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An Giang attracts thousands of tourists due to its natural landscape and attractive destinations. Besides having sacred pagodas, An Giang is famous for its beautiful ecosystem of Tra Su Forest. People also call the forest Tra Su Melaleuca forest, where many species of animals and plants are living.
This is an ideal destination for tourists to immerse in the green space with a shady melaleuca forest. In addition, you will have a chance to watch many kinds of birds gathering in the forest. Tra Su forest is home to thousands of species of animals and has become a large conservation area in the region.
*See more: What to do in Chau Doc town – An Giang travel guide
The location of Tra Su Forest
Tra Su forest is a Melaleuca forest and ecotourism site, formed in 1983. The total area of the forest is nearly 850 hectares wide, located in Van Giao commune, Tinh Bien district. This is a typical flooded forest of the Hau River region, having a significant influence on the water environment and climate regulation for the region.
How to get to Tra Su Forest
From Ho Chi Minh City
Tourists can go to An Giang by personal vehicle or buy bus tickets at Mien Tay Bus Station to Long Xuyen or Chau Doc with an average price of 150,000 – 300,000 VND/trip, about 250km travel time of about 4 hours. Many bus companies are running this route such as Thao Nguyen Bus, Hue Nghia Bus, Hiep Thanh Bus, Ly Thanh Dat Bus, Phuong Trang Bus, etc.
From Can Tho City
From Can Tho to An Giang is about 117 km long, you can get here by personal vehicle or go to Can Tho bus station to catch a bus to Long Xuyen or Chau Doc, on average there are about 4 buses a day running this route such as Van Khoa Nguyen, Phuong Trang. Travel time on the route is about 3 hours.
From Chau Doc City
Visitors should spend a day to admire the whole beauty of Tra Su Forest and enjoy lunch with local dishes here. The forest is about 30 km from Chau Doc City and the travel time is 30 to 40 minutes by car or motorbike. Visitors should stay overnight in Chau Doc City and depart for the destination the next morning.
From Chau Doc city, you will head to Nha Bang town, in Tinh Bien district. Then, follow the 948 provincial road to Bung Tien Bridge about 6km, turn left, and continue following a paved road about 4 km long to reach Tra Su forest. After that, you can take a boat ride and canoe to visit the Melaleuca forest.
The best time to visit Tra Su Forest
The best season to enjoy the beauty of Tra Su Forest is the flood season, from September to November every year. At this time, the pouring water makes the forest green, combined with layers of duckweed covering the water’s surface, creating a beautiful scene.
The floating water season also creates favorable conditions for the growth of fish and other species and is an attractive destination for many bird species. The best time of day to explore Melaleuca forest is early morning or sunset. Many kinds of birds and stocks gather in the forest around 3-5 pm so tourists can watch this beautiful natural scene.
The history of Tra Su Forest
Tra Su forest used to be destroyed by the American bombs by 1975 and turned into an uncultivated area. When the war came to an end, the local authority of An Giang decided to invest to reforest cajuput trees and build high dyke systems to prevent the flood.
Nowadays, the Cajuput forest has a total area of 850 ha with a rich ecological system. The unique beauties of the forest are the immense wetland, emerald-green duckweed carpet, and dense cajuput forest.
Coming here, tourists can be amazed by the magnificence. The two sides of the waterway are full of cajuput trees, waving in the breeze as if they welcome the visitors.
The importance of the biodiversity of the Tra Su forest
Tra Su forest significantly affects the water environment and climate regulation of An Giang, the seven mountains region. In detail, it is the habitat of over 70 species of birds and stocks. There are 22 species of reptiles, 11 species of mammals, and 23 species of aquatic animals. Besides, the floral system is also diverse with more than 140 species of flora living in the forest.
The forest is divided into many different sections, including a fishing area, a bird sanctuary, and a bat sanctuary. This separation helps meet the demand of many tourists and easy to move around.
