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RACH GIA |
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RACH GIA teeters precariously over the Gulf of Thailand and is home
to a farming and fishing community of almost 150,000 people and is also
the gateway to the outlying Phu Quoc Island. A small islet in the mouth
of the Cai Lon River forms the hub of town, its central area shoehorned
tightly between Le Loi and Tran Phu, but the urban sprawl spills over
bridges to the north and south of it and onto the mainland. Once you've
seen the wartime souvenirs and Oc Eo relics - shards of pottery, coins
and bones - of the pedestrian museum at 21 Nguyen Van Troi (Mon-Fri
7-11am & 1.30-5pm) and dived through the lively markets, you've pretty
much bled Rach Gia town dry of sights. Walk west along Bach Dang for a
few hundred metres, though, and the town springs spectacularly to life.
To your right is the upper channel of the Cai Lon River, choked by blue
fishing boats, and the shoreline is a hive of activity: men and women
darn nets, charcoal sellers hawk their wares to ships' captains and
roadside cafés heave with fishermen.
Of Rach Gia's handful of pagodas, only the Nguyen Trung Truc Temple , at
18 Nguyen Cong Tru, is worth making the effort for. From 1861 to 1868,
Nguyen Trung Truc spearheaded anti-French guerrilla activities in the
western region of the delta (his statue stands in the centre of Rach Gia).
The riotous colour scheme of the temple roof, with its lurid pink tiles
rising to powder-blue crests that are stalked by dragons, is plainly
visible from a distance. Inside there's a portrait of Nguyen in black
robe and hat.
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