1. Where is the Khmer Museum?
The Khmer Museum is located at 53, Ton Duc Thang Street, Ward 6, Soc Trang City, Soc Trang Province, Vietnam. It is about 1 km northeast of Soc Trang city center and about 210 km southwest of Ho Chi Minh City.
2. How is the Khmer Museum unique?
The Khmer Museum is a priceless gem in Soc Trang, one of the famous provinces in the Southwest region of Vietnam. The museum is like a window into the unique culture and history of the Khmer people – one of the largest ethnic minorities in Vietnam.
They built the Khmer Museum with the purpose of displaying artifacts of the spiritual and cultural life of the Khmer people through many generations.
Located in a spacious campus, the Khmer Museum displays thousands of artifacts, historical documents, art and traditional jewelry of the Khmer people. When exploring this museum, you will have the opportunity to learn about the Khmer Buddhist religion. As well as their unique marriage culture, music, and sculpture.
3. History of the Khmer Museum
The Khmer Museum is also famous as the Khmer Cultural Museum, the Khmer Cultural Exhibition House. It was built in 1938 in the familiar architectural style of pagodas in Soc Trang province. After that, it was officially inaugurated and put into operation after 3 years of construction. Initially, it was called Samacum Association and was used by Khmer monks in the Southwest region for meetings.
Under the French colonial period, the museum was a place to train intellectuals in general and to teach French, Vietnamese, and Khmer in particular to people in the Southwest region of Vietnam. During the American invasion, South Vietnam under the rule of Ngo Dinh Diem was banned from teaching Khmer. It was not until 1992 that this place was restored into a traditional house and upgraded to Soc Trang Khmer Museum. A place where visitors from near and far can visit and learn more about the culture of many ethnic groups.
4. How to get to the Khmer Museum?
Located on Ton Duc Thang Street, the Khmer Museum is located right in the city and not far from the central area. From the accommodation in the inner city area, you just need to drive along Hai Ba Trung Street from 30/4 Park through Cau Quay about 450m and you can see the museum on the left side.
Because the road to get here is quite easy to travel, experienced visitors to the museum often choose to travel by motorbike or self-driving car. These types of vehicles will help you easily explore more restaurants and attractive tourist attractions, as well as proactively schedule your travel. If you are new and not familiar with the road, you can take a taxi to get here.
5. Opening hours and entrance fees to the Khmer Museum
5.1 Opening hours:
- From: 6:30 to 17:30 daily.
5.2 Entrance fees:
- Entrance fee: 20,000 VND/person/time.
6. Discovering the beauty of the Khmer Museum
6.1 Discovering the unique architecture of the museum
The Khmer Museum has two outstanding features: the typical architecture of Khmer pagodas. Such as: Som Rong Pagoda, Sa Lon, … and the collection of cultural artifacts of this ethnic group. In terms of architecture, the houses in the museum system mainly have pointed and curved roofs. This place is divisive into two main areas where artifacts are displayed. That is the Masacum meeting house and the office area. The cultural space is up to 2,344m2 with an artifact display house of 368m2, which is the highlight of the museum.
6.2 Admiring the collection of artifacts
With a massive collection of artifacts, the Khmer Museum owns thousands of utensils and items that have been associated with the cultural life and activities of the Khmer people in Soc Trang for generations. The number of artifacts at the Khmer Museum in Soc Trang has reached the milestone of 13,000 items.
From primitive labor tools to traditional costumes, musical instruments and even house architecture, … All are present at this tourist attraction. When visiting the museum, you will have the opportunity to admire with your own eyes and gently touch the artifacts. From there, you will feel the unique cultural beauty of the Khmer people in the Southwest region of Vietnam.
7. Enjoying Soc Trang specialties when visiting the Khmer museum
7.1 Bun nuoc leo
When you come here, you must definitely try this extremely famous bun nuoc leo dish. This dish is special in that it is a combination of the culinary quintessence of 3 ethnic groups: Kinh – Hoa – Khmer. When enjoying bun nuoc leo, you will recognize the very unique flavor of fish sauce. In addition, it is served with crispy roasted fish and pork and vegetables. This delicate and harmonious flavor will make diners unforgettable.
