a snumber of artists in 1907. Graves of Buddhist priests who took care of the pagoda are scattered around. These graves are decorated with carefully engraved flagstones.
There are three entrances to the pagoda. The central iron gate is always closed, while the two side gates, which are designed in the co lau style are open. The side gates are adorned with colorful porcelain mosaics featuring Buddhist folktales and natural scenery. The facade of Vinh Trang Pagoda contains both Asian and European architecture including elements from the Renaissance period, Romanesque style, French decorative flowers and Japanese enameled tile. From afar, the pagoda resembles the five-tower Angkor Temple.
According to locals, a monk named Minh Dan and an architect named Huynh Tri Phu traveled to Cambodia prior to building the pagoda for inspiration and eventually combined Khmer architecture with European styles for the pagoda. Vinh Trang Pagoda houses 60 precious statues made from copper, wood and terracotta. The most valuable collection is the 18 arhats made from jackfruit tree wood in 1907. Additionally, the pagoda has a bell that was cast in 1854. The pagoda is surrounded by gardens of ornamental trees, ancient trees and bonsai, creating a peaceful atmosphere. It provided shelter for Vietnamese patriots and is recognized as a national historical and cultural relic by the government.
Dong Tam Snake Farm
Dong Tam Snake Farm is located about 10km from My Tho in the direction of Vinh Long, breeds snakes for eating, for their skins and for producing antivenin. Most of the snakes raised here are pythons and cobras. The king cobras are raised only for exhibit – they are extremely aggressive and are even capable of spitting poison, do not get too close to their cages. The regular cobras are kept in an open pit and they will generally ignore you if you ignore them, but will strike if they are provoked. On the other hand though, the pythons are docile enough to be taken out of their cages and handled, but be warned that the larger ones are capable of strangling a human.
Warning: Besides its snakes, Dong Tarn Snake Farm has wild creatures on display (including monkeys, bears and owls) that are kept in deplorably poor condition.
The farm was formerly run by a retired Viet soldier colonel named Tu Duoc, who ran the place very efficiently. Unfortunately, after his death in 1990, facilities have gone steadily downhill.
The snake farm is really to be recommended to those truly charmed by snakes. Dong Tam also has a collection of mutant turtles and fish on display. The cause of their genetic deformities is almost certainly the spraying of Agent Orange during the American War, which was particularly intensive in the forested parts of the Mekong Delta. The snake farm is operated by the Vietnamese military for profit and is open to the public. The restaurant here includes cobra on the menu and there's a shop where you can stock up on cobra antivenin.
Thoi Son Island
Thoi Son Island or Cu lao Thoi Son is situated in the downstream of Tien River, Tien Giang Province. Thoi Son Island is around 1200ha and became the house of around 6000 people. Soil in Thoi Son was alluvial by Tien River that is very fertile for planting. Today, Thoi Son is one of the tourist attraction sites in My Tho by its green and peaceful atmosphere and very real daily activities of Southern people.
Phung Islet
Phung Islet - Phung means Phoenix. Having a structure as Thoi Son Islet about the source but Phung Islet was well known as it was related with a local religion. Around in the 1950s, Con Phung was known as “Ong Dao Dua” Islet. “Ong Dao Dua” means Coconut Monk. His name is Nguyen Thanh Nam. He graduated bachelor in French as an engineer but wanted to be a monk. Some people believed that “Ong Dao Dua” was not eat foods but just drink coconut juice. Those constructions are preserved and open for tourists after 1975 until now.
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