Topography

Ben Tre is generally flat, with some surprising topographical features such as sand dunes and unique rock formations. There is lots of farmland which takes advantage of the area’s abundance of fresh water and alluvial soil. This is a place of diverse and complex river systems, winding water channels and canals.

Climate

The weather in Ben Tre is typically monsoon tropical with high average temperature of 26 to 27oC. The rainy season usually begins in May and lasts until October. This climate provides the province with a wide variety of fruits, trees and animals, many of which are rare and valuable species.

Tourism

Having complex network of rivers and canals, Ben Tre has advantage to develop ecotourism with many green fruit gardens. Ben Tre is the granary of Mekong Delta. There are agriculture productions such as rice, corn, pineapple, custard-apple, star apple, durian, mango, longan, and many more. Industrial trees are tobacco, sugar-cane, and cotton. Especially, Ben Tre is homeland of coconut. It is known with Ben Tre coconut candy, Cai Mon Ornamental Plant Garden. Other popular places are My Hoa Bird Reserve, Con Phung (Hillock of the Coconut Religion), Vam Ho Bird Sanctuary, Vien Minh Pagoda. Phu Le Communal House Festival is dedicated to the spirit of the land. It usually takes place twice in a year: the Ky Yen Ceremony is celebrated on the 18th and 19th days of the 3rd lunar month to pray for wind and rain; the Cau Bong Ceremony, to pray for good crops, is held on the festivities include a procession and a prayer consecrated to the village spirit who taught the inhabitants how to grow useful plants.

Transportation

Ben Tre is 14km from My tho, and 85km from Ho Chi Minh City. National Highway No. 60 and 57 link to Tra Vinh and Tien Giang provinces in turn. Ben Tre is considered as island province accessible by ferry from My Tho. Tourist can visit Ben Tre by high-speech ships.