Geographical location: Tien
Giang is located at the North of the Mekong Delta, alongside Tien river bank
which has 120 km long, apart from HCM city 70 km in the South West.
Administrative border: It borders Long An in the North, Ben Tre in the South,
Dong Thap and Vinh Long in the West, East sea in the East.
Its natural area is 2,367 km2, in
which forestry area is 10,190 ha; rice area 100,037 ha; industrial tree area
over 20,000 ha; orchard area 44,322 ha; salt area 14.5 ha; aquaculture area
9,580 ha; coast line has 32 km long. The major river net contains Tien river
crossing the province in the South at a lengh of 120 km, Soai Rap river crossing
in the North with a length of 30 km.
The total population in 2005 was
1.748.922 people, of which male had 889,308 people; female 859,614 people.
212,117 people lived in urban area (12.9 per cent); 1,436,805 people in rural
area (87.1 per cent).
Employee working in the economy is
867,405 people, in which workers in sector I is 613,683 people (70.75 per cent);
sector II 85,016 people (9.8 per cent); sector III 168,706 people (19.45 per
cent).
Tien Giang has 9 districts and
towns including My Tho city, Go Cong town and 7 districts (Tan Phuoc, Chau Thanh,
Cai Lay, Cho Gao, Cai Be, Go Cong Tay, Go Cong Dong) with 165 communes, wards
and towns.
My Tho, the quiet capital city of
Tien Giang province, is the traditional gateway to the delta, owing to its
proximity to HCMC. Visitors on a whirlwind Vietnam tour often take a day trip
here to catch a glimpse of the famous river. In order to visit floating markets,
however, you will need to continue on to Can Tho. The town itself is an
important market town, and its quaint but busy waterfront is easily explored on
foot. My Tho was founded in the 1680s by Chinese refugees fleeing Taiwan for
political reasons. The Chinese have virtually all gone now, having been driven
out in the late 1970s when their property was seized by the government. The
economy is based on tourism, fishing and the cultivation of rice, coconuts,
bananas, mangoes, longans and citrus fruit. My Tho city , which sprawls along
the Upper Mekong River is one the closest cities in the mighty Mekong Delta to
Ho Chi Minh city ( Sai Gon ). Visitors can reach the city for 1 ? hours drive
along the National Highway's the green rice fields. Those who are in tight
schedule can take a day tour to My Tho with boat trips around the 4 beautiful
islands named as Dragon, Unicorn, Phoenix, Tortoise island with fruitful garden.
A lot of women here still wear the
traditional dress to work, which is silk trousers and a long silk top, they look
stunning, and they have sun umbrellas.
The Vietnamese like to cover up
from the sun, they all wear hats when out in the sun, face masks, mainly because
of the pollution though, and silk gloves that cover there hands to stop the sun.
we have tanning cream at home, an they have whitening cream. lol lol !!!
The people here are so friendly
here and are always willing to help you out, an they don't pester you if you say
no then they talk that the first time. The city is always busy they begin at
5.30am and go right though all night really. there is always a buss, which is
great.
Dong tam Snake farm:
Not far from Vinh Trang Pagoda,
Dong Tam Snake Farm is one of the country's largest snake-raising centers where
venom is produced for local use and export. Located 12 kilometers from My Tho
City, Tien Giang Province, the World of Snakes is a place for the animals to
have a peaceful life without the impact of man. There, tourists can see a lot of
researched snakes which are extremely aggressive and even capable of spitting
poison, and other snake-based medicines are produced to save lives. The farm
covers 12 hectares, including simulated wilderness areas, surrounded by ditches
for snakes as well as areas for other animals like sheep, ostriches, yellow
tortoises, tigers, crocodiles and so on. During a trip to the World of Snakes,
you will be informed about Dong Tam farm's history, offered information about
how to treat snakebites and demonstrated venom extraction and some of its uses.
Luckily, coming to this farm, you
will have the chance to see how 500 snakes are taken venom at a time. This venom
will be used to process medicine and other uses.
Dong Tam guides will also give tourists an opportunity to explore the farm. If
you are afraid of snakes, you should not get too close to cages, as there are
many poisonous snakes like copperheads, dendrophis which lie in branches, or
snakes crawling out of their holes. Here, you can take a lot of photograph of
the cobras which are kept in an open pit. Normally, they will not harm you if
you ignore. Yet, they will strike if they are once 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.
At some cages, the guide even
pulls a snake out for visitors to take photos and expounds about difference
kinds of snakes. If you take notice, you can also see that there were some
snakes live in special cages and they were put mice out for meals by the
employers of the farm. Yet, not all snakes are being raised for venom
production; some of them will become meals for fellow creatures. Interestingly,
the farm offers products made from snakes such as snake medicinal wine for you
to buy. 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.
A representative of the farm said
that Dong Tam saves around 500 lives annually, usually poor patients in the
Mekong Delta who come to the farm when their situations become critical. We
never seen any gold shopkeepers come to the farm by luxury car, he joked. But
every person who comes here will be helped, he added.
Sound interesting, isn't it? Let's
join a trip to Dong Tam snake by coming from HCMC, continue for 3km beyond the
turn-off to My Tho and turn left at the Dong Tam lunation (signposted). From the
junction, follow the road for 4km, turn right and continue for lion until you
reach the snake farm.
