Discover Tra Su cajuput forest in the most 'unique' season of the year

Khám phá rừng tràm Trà Sư mùa 'độc' nhất trong năm

Tra Su Melaleuca Forest, located in Van Giao Commune, Tinh Bien District (An Giang Province), is nearly 100km from Long Xuyen City, 30km from Chau Doc City and is located near the Vietnam - Cambodia border. The total area of Tra Su Melaleuca Forest is up to 850ha, a typical ecosystem model of the West Hau River region.

Recently, this cajuput forest has attracted attention on social networks and attracted visitors when it was used as the setting to recreate the floating market in the West in the movie 'Southern Forest Land'. In the movie, the floating market scene was recreated with dozens of bustling trading boats, surrounded by shops and restaurants with nostalgic hand-painted signs. The large scene gathered more than 300 extras. The bridge connecting the two banks of the river in the movie is the path leading to the boat dock to visit Tra Su forest, An Giang in real life.

On the shore, some thatched houses, stalls, and prop signs of the film are kept intact for tourists to visit and check in. A corner of the film's setting with a butcher's stall, a fabric shop, and a gold and pawn shop of Mr. Ba Sang (played by Meritorious Artist Trung Dan) is kept.

From September to November, Tra Su cajuput forest enters its most beautiful season of the year, a place not to be missed when traveling to An Giang in particular and the West in general.

Tourists will sit on sampans or motorboats, leisurely weaving through the lush, shady green cajuput forests, through the dense, thick carpet of water hyacinths - a unique image only seen during the flood season. When traveling by sampan, tourists can listen to the sound of the oars splashing the water and the chirping of birds.

The flood season also creates favorable conditions for the development of fish and shrimp species and is an attractive destination for many species of birds. Along the canal, you will encounter dozens of different species of birds flying, hunting, nesting..., watching the brilliant lotus flowers remaining after the summer.

According to research results of An Giang University, Tra Su cajuput forest is home to 70 species of birds and storks, including two species listed in the "Vietnam Red Book": Indian stork (giang sen) and snake-necked stork (diêng dien). The ecosystem is also very rich with 22 species of reptiles, 11 species of mammals, 23 species of aquatic animals, including 2 species of scientific value and facing the risk of extinction: white catfish and heron fish. Not only rich in animals, Tra Su cajuput forest is also very diverse in plants with 140 species belonging to 52 families and 102 genera, including nearly 80 medicinal species.

For a convenient trip to Tra Su, visitors should stay overnight in Chau Doc city. The travel time from the city to the cajuput forest is about 40 minutes by car or motorbike, the road is convenient. Visitors can visit the cajuput forest early in the morning from 6-9am or 3-5pm - the time when many birds and storks gather.

Tickets to visit the cajuput forest and enjoy the longest bamboo bridge in Vietnam cost 100,000 VND/person, free for children under 1m3 and people over 70 years old. Tickets for boat service (motorboat) or rowing boat are both 50,000 VND/person/trip. Tourists can book package tours from reputable travel agencies.

In Tra Su cajuput forest, there is a bamboo bridge across the forest recognized by the Vietnam Record Organization as the longest in Vietnam, with a total length of 10km and a construction cost of over 10 billion VND. However, the bridge has just completed phase 1 and put into operation in early 2020 with a length of nearly 4km. Walking along the bridge, visitors feel like they are "lost" in a peaceful, green natural landscape.

If you want to have a more comprehensive view of the Melaleuca forest, you should visit the observation tower and use the telescope. With a visibility of 25 km, you can see the entire Melaleuca forest.

In the tourist area, there are also restaurants serving Western specialties such as: grilled snakehead fish, linh dien fish hotpot (flood season is also fish season), fish sauce hotpot, coconut co co salad, banh xeo...

According to statistics from Vivu Journeys, from October this year to April next year, the rate of domestic and foreign tourists interested in traveling to the West doubled compared to the same period before the Covid-19 pandemic. International tourists who love this destination often come from the UK, the US, France, Germany and the Netherlands.

Tourists can refer to the schedule: In the morning, visit the colorful floating village of Chau Doc, the Cham village in Da Phuoc town, visit Chau Doc market to buy specialties and in the afternoon go to Tra Su cajuput forest. When returning, you can go to watch the sunset at Sam mountain.

Sam Mountain is a famous mountain in Chau Doc City (An Giang Province). According to incomplete statistics, there are nearly 200 temples, pagodas, shrines, shrines... from the foot of the mountain, the slopes to the top of Sam Mountain. Among them, the most famous and sacred is Ba Chua Xu Temple on Sam Mountain, recognized as a National Tourist Area in 2018. There are also impressive resorts, trekking spots or sunset viewing spots that attract domestic and international tourists to visit.

Regarding accommodation, in Chau Doc there are currently a number of high-end resorts such as Victoria Nui Sam Lodge, Victoria Chau Doc, Sang Nhu Ngoc Resort...

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