At Gao Giong Ecotourist Park in Dong Thap Province, tourists can try rowing their own sampan boat

Part of a cajuput forest and stretching nearly 1,700 hectares, Gao Giong Ecotourist Park is among the largest tourist sites in southern Dong Thap Province.

The park, established in the 1980s, is an area of natural beauty and tranquillity. Upon arriving, visitors are invited to enter a traditional thatched house which can receive up to 100 people. Most of the interior furniture is made of eucalyptus wood and guests are treated to a delicious cup of lotus seed tea while watching a documentary film about the park.

Gao Giong Ecotourist Park offers visitors the chance to relax in hammocks under the shade of cajuput trees or to catch fish from nearby canals. Tourists can also take a quiet stroll through the forest or climb a watchtower standing 18 meters tall for a spectacular panoramic view of the area.

Boat trips are also available in a sampan, a type of rowboat. Guided sampan tours last around 45 minutes accompanied by a female guide wearing a traditional ao ba ba (a type of blouse), a neckerchief and a conical palm hat as is typical in the Mekong Delta. Tourists can try rowing the boat themselves and can have their picture taken.

Each year, Gao Giong Ecotourist Park becomes a “green oasis” from August until October when the Mekong River floods the region. People visiting the park at this time will experience this unique weather and have an opportunity to enjoy specialties such as ca linh (a species of freshwater fish from Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake) and bong dien dien (a type of wild flower).

Gao Giong Ecotourist Park can be reached via National Highway 30 or by taking a boat along the river. Visitors taking the water route must first contact the tourist park before taking a boat from Phong My Bridge in Cao Lanh District’s Phong My Commune.

For road travelers, take National Highway 30 to My Tan Market in My Tan Commune (Cao Lanh Town). Cross a cement bridge over Nguyen Van Tiep Canal and travel for 15 minutes to reach the tourist park.

Reported by Diem Thu