Explore Ta Kou Nature Reserve

About 30km south of the coastal city of Phan Thiet is Ta Kou Nature Reserve - Ham Thuan Nam District, Binh Thuan. Bung Thi - an area with many interesting things in this reserve - is our destination on a motorbike trip to explore the landscape here.

Winding through the small road gradually leaving the residential areas, passing through the dragon fruit plantation in bloom, the forest was already green before our eyes. Bung Thi, the name of this forest area originally came from the fact that there were many banyan trees growing among the white sand dunes stretching next to the large brackish water swamp (bưng) system near the foot of Ta Kou mountain.

There are four main sand dunes, long and narrow, zigzagging around the swamp system in the middle of Ta Kou forest. From above, they look like giant rows of potatoes in the middle of a field. The sand dunes are slightly raised in the middle, and on them grow dense thorny bushes - a characteristic of the savanna ecosystem.

Along the two edges of the sand dunes, the land is slightly sunken, there is a strip of dipterocarp forest. On the banks of the swamp, there is a system of vines growing in a tangle with all kinds: fern, pitcher plant, morning glory... and on the surface of the swamp grows a variety of tall grasses with yellow flowers, swaying in the wind, dancing wildly. It is truly a strange forest because there are 3 adjacent ecosystems: savanna - dipterocarp forest - brackish swamp.

We carefully crossed the sandy trail for about 2km to reach the Bung Thi ranger post. This is the place to camp and spend the night in the forest. There is a small stream with cool, clear, fresh water running along the edge of the lagoon. In this area, people also discovered a source of hot mineral water since 1997. When the geological survey team drilled an exploratory well, hot water has been gushing out from that well until today.

Next to the water source, a small artificial lake containing hot water was created for visitors to soak and relax. In addition, there are a few hot foot bath spots for visitors. We set up a tent, stretched a hammock under a large tree near the hot water lake and lit a fire to grill chicken. The forest was deserted, with only the two of us and "Tang" - my little dog - by the fire. We took turns watching the fire and diving into the hot mineral water lake between the sky and the earth. Another strange thing was that in the middle of the hot and brackish underground mineral water, people had drilled a well of cool, fresh water. After soaking in the hot mineral water three times and rinsing our bodies with cool, fresh water, we enjoyed dinner in the wild and quiet mountain forest space.

Heritage Magazine