Tra Su, a man-made forest, planted in 1983 to maintain ecological balance in Tinh Bien District, An Giang Province. In 2006, after 23 years under the management of the Division of Forest Management, An Giang Department of Tourism named it an eco-tourism reserve, and opened it to both local and foreign tourists.

Since the soil at this 1,000ha reserve is suitable for cajuput, the local authority has decided to turn it into a cajuput forest. However, Tra Su is also home of a wide variety of flora including lotus, water lily, reed, duckweed, sonneratia and different types of fruit trees like banana, mango, rambutan or papaya.

Living in harmony with them is a vast array of fauna, which consists of rare species like Indian stork, rong roc bird, and numerous freshwater fish such as anabas, chub, catfish and so forth.

Tra Su has 3 main areas: the 3,000m² fishing area; 2,500m² bat sanctuary; 3,200m² bird sanctuary. These sites, however, do not lie in the proximity of each other. Tourists can travel to these areas by either foot or motorboat.

Despite the long distance, visitors find the fresh air here immensely pleasurable. They also enjoy the sounds of wild birds singing or playing in the river. There are cows chewing grass in the nearby fields, and white stork flying in the vast blue sky.

Most prefer motorboat trips, which enable them to view the lovely landscapes along the river banks while absorbing the resplendent beauty of various flowers in the canal.

Those without acrophobia can even climb their way up a few wood houses with roofs made of leaves, perched at a height equal to that of two-story buildings. These houses provide visitors with a panorama of the greenery below, dotted with white birds and stretching against the back­drop of the mighty yet serene Cam Mountain, one of the high­est at That Son.

As usual, tourism activities reach their peak in the rainy sea­son between September and November, during which the entire forest is flooded, herald­ing an influx of fauna. The trees also appear greener, making Tra Su even more alluring. As a result, many tourists would reg­ister with the Division of Forest Management for an extended stay here, so that they can indulge in angling and catching fish by nets or row along the canals to pick water lily and other wild flowers, from which delicious dishes unique to the Mekong Delta will be cooked.

Even though Tra Su has become an eco-tourism reserve, it remains relatively unknown, located far away from the main roads. Still, tourists can always go to Chau Doc, and ask any motorbike "taxi" drivers (xe om), who are rather familiar with the routes, for a ride to Nha Ban Township, which is only four kilometers away from Bung Tien Bridge, near Cam Mountain. On the left of this bridge is a small path leading to Tra Su Cajuput Forest. Go along this path for the next 3km or so, turn right, then walk for another 500m, and tourists will be greeted by a wood bridge over the canal with a sign-post that reads: "Tra Su Cajuput Forest Management Board".

In spite of the sinuous route tourists will not be bored in their journeys thanks to the beautiful sights of open meadows inter­mingling with towering sugar palm trees. In case they feels thirsty, they can always drop by the drink stalls by the road side for a cool glass of "sugar palm" juice, An Giang's unique drink.

(Source: SGT)