Visitors to the Mekong Delta’s An Giang Province can take a speedboat to view dozens of local animal species. (PHOTO BY DIEM THU)

During the Mekong Delta’s high-tide season, which lasts from the ninth to 12th lunar month each year, An Giang Province becomes a place full of new discovery for visitors.

As the water level rises in local rivers, tourists can take a speedboat to observe interesting wildlife at Tinh Bien District’s Tra Su cajuput forest.

In the shade of the lush trees of this 850-hectare forest, visitors can see an array of colorful birds. Nests can be seen up close and you might even spot a mother bird feeding her young.

The area is also home to more than 83 animal species.

At many places in the Tra Su cajuput forest and along the road from Long Xuyen Town to Ba The Mountain in Thoai Son District, visitors can view vast areas of lotuses. The flowering plants, in many different shades, rise up from under the water and make for terrific photographs.

Traveling through An Giang in the high-tide season is also an opportunity for visitors to enjoy the season’s local specialties.

Many restaurants and bistros serve fresh salads with shrimp and lotus buds, a hot-pot dish with salted, fermented fish accompanied with field vegetables, or water lilies with mud carp cooked in a diluted fish sauce.

Other specialties such as grilled, clay-covered snakehead fish and snails steamed with lemon grass are also available.

Visitors should also not miss the Chau Doc-style bun ca (fish vermicelli), a well-known delicacy.

What makes An Giang stand out from the Mekong Delta’s other localities in the high-tide season is its Dolta Festival, a traditional cultural event of the Khmer community which is celebrated annually in Tinh Bien and Tri Ton districts in lunar September.

The festival features a cow race and attracts a large number of local and foreign visitors. Locals bring their biggest and strongest cows to compete on a flat field cheered on by a crowd of merry spectators.

Reported by Diem Thu