48 hours in Binh Duong

Binh Duong not only has industrial parks but also many beautiful and little-known tourist attractions and entertainment spots.

Binh Duong is the gateway to Ho Chi Minh City, with convenient access, and the capital is Thu Dau Mot city. This is an old battlefield with historical sites such as Phu Loi, Bau Bang, Ben Suc, Lai Khe, especially the D war zone, famous for the Tuong Binh Hiep lacquer village, ceramics or fruit-laden gardens.

48-hour journey to explore Binh Duong as suggested by Mr. Doan Cuong, specialist of the Provincial Tourism Promotion Center and a group of visitors from Ho Chi Minh City. The program is suitable for visitors departing from Ho Chi Minh City, having 1-2 free days to combine work and entertainment in Ho Chi Minh City.

Day 1

Morning

Have breakfast and drink coffee in Thu Dau Mot city. Some popular breakfast dishes here are Cay Me porridge, Moc vermicelli soup, Da pho. Dishes cost from 30,000 VND to 60,000 VND.

A corner of Phu An bamboo village. Photo: Nguyen May

After breakfast, depart for Phu An Bamboo Village (also known as Phu An Bamboo Ecology Museum and Plant Conservation) located in Ben Cat town, nearly 20 km from Thu Dau Mot city. This is the first bamboo ecosystem conservation area in Vietnam, a familiar destination for those who love rural scenery. This place preserves about 1,500 bamboo bushes with 300 samples of bamboo, rattan, and reed belonging to 17 species (accounting for 90% of Vietnam's bamboo species). Among them, there are many rare bamboo species such as mai ong, vang ve, ivo, lo o vang, and manh tong.

In 2010, Phu An received the Equator Award from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) for biodiversity conservation, community development and climate change response. In 2016, this place was also recognized as a member of the Association of Botanical Gardens in the French-speaking region of the world . This is also a place for beautiful photography and relaxation.

Inside the ancient pottery village of Dai Hung. Photo: Ha Thanh

One of the destinations not to be missed in Binh Duong is the 150-year-old Dai Hung ancient pottery village and Tuong Binh Hiep lacquer village (about 3 km from Thu Dau Mot center). This is the place where the oldest pottery craft in Binh Duong is produced and preserved. Here, you will have the opportunity to explore the process of handmade pottery production, steps such as hand-molding, firewood burning, classic color mixing, and mining materials at the mine.

Dai Hung pottery kiln preserves and conserves traditional crafts, contributing to the creation and development of the economy with its unique products. "Coming to Binh Duong without visiting and experiencing pottery making is losing the value of the trip," Mr. Cuong shared. Every day, this famous kiln exports products to all over Vietnam, with types such as jars, pots, and urns with traditional designs.

After visiting and learning about the handmade pottery production process and the lacquer village, visitors have lunch at restaurants in the center of Thu Dau Mot. Suggestions include eel taro porridge - mangosteen chicken salad and banh beo bi. These are three dishes of Binh Duong honored by the Vietnam Culinary Culture Association in the journey to find Vietnamese cultural values. Reference addresses: Vuon Xua restaurant, Chieu Nay restaurant, Vuon Mang restaurant, Vuon Mang Binh Nham.

Mangosteen chicken salad, Binh Duong specialty.

Afternoon

Visit Tran Van Ho ancient house (Phu Cuong ward, Thu Dau Mot city), an architectural and artistic relic recognized at the national level in 1993.

The house was built in February 1890 in the style of three rooms, two wings, including 36 round columns, 6 rows of round columns from front to back, each row of 6 columns placed on stone blocks, the floor paved with tiles. The main facade of the house faces southwest (Saigon River). This is one of the good directions in terms of feng shui that people in the old days of the South often chose to build houses, especially wealthy families.

Hoi Khanh Pagoda is an ancient pagoda in Thu Dau Mot city, built in 1741. It has a statue recognized by the Asian Record Organization as the longest reclining Buddha statue in Asia. The highlight of this ancient pagoda is its value in terms of history, culture, and architectural art, especially the majority of relics and antiquities hundreds of years old are preserved. Hoi Khanh is also considered a typical pagoda representing the common characteristics of ancient pagodas in Binh Duong.

