Ben Tre

Ben Tre is the coconut province of the Mekong Delta, three long islands between river mouths about 85 km from Saigon. It is where the narrow palm-shaded canals in the photographs actually are.

Is Ben Tre the delta that Saigon sells?

Ben Tre is closer to the advertised delta than anywhere else within a morning of the city. The rowing boat under overhanging water palms, the coconut candy workshop, the bee farm and the fruit plate with a bowl of tea: that circuit was built here. The version run from My Tho crosses the Rach Mieu bridge, open since 2009, and feeds into the same channels.

What it lacks is a sight. There is no floating market, no temple anyone travels for and no town worth an afternoon. The interest is entirely in the water, the palms and the small industry between them.

What does a coconut province actually look like?

Coconut covers Ben Tre the way rice covers the rest of the delta, and it changes what the countryside does for a living. A province of about 1.3 million people lives largely off one tree. Palms stand over every canal, husks pile at the landings, and the province processes the crop into candy, oil, charcoal, coir matting and fibre for boat caulking.

The candy workshops are on every tour and are still worth twenty minutes. The paste is boiled, poured, cut and wrapped by hand at speed, and the fresh version bears no relation to what is sold in airports. Larger mills handle the oil and the fibre. The craft villages guide covers how this kind of specialisation works across the country.

Where are the narrow canals?

The narrow canals are the small arms off the Ham Luong and the Co Chien, reached by transferring from a motorboat into a rowing boat. They are two to three metres wide, roofed by water palms, and quiet enough to hear the oars. A rowing stretch lasts about twenty minutes before the boat rejoins the main river.

Go early. By eleven the boats coming over from My Tho fill the same channels. The difference between seven in the morning and midday is the difference between a good hour and a queue. Staying the night in the province is the simplest way to get that hour.

What is at Cho Lach and Cai Mon?

Cho Lach district, about 40 km west of the city and an hour by road, is the nursery garden of southern Vietnam. Cai Mon and the villages around it grow fruit trees, bonsai and ornamentals by the hectare, and they supply a large share of the flowering trees sold in Saigon at lunar new year.

Cho Lach is at its best in the weeks before Tet, when the stock is finished and the boats are loading, and in the fruit months from May onwards. Durian, rambutan and mangosteen all come from these orchards — what is in season when is in the fruit guide.

When is the water high and the fruit in?

The fruit is in from May to August, which is also the wet half of the year in the delta. Rain comes as heavy afternoons rather than all-day drizzle, the orchards are full, and the province is at its greenest.

December to April is dry, comfortable and easier to plan around, and it is also when saline water pushes upriver in the worst years and the canals run low. Neither season is wrong; the choice is fruit and rain against comfort and dust.

Ben Tre or Can Tho, for one night in the delta?

Choose Ben Tre for canals and Can Tho for the market. The two are the standard alternatives for a short delta trip, and they are genuinely different places. Ben Tre is two hours from Saigon, with small water and no crowds.

Can Tho is four, with a city, a promenade and the Cai Rang floating market at dawn. The two are about 110 km apart, which is two and a half hours of delta road.

If you have three days, the delta itinerary fits both. If you have one night and are coming back to the city, Ben Tre is the one that survives the return drive.

Where do you sleep in coconut country?

Sleep in a garden homestay outside the city rather than in the city itself. Ben Tre town has ordinary hotels. The province has a scattering of homestays and small eco-lodges among the palms, reached down lanes barely wide enough for a car, and those are what the night is for.

Prices sit low — the bands are in the where to stay guide, and the delta-specific version is in where to stay in the Mekong Delta. Book directly and expect dinner to be included and served at the family table.