Many of the homes that are open to Western visitors are on the banks of the Mekong River. When you reach the home of your host family, you should remove your shoes. Most families also prefer women to be well covered up.

The town has a few elegant but forlorn French colonial buildings, like the impressive Fop House (now used as a community sports centre), but not much else.

In the early morning, you could travel by your comfortable bus towards Can Duoc, where you come aboard of your boat to cruise to the Cho Gao floating market.

Con Dao National Park is centred on an archipelago of 14 islands, the largest of which is Con Son. The topography of Con Son island is mountainous, and dominated by a granite ridge, which runs from south-west to north-east, sheltering the bays on both sides of the island from strong winds.

In 1977, Lt. Colonel Tran Van Duoc (Tu Duoc), a reptile enthusiast, created Dong Nam Snake Farm. Initially created strictly as a research site for medicinal uses of reptile venom, Dong Nam Snake Farm today is the largest of its kind in Vietnam.