A tourist fishes in U Minh Thuong National Park in Kien Giang Province

U Minh Thuong National Park, in the southwestern most province of Kien Giang, is an ideal destination for an ecotourism adventure.

Situated 50 kilometers southwest of Rach Gia Town, the park has been open to tourists for almost five years and covers an area of more than 80 square kilometers with a 130 square kilometers green buffer zone.

In U Minh Thuong National Park, tourists can visit cajuput forests, situated on a stratum of muddy coal. Some of them are still recovering after a big fire in 2002. There are bird and bat sanctuaries, swamps with aquatic life and plenty of good fishing.

Hundreds of strange species of plants and animals are represented. The wet lands are full of water lilies and another type of water flower called convolvulus; packs of boars feed during the day and forest walks will reveal amazing birdlife and monkey colonies. The water world is its most magnificent in July and August.

It is great fun to sit in a vo lai (a kind of speedboat that has a propeller attached to a long drive shaft extending behind the boat) on a tour of the canals.

No trip to U Minh Thuong National Park is complete without trying the cooking specialties. You can find a wide range of dishes at Huong Tram Restaurant near the lake, or take food back to your tent in the camping ground. The restaurant even rents out tents. The food is very fresh as nearly all the ingredients come from the park. Dishes are made from eels, snakes, fish and field mice and forest vegetables.

From Rach Gia, the biggest of the two towns of Kien Giang Province, you can go to U Minh Thuong National Park by car or boat. If by car or motorbike, head for Rach Soi, cross Tac Cau Ferry and take National Highway 63. The trip takes about two hours.

Reported by Hoai Phuong