Quê Hương: An Giang

An Giang

An Giang is the sixth place I visited, a town located in the deep south of Vietnam, also known as the Mekong Delta. If I were to describe what it’s like, it looks like what most people think of when they think of Vietnam: a rural area full of rice fields, tropical forests, rivers, mangroves, and tube houses. An Giang lies near the border of Cambodia, and it’s actually my mother’s homeland. She hadn’t been there in decades, so it was a very personal place for her. In An Giang, we visited a village called Chi Lăng, where my mom used to live. It’s a very interesting place because it’s so close to the Cambodian border that there’s almost a fusion of Vietnamese and Cambodian cultures. You will notice the locals speak both Vietnamese and Cambodian, there are Cambodian temples and pagodas, and many signs are written in Cambodian. Over there, we walked through the streets of the village and caught up with distant family members. After that, we went to the marketplace, and it was wholesome seeing my mom recognizing different spots. I wouldn’t go as far as to say her memories became mine, but what I will say is that for my mom, as someone who was displaced, forced to leave her home, who never had the opportunity to return until now. I can’t imagine the emotions one must feel in that moment, I can’t, and that’s what makes it so moving. An Giang isn’t as grand or developed as the cities, but it’s the memories that people hold of the place that make it rich, and that is all that matters.

Trà Sư Cajuput Forest

A fair distance from Chi Lăng was the Trà Sư Cajuput Forest. A cajuput forest, not just a forest, but a forest filled with cajuput trees, vase-shaped trees with white bark and flower spikes at the ends of their branches. The forest notably features a beautiful garden area, a stilt village, and a massive river running through it. Trà Sư has got to be the most lush place I have ever visited. Over there, I got to trek through the forest and drift through the river by boat.

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