7.2 Pia Cake
When mentioning Soc Trang, many people will immediately think of Pia Cake. Pia Cake is round with a filling made from green beans and durian. When enjoying Pia Cake, the chewy, sweet durian flavor blends with the salty salted egg to create an explosion of taste. With yellow and red tones on the surface, Pia Cake symbolizes luck. Therefore, many tourists choose Pia Cake as a gift to bring back to friends and relatives.
7.3 Bun goi da
From the name, it seems that this dish is not very familiar to many people. In fact, bun goi da is quite similar to goi cuon but is served with a specially prepared soup. The soft, smooth vermicelli noodles are eaten with shrimp, meat and some vegetables, blended together with a special sweet and sour sauce. Therefore, it has made the flavor of the dish attractive, hard to ignore.
7.4 Gingerbread
This traditional Khmer cake is often used in traditional holidays, New Year, weddings, etc. With the meaning of remembering the merits of grandparents, previous generations who made rice grains. Moreover, this simple cake is quite similar to orange cake. The cake is shaped like ginger, fried until golden brown and caramelized to create a very attractive outer shell.
7.5 Pineapple cake/ sifted cake
Pineapple cake is a traditional Khmer cake. The ingredients are simple and easy to find such as: rice flour, grated coconut, green beans. It sounds rustic and simple, but this flavor has been associated with the childhood of many people in Soc Trang in particular and the Southwest in general.
8. Accommodation when visiting the Khmer Museum
When visiting this famous landmark, you can refer to some of the following accommodations:
- Ngoc Lan Hotel. Address: 182 Le Hong Phong Street, Ward 3, Soc Trang.
- Ngoc Thu Hotel. Address: Km 2127, QL1A, An Hiep, Chau Thanh, Soc Trang.
- Xuan Huynh 3 Hotel. Address: 34A Huynh Phan Ho, Ward 6, Soc Trang City, Soc Trang.
- Hai Yen Hotel. Address: 290 QL1A, Ward 7, Soc Trang City, Soc Trang.
- Ngoc Thu Hotel. Address: Km 2127 Highway 1A, An Hiep Commune, My Tu District, Soc Trang.
- Thien An Hotel. Address: 293 Tran Hung Dao, Ward 3, Soc Trang City.
- Satraco Royal Hotel. Address: 198 Van Ngoc Chinh, Ward 3, Soc Trang.
- My Hang Hotel. Address: 478 Tran Hung Dao, Ward 2, Soc Trang.
9. Some other famous tourist attractions near the Khmer Museum
To make your trip to the Khmer Museum more complete. After visiting here, you can combine visiting the following places:
- Bat Pagoda (Ma Toc Pagoda). Address: Van Ngoc Chinh Street, Ward 3, Soc Trang City, Soc Trang Province.
- Quan Am Linh Ung Pagoda. Address: Hamlet 1, Soc Trang City, Soc Trang Province.
- Dat Set Pagoda. Address: No. 286, Ton Duc Thang Street, Ward 5, Soc Trang City, Soc Trang Province.
- Chen Kieu Pagoda. Address: National Highway 1A, Dai Tam Commune, My Xuyen District, Soc Trang City, Soc Trang Province.
10. Some important notes when visiting the Khmer Museum
During your Vietnam tour to the Khmer Museum, you need to note a few important things below to have the most memorable experiences:
- Wear polite clothes when you come to the museum to respect the culture and religion of the Khmer people.
- Sometimes, taking photos when visiting the museum may be restricted. Or require permission from the museum manager. And you need to comply with their own regulations.
- Museums often have places of worship and areas of religious value. Therefore, when visiting these places, please keep quiet and respect the rituals.
- Be aware of hygiene by throwing trash in the designated place. And do not harm the environment around the museum.
- Although Khmer is the common language here, there will be many museum staff who can communicate in Vietnamese or English.
- Please check the opening hours carefully before coming to ensure you have enough time to visit comfortably.
- The Khmer Museum also has a souvenir shop, where you can buy traditional handicrafts made by local people.
With useful information about Soc Trang travel experiences that Origin Vietnam – a professional tour operator, has just shared in the above article. Hopefully, it will help you in your journey to Mekong delta tour during your upcoming vacation. The Khmer Museum will definitely bring you special and unforgettable discovery experiences during your trip.