According to Mr. Cuong, Hoi Khanh Pagoda is also associated with the activities of Mr. Nguyen Sinh Sac (father of President Ho Chi Minh). From 1923 to 1926, Mr. Sac, Mr. Tu Cuc (Phan Dinh Vien) and Venerable Tu Van founded the Honor Society here.

Return to Thu Dau Mot, stay overnight at one of the hotels Bcons, Becamex, The Mira, Long Bao Chau with prices from 500,000 VND to 2 million VND per night.

Evening

Visitors can visit the night market and Bach Dang walking street, which operates from 5pm to 11:30pm daily, with many stalls selling souvenirs, food, regional specialties, and street food. In addition, the market also has an entertainment area for children.

Day 2

Morning and noon

On the second morning, visitors choose other dishes for breakfast such as Mrs. Huong's Hue beef noodle soup, Aunt Ut's duck bamboo shoot noodle soup, Ha Phat noodle soup, fish cake noodle soup, Muoi Thanh's fish sauce noodle soup with prices ranging from 25,000 VND to 40,000 VND.

The next journey begins with the destination of Vinh Loi War Zone relic (Tan Uyen town), about 15 km from Thu Dau Mot. "This place used to be a continuous outpost of War Zone D, considered one of the red addresses for origin tourism activities," said Mr. Cuong.

Vinh Loi War Zone area. Photo: Relic site

Vinh Loi war zone was formed in 1946, is a land located between three large forests of Vinh Tan commune (Cay Bong forest, So Tieu forest and Thay Cai forest) with an area of ​​over 300 hectares, surrounded by two streams: Cai stream (Tho Ut bridge stream) and Vinh Loi stream in the southeast. To the east and west, there are two traffic axes running north, connecting with D war zone and Thuan An Hoa war zone. Here, visitors can visit the victory monument, the hall, and the memorial temple.

Have lunch at one of the restaurants in Tan Uyen City such as Tan Phuoc Khanh, Bep Nha 2, Bach Dang, Le Tuan seafood restaurant, Xua cuisine. In particular, you should enjoy the fish and river shrimp which are specialties in Tan Uyen.

Afternoon and evening

Near the relic site is Bach Dang grapefruit island with 5 types of grapefruit (sugar num pomelo, orange leaf grapefruit, guava grapefruit, green grapefruit and green skin grapefruit). Bach Dang grapefruit is famous for its deliciousness, of which the orange leaf grapefruit is the most popular, almost every house in Bach Dang grows it. This grapefruit variety weighs about 1-1.3 kg, has a thin, shiny green skin and a sweet taste.

Back to the center, visitors should visit Thu Dau Mot market . This place was originally called Phu Cuong market, nearly 100 years old, and is still the largest market in Binh Duong. The market has French architecture with a clock tower similar to Ben Thanh market. Trading activities also take place on the streets surrounding the market. You can visit or buy local products.

If you don't like to walk around the market, visit one of the most famous cafes in Thu Dau Mot - Wind and Water . This is a garden cafe built with bamboo over 15 years ago, which has won many major architectural awards at home and abroad. The cafe has a large and airy space, using natural wind and water as the main elements, the construction materials are mostly from bamboo trees, there are no cement columns. The cafe is open from 7am to 10pm, the price of drinks ranges from 25,000 to 55,000 VND.

Wind and Water cafe space.

In the afternoon, enjoy regional delicacies at restaurants in Chanh Nghia residential area such as Kill's Grill, Tokyo Binh Duong Grill Street, Chu SuKi, Sesan, The Palma, Huong Viet. In addition, there are some snacks such as banh xeo, hu tieu, spicy noodles, tofu, banh beo, snails with prices of only a few tens of thousands of dong.

Some alternative locations: Tibetan Temple, Phu Cuong Cathedral, Minh Sang Plaza, Traditional Medicine Museum, Thuy Chau Eco-tourism Area, camping at Dau Tieng Lake. If you go to tourist and camping areas, you should spend at least one day. Thuy Chau area is about 20 km from Thu Dau Mot (usually only open on weekends), and Dau Tieng Lake is about 65 km away.

Nguyen Nam

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