An Giang: the delta's only mountains

Most of An Giang is rice plain, flat to the horizon, crossed by canals and dykes. Then, near Chau Doc, a group of hills breaks the line: the That Son, or Seven Mountains. The largest is Cam Mountain, about 716 m, the highest point in the Mekong Delta, with a 33.6 m Maitreya Buddha on the summit and a French-built cable car over 3,500 m long. Closer to town, Sam Mountain rises to about 284 m, its slopes dense with shrines and pagodas; the national tourism authority counts about 200 religious sites.

Be clear about what that means for walking. These are pilgrimage mountains, not wilderness. The paths are steps, lanes and roads between temples, busy at festivals and weekends. What they offer is height, shade, and a view over a plain that changes completely between April and October. Tra Su, the cassia forest 20 km from Chau Doc, is the other half of the picture: 850 ha of trees standing in water, with more than 70 bird species, explored by rowed sampan, motorboat, hire bike and a raised walkway.

The national tourism authority recommends Chau Doc from September to November, when flood water fills Tra Su. That is also when the plain below the mountains turns to sheets of water. The cost of those months is mud and rain: the rainy season runs from May to November, and one guide warns that mountain paths can be slippery and landslides possible on bad days.

December to February are drier and slightly cooler, good for the climb, with Tra Su still green. April and May are the hottest. Avoid the Sam Mountain festival, the 23rd to 27th days of the 4th lunar month, unless you want to see it: it was added to UNESCO's intangible heritage list in December 2024 and is one of the biggest religious events in the south.

• By road from Ho Chi Minh City: about 235 km, 4½–5½ hours with stops. This is how our trips travel.
• By bus: long-distance buses run from Ho Chi Minh City's Western Bus Station (Mien Tay) toward Long Xuyen and Chau Doc; fares vary by operator and date.
• From Cambodia by river: a daily boat runs Phnom Penh–Chau Doc via the Vinh Xuong river border. The operator published a fare of VND 1,580,000 for that direction for June 2026 to June 2027.
• Locally: Tra Su is about 20 km, roughly 30 minutes by road from Chau Doc; the turn-off is signposted on road 948.

Tra Su is open 06:30–18:30; the Cam Mountain cable car runs 06:00–17:00. The figures come from a travel publisher and a blog, not from the operators' own pages, so check before you go.

• You have only two days in total. Five hours each way leaves too little.
• You dislike crowds and your dates fall in the 4th lunar month or on a long holiday weekend.
• You want quiet wilderness hiking. These are temple mountains with roads and a cable car.
• You are travelling in April and the heat is a real problem for you; the lower delta is no cooler, but its trips have less climbing.