Tay Ninh's "Roof of the South" attracts visitors with new experiences

Tay Ninh has diverse culture and unique natural landscapes.

99km from Ho Chi Minh City, Tay Ninh is the gateway connecting the South Central Highlands with the Mekong Delta. It is also a cultural intersection between Vietnam and Cambodia, home to 29 ethnic groups.

Tay Ninh possesses unique landscapes, diverse culture and beliefs.

The geographical location is connected, helping this locality have both the characteristics of a plateau and the appearance of a plain with many unique natural landscapes; diverse in culture, beliefs, and cuisine .

This place is known as the “holy land”, the origin of many beliefs and religions such as the worship of Linh Son Thanh Mau at Ba Den Mountain; Tay Ninh Holy See - the most unique architectural work in Vietnam of Cao Dai religion; Go Ken Pagoda or the national historical site of the Southern Central Bureau Base... are also prominent cultural and historical destinations.

Located in the Southern Key Economic Zone with a 240km long border, adjacent to Cambodia, Tay Ninh province owns 16 border gates, including two international border gates connecting Ho Chi Minh City with the capital Phnom Penh. Tay Ninh is also located on the Trans-Asia route - the lifeline in organizing tours and tourist routes between Vietnam and ASEAN countries.

Not only spiritual tourism, the wild and mysterious features of Tay Ninh have attracted tourists who love to explore nature. That is Lo Go - Xa Mat National Forest - Asean Heritage Garden, Ma Thien Lanh Valley - the small Northwest of the East, or the largest artificial freshwater lake in Southeast Asia - Dau Tieng Lake.

Mountain climbing routes along Cot Dien road, Da Trang road... to conquer the "roof of the South" are also popular trekking destinations.

However, Tay Ninh tourism for a long time ago was still developed spontaneously with traditional forms; there were not many experiences except for integrating into the local culture.

Cable car line "opens the way" for local tourism

Sun World Ba Den Mountain Cable Car

Ba Den Mountain is the most famous destination in Tay Ninh, but more than two decades ago, visiting this place was not easy.

To worship the Lady or conquer the mountain top, visitors must walk along trails or climb 1,000 steps from the foot of the mountain, taking 2-4 hours to reach the top, and must cleverly arrange their time to be able to go and return in one day.

In 1998, a cable car line was built, making it easier for tourists to reach Ba Temple, but it was not enough to meet demand. The road to the "roof of the South" with more than 600m of climbing along a dangerous mountain road from Ba Temple was still a big challenge.

In January 2020, the modern cable car line - the first item of Sun World Ba Den Mountain Tourist Area invested by Sun Group on the top of Ba Den Mountain - came into operation, changing the tourist experience in Tay Ninh; shortening the travel time to the "roof of the South" and Ba Temple to only minutes instead of days.

The cable car route has brought a new face to Tay Ninh tourism. In 2022, the number of visitors to Tay Ninh reached 4.5 million (up 200%) and total tourism revenue reached 1,400 billion VND (up 130%).

In 2023, it is estimated that in January alone, Ba Den Mountain welcomed nearly 2 million visitors. It is predicted that by 2025, Ba Den Mountain tourist area will attract about 5 million visitors and reach 8 million visitors by 2035.

A whole new spiritual travel experience

Sun World Ba Den Mountain is full of colorful flowers

The appearance of Sun World Ba Den Mountain also opens up new and meaningful spiritual tourism experiences.

On the top of the mountain, Sun Group and sculptor Pham Ba Dua created the Tay Bo Da Son Buddha statue, which holds the record for "The tallest bronze Buddha statue in Asia located on the top of the mountain".

Not only investing and re-planning the foot and top of the mountain, Sun Group also expanded the yard of Ba Temple for visitors from all directions to worship Linh Son Thanh Mau.

The statue of Buddha Tay Bo Da Son on the mountain top was created according to the Buddha statue of the Le Dynasty, beautiful and full of Vietnamese features. The author did not completely copy any original statue, but refined the patterns, jewelry, clothes, and hats to create the statue of Buddha Tay Bo Da Son, ensuring the rules, fully conveying the spiritual requirements for the statue of Quan The Am.

The spiritual journey at Ba Den Mountain also takes visitors to explore Buddhist culture at the 4,410 m2 Buddhist art exhibition area right at the foot of the Buddha Statue.

This area has 4 floors, displaying simulated versions of many classic Buddhist works, including many famous statues from Vietnam and the world.

Visitors can travel through thousands of years of history, to distant lands where Buddhism has set foot, to better understand this religion.

In the first floor domed lobby area, visitors can learn about the universe in Buddhist concepts through modern video mapping technology. The fourth floor is a sacred space, where Buddha's relics are kept and displayed.

Besides the colorful flower carpets throughout the four seasons, Van Son restaurant on the mountain top offers a rich culinary experience and large-scale invested festivals...

Sun World Ba Den Mountain is also a destination that constantly renews itself, to increase the experience and attraction for tourists.

From the first day of the new year 2023, the tourist area marked a new milestone in its journey to beautify Ba Mountain, with the new Tam An cable car route.

This cable car route will make the spiritual journey more convenient by taking visitors straight from Ba Temple to the top of the mountain. This is not only the cable car route with the most beautiful view at Sun World Ba Den Mountain tourist area, but also one of the steepest cable car systems in the world, with an average slope of 63.53% (about 32.43 degrees) and a maximum slope of 104% (about 45 degrees).

Night lighting system on top of Ba Mountain

With this special slope and a moving speed of 6m/s, the Tam An cable line will take visitors from Ba Pagoda over steep cliffs to the "roof of the South" in just over 5 minutes.

In addition, many new constructions on the top of Ba Mountain also impress visitors such as: the 19.8m high Heart Sutra pillar or the modern artistic lighting system with more than 3,500 LED lights illuminating the top of the mountain, creating a sparkling night picture.

The new and colorful destinations built by Sun Group have given the roof of the South a new look, with diverse experiences.

Sun World Ba Den Mountain is also the first project in Sun Group's journey to create tourism imprints in this land, accompanying Tay Ninh to become one of the national and international tourist destinations.