Soc Trang travel guide: Bat Pagoda, Khmer temples and Ok Om Bok

Why Soc Trang, and a day trip or a night?

Soc Trang sits near the mouth of the Hau River, the southern branch of the Mekong, and VnExpress International describes it as a meeting point of Chinese, Kinh, Khmer and Cham heritage. You feel this within a single street: Ton Duc Thang Street in the centre runs past a 16th-century Khmer pagoda, a family temple filled with clay statues and a modern Khmer complex crowned by a giant reclining Buddha.

Since the June 2025 reorganisation of Vietnam's provinces, the former Soc Trang province has been part of an enlarged Can Tho City, together with Hau Giang. The town keeps its name as Soc Trang ward, but addresses and booking sites may now show Can Tho, and the Bat Pagoda's area belongs to the new Phu Loi ward.

From Can Tho, Soc Trang is about 60 km down National Road 1, so a day trip is realistic: you can see the town's main pagodas between a mid-morning arrival and dusk. The catch is the Bat Pagoda, whose bats are at their most visible at dusk. If you want that moment without a night drive, or want to add the outlying pagodas, sleep one night in the centre. VnExpress's travel handbook notes that the sights are not far from the centre, so a hotel in town works as a base for everything.

Kh'leang Pagoda, the Khmer museum and the Clay Pagoda

Kh'leang Pagoda (Chùa Khléang), at 53 Ton Duc Thang Street, is the place to begin. According to the pagoda's own records, as summarised on Vietnamese Wikipedia, it was first built of wood and leaves in 1532 on the orders of a Khmer king touring the lower Hau River, and the pagoda took its name from Srok Kh'leang, the Khmer name for the land that is now Soc Trang. The present main hall stands on a three-stepped platform under a triple-tiered roof with naga and celestial dancer figures, in grounds of sugar palms. It has been a national architectural and artistic relic since 1990.

Opposite it, the Soc Trang Khmer museum occupies a Khmer-style building from the late 1930s that began as the Samacum assembly hall. VnExpress's handbook puts its collection at almost 13,000 items, more than half of them donated by local Khmer families, and the museum covers the town's three communities, Kinh, Khmer and Chinese. Opening hours and admission were not available from an official source when we checked on 2026-10-03, so go in the morning and treat it as a possible bonus.

A short way along the same street, at number 286, the Clay Pagoda (Chùa Đất Sét, officially Bửu Sơn Tự) is a different world: a small, crowded family temple of the Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương tradition rather than a Khmer monastery. Its fourth keeper, Ngô Kim Tòng, spent 42 years, from 1928 until his death in 1970, modelling more than a thousand Buddhas, deities and sacred animals from clay mixed with incense powder, then painted and varnished them to look like wood. Look for the giant candles cast in 1940, each of the six largest made from 200 kg of wax; according to the temple's history, two smaller ones have been burning since 1970. The temple has no monks and is run by the family.

Som Rong Pagoda and the Bat Pagoda at dusk

Som Rong Pagoda (Botum Vongsa Som Rong), at 367 Ton Duc Thang Street, dates from about 1785 but is now best known for its reclining Buddha: 63 m long and 22.5 m high, set on a pedestal 28 m above the ground, and visible from across town. VnExpress International reports that it was built between October 2017 and 2021 and that the provincial culture department calls it the largest reclining Buddha in Vietnam. The pagoda is also unusual for its grey colour scheme, including a stupa about 25 m high at the entrance, where most Khmer temples are painted gold and yellow.

Finish the day at the Bat Pagoda (Chùa Dơi, also called Ma Toc or Mahatup), on Van Ngoc Chinh Street about 3 km south-east of the centre. Founded in 1569 as a thatched building, it has been a national relic since 1999; its main hall burned in 2007 and was restored in 2009. Inside are a monolithic stone Buddha and columns carved with praying Khmer maidens, and the four-hectare grounds hold stupas, a sala and dormitories for the monks and novices who study here.

The bats are large fruit bats with a wingspan of up to about 1.5 m. They roost in the old trees, fly out to feed at dusk and return around 3 to 4 a.m. Do not expect the dense clouds of older photographs: the deputy abbot told VnExpress International that their numbers have fallen sharply because of hunting. Arrive in the late afternoon, look up into the trees before the light goes, and stay quiet. This is a working monastery; dress for a temple, with shoulders and knees covered, and remove your shoes where others do.

Ok Om Bok and the ghe ngo boat race

Ok Om Bok, the Khmer moon-worship festival, is held on the 14th and 15th days of the tenth lunar month, which usually falls in November. Families give thanks to the moon, seen as the god who governs the harvest, with the ritual of feeding flattened rice (đút cốm dẹp), and the festival also brings floating lanterns and Rom Vong dancing. VnExpress's handbook names Soc Trang and Tra Vinh as the places where the festival is most special.

The moon offering is followed by the ghe ngo race on the Maspero River in the centre of town. Each long boat, 25 to 30 m long and shaped like a snake, belongs to a pagoda and carries 40 to 60 rowers; VnExpress International saw a model kept beside a life-sized boat at the Bat Pagoda. At the 2024 race on 15 November, 60 teams from Soc Trang and five neighbouring provinces competed, men over 1,200 m and women over 1,000 m, while tens of thousands of spectators lined both banks.

The lunar date moves each year and the official programme is announced locally, so check the dates before you book. Book a room in town early if you want to stay for the race; otherwise a day trip from Can Tho is the fallback. The races are held in the afternoon, so bring water and a hat.

Beyond the centre: Sa Lon, Bon Mat and the floating market at Nga Nam

With a second morning, pick one or two of these rather than all of them. Outside town the distances grow, so a car with driver or a hired motorbike is the realistic way to reach them.

• Sa Lon Pagoda (Chùa Chén Kiểu), on National Road 1 at Tam Loc, about 12 km from the centre: rebuilt from 1969 after war damage, and nicknamed the 'Bowl Pagoda' because, short of materials, the monks and villagers decorated its walls with donated porcelain bowls and plates.
• Bon Mat Pagoda (Buôl Pres Phek), in Phu Tan, Chau Thanh: a Khmer pagoda in 6.5 ha of grounds, named after the legend of a four-faced Buddha statue found by Khmer settlers clearing the land.
• Nga Nam floating market, about 60 km from the centre where five waterways meet: on ordinary days it trades in the morning, and in the days before Tết it can run all day.
• Tan Long stork garden, near Nga Nam: a privately run bird garden with egrets, storks and cormorants, at its best in the light of sunset.
• Con My Phuoc, an islet in Ke Sach about 25 km away, reached by the Nhon My ferry: orchards of rambutan, longan, durian and mango, and bee farms.

Getting there and getting around

Soc Trang lies on National Road 1, which links Can Tho with Bac Lieu and Ca Mau, so it fits naturally on a road trip south through the delta. From Can Tho the distance is about 60 km. VnExpress's handbook notes that limousine minibuses run from Can Tho International Airport to Soc Trang, bookable at the airport, and take about 1 hour 15 minutes.

From Ho Chi Minh City, buses leave from Mien Tay Bus Station and take about four to five hours for a distance that sources put at roughly 210 to 230 km. Several bus companies run the route; compare current times with the operator before you travel.

In town, Kh'leang, the museum, the Clay Pagoda and Som Rong all lie along or near Ton Duc Thang Street and can be linked with short taxi or motorbike rides; the Bat Pagoda is about 3 km from the centre. If you come on a day trip with a driver from Can Tho, agree in advance that you will stay until dusk at the Bat Pagoda.