What to do at Tra Su Forest
Watch the longest bamboo bridge in Viet Nam
The bridge has a length of nearly 4 km and a construction cost of over 10 billion VND. The first phase of construction was completed and put into operation in early 2020 with a length of nearly 4 km. This part needs over 500,000 bamboo trees and costs more than 5 billion VND. The remaining part is under construction.
The design of the bridge is very interesting. The bridge route is divided into 5 branches with a rest bungalow at each branch. When going deeper into the forest, you can enjoy the peaceful and refreshing atmosphere. Also, the bridge leads to the motorboat wharf, where visitors can get on and off to change their route.
Explore Tra Su forest by motorboat or canoe
You can choose between a motorboat or a dinghy to explore the forest. The motorboat will travel at higher speed but the wooden boat can help tourists admire the scenery more easily. You can experience a journey through canals and head to the heart of the forest.
On the way to get to the destination, tourists can see local people harvesting honey from the cajuput flowers. This is a great chance to relax and breathe the beautiful and tranquil scenery of the Tra Su forest and the people here. If you prefer to travel by dinghy, you can capture a lot of unique photos amid the green space with the duckweed covering the water’s surface.
The rays of sunlight shining through the trees create a dreamy space here. When on the boat to the Cajuput forest, you can admire the scene of the birds perching on the tree trunk and many colorful varieties of lotus. The boatman is also happy to stop the boat for you to feel the tranquil space and capture the moments of nature.
Climb up the watchtower at Tra Su forest
After taking the boat tour, you should climb up the 14m high watchtower to admire the panoramic view of the Cajuput forest and the Forbidden Mountain afar. There is a telescope to watch every detail of the forest such as the birds flying, their nests, and their actions.
Through the telescope, the beauty and natural life of the forest become more vivid and attractive. The ideal time to climb up the watch tower is sunset because the birds will gather, which creates an unforgettable scene.
Visit the pigeon yard
The next activity that visitors should experience is visiting the pigeon yard, right near the entrance. People raised around 400 birds here so it is called the “Pigeon City”. The scenery here is romantic and peaceful so it is suitable for taking check-in pictures, wedding photos, feeding the birds, and others.
Enjoy local dishes
After attending many activities, visitors can take some rest and enjoy their lunch at Tra Su Restaurant. The restaurant has two main areas including the outside part along the forest gate, on both sides of the wharf.
And the bungalow area floating on the water. Staff here serve many local dishes such as grilled snakehead fish, fish-sauce hot pot, Xeo cakes, and others.
Watch the storks gathering
In the late afternoon, many flocks of birds will fly back to their habitat. This creates a unique and impressive scene for visitors to admire. It is said to be a golden moment for those who love taking artistic photos. Remember to bring a camera with you to capture this moment.
The tickets to visit the Tra Su forest
Latest ticket prices to visit and use services at Cajuput forest:
- Entrance ticket price: 100,000 VND/person (mandatory)
- Dinghy rowing service into the Melaleuca forest: 50,000 VND/person (not required)
- Shuttle service: 50,000 VND/person (not required)
- Telescope observation service: 5,000 VND/person (not required)
Tips for visiting Tra Su Forest
- It is recommended to bring sun cream and bug spray and wear a hat, light clothes and sandals.
- A binocular is a great equipment to get extended reach.
- Always have your camera ready and just ask the boat rower where the birds are the most.
- The time of sunrise and sunset is the best when you can get the best scenes to take impressive photos and witness the active birds.
- It would help if you kept quiet so as not to scare the birds.
Top recommended Tra Su forest tour
If you need a well-organized plan for the trip to Tra Su forest, you can consider some tours run by the local travel agency in Mekong delta.
All of the information above is about Tra Su melaleuca forest. I hope it is useful for you. Have a nice trip to go back to nature.
Ref: https://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%E1%BB%ABng_tr%C3%A0m_Tr%C3%A0_S%C6%B0
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