The white facade
Visible from afar.
Bùi Thụy Đào Nguyên — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rob White — CC BY 2.0 · Rob White — CC BY 2.0 · Rob White — CC BY 2.0
Al Ehsan is the mosque of the Cham village of Da Phuoc, on the north bank of the river confluence at Chau Doc, close to the floating fish-farm village. Building began in 1937, and it was restored and rebuilt in 1992 into its present form; families from about 210 Cham households pray here. Its bright white stands out from a distance: a ground floor and an upper floor, onion domes wide at the base and rising to a point, slender minarets, carved wooden doors marked with the crescent and star, and an open white courtyard ringed by arcades. You can reach it by road, or on a boat trip from Chau Doc that takes in the floating village. Visitors are welcome outside prayer times in modest dress, with a headscarf for women and shoes off, and a greeting of salaam goes a long way with the villagers.
Visible from afar.
Carved with crescent and star.
Ringed by arcades.
Da Phuoc, north of the river confluence at Chau Doc
The best known are three: Jamiul Azhar and Mubarak in Chau Giang across the river, and Al Ehsan in Da Phuoc north of the confluence; all welcome visitors in modest dress.
