Explore Ta Kou Nature Reserve

Winding through the small road gradually leaving the residential areas, passing through the dragon fruit fields in bloom, the forest was already green before our eyes. Bung Thi, the name of this forest area originally came from the fact that there were many banyan trees growing among the white sand dunes stretching next to the large brackish water swamp (bung) system near the foot of Ta Kou mountain.

There are four main sand dunes, long and narrow, winding around the swamp system in the middle of Ta Kou forest, looking down from above like giant rows of potatoes in the middle of a field. The sand dunes are slightly raised in the middle, on which grow dense thorny bushes - a characteristic of the savanna ecosystem.

Along both sides of the sand dune, the land is slightly sunken, and there is a strip of dipterocarp forest. On the edge of the swamp is a system of tangled vines of all kinds: fern, pitcher plant, morning glory... and on the surface of the swamp grows a variety of tall grass with yellow flowers, swaying in the wind, passionately dancing wildly. It is truly a strange forest because there are 3 adjacent ecosystems: savanna - dipterocarp forest - brackish swamp.

We carefully crossed the sandy trail for about 2km to reach the Bung Thi ranger post. This is the campsite and overnight stop in the forest. There is a small stream with fresh, cool, and clear water running along the edge of the lagoon. In this area, people also discovered a source of hot mineral water in 1997. When the geological survey team drilled an exploratory well, hot water kept gushing out from that well until today.

Next to the water source, a small artificial lake containing hot water has been created for visitors to soak and relax. In addition, there are a few hot foot bath spots for visitors. We set up a tent, stretched a hammock under a large banyan tree near the hot water lake and lit a fire to grill chicken. The forest was deserted, with only the two of us and "Tang" - my little dog - by the fire. We took turns watching the fire and diving into the hot mineral water lake between the sky and the earth. Another strange thing was that in the middle of the hot and brackish underground mineral water, people had drilled a well of fresh and cool water. After soaking in the hot mineral water three times and rinsing our bodies with cool fresh water, we enjoyed dinner in the wild and quiet space of the mountains and forests.

Heritage Magazine