For a long time, hearing about Ba Den Mountain, Lo Go Xa Mat National Park, sun-dried rice paper, and shrimp salt immediately brought to mind Tay Ninh . In recent years, visiting fruit orchards and enjoying vegetarian dishes has been attracting many tourists to Tay Ninh.
Selling without adding more, lying awake all night without sleeping.
Previously, in the summer, especially during the Dragon Boat Festival, when talking about visiting fruit orchards, we Southerners usually thought of the provinces in the Southwestern Mekong Delta or going to Lai Thieu (Binh Duong), Long Khanh, or Xuan Loc ( Dong Nai ). This year, we changed our direction and went to Tay Ninh, after learning that there are many large fruit orchards there.
Visitors enter the orchard to pick rambutan.
Locals say that from May onwards, the rambutan, durian, mangosteen, and mulberry orchards in Go Dau district, Hoa Thanh town, Trang Bang town, and Tay Ninh city are laden with fruit, attracting tourists who stop to admire them. Orchard owners harvest and sell to traders while also opening their orchards to tourists as a way to promote their produce and earn extra income. For tourists, the entrance fee of 30,000-40,000 VND per person to enter the rambutan and mulberry orchards is quite affordable, allowing them to enjoy an abundance of fruit and take beautiful photos in the natural scenery.
The owner of Chín Lành rambutan orchard (Huỳnh Tấn Phát Street, Tây Ninh City) warmly welcomes visitors. The entrance fee includes not only rambutan to eat but also a bottle of refreshing water. Like other rambutan orchards, Chín Lành offers two types of rambutan: regular peeled rambutan and Thai-variety rambutan; visitors can pick whichever they prefer. Knowing that visitors enjoy taking photos with the low-branched trees laden with fruit, the owner directs harvesting to the upper branches.
The best part about going to the garden is picking the fruit yourself.
Like us, Le Thi Ha and her group of friends from Ho Chi Minh City came to Tay Ninh. Initially, they planned to visit Ba Den Mountain and Truc Stream, but they stumbled upon a fruit orchard and decided to go in. Ha said, "I didn't expect Tay Ninh to have so many fruit orchards. It was hot, but the orchard was so cool and refreshing. The owner was kind enough to give each group a tarp to sit and relax on." In the Chin Lanh rambutan orchard, there are also long tents for visitors who like to stay longer. Experienced orchard visitors here bring their own food and drinks, like camping.
Customers prefer buying rambutan directly from the orchard, either picking their own or having it weighed on the spot. The price at the orchard is only half the price at the market. "We sell without adding anything, and we don't sleep at night," the owner of Chín Lành orchard constantly says while adding more rambutan to a customer's bag. They weigh 6 kg but only pay for 5 kg – how could customers not be happy?
It's different with mangosteen orchards; visitors can take as many photos as they want, but picking them is difficult because you don't know which ones are ripe and ready to eat. If customers want to buy mangosteen directly from the orchard, the owner will pick and select the best fruits for them. Since it's hard to guarantee that all 10 mangosteens will be good, the owner weighs a little extra to account for any unripe fruit so that customers don't get ripped off.
Older guests also enjoy the garden experience.
Durian orchard owners don't charge for visiting or taking photos because they know that even if they allowed visitors to pick the fruit, they wouldn't be able to. Ut Le, the owner of a durian orchard in Go Dau district, said that for the past few years, orchard owners have tried to time the mangosteen, rambutan, and durian harvest to coincide with the Dragon Boat Festival, both to sell at a good price and to attract many tourists. Afterward, the orchards continue to welcome visitors for another month before closing to care for the trees and clean up the orchards to make them more beautiful and presentable in preparation for the next season.
The people of Tay Ninh also want their locality to attract more tourists. Several vendors in Long Hoa market told us that from July to September, Tay Ninh enters its custard apple season, so we should visit if we can. Custard apples from Ba Den Mountain have a long-standing reputation; buying them directly from the orchards is unquestionable, and buying them at markets in Tay Ninh also guarantees you won't be mistaken for this specialty.
A variety of vegetarian dishes
Besides visiting orchards, we also explored vegetarian cuisine to see the art of preparing vegetarian dishes in Tay Ninh, which has been included in the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and is known as the "land of vegetarian food".
Wherever we go, we love visiting the market, because what's sold there reflects much of the people's lives and local culture. Indeed, nowhere else has such a large section selling so many ready-made vegetarian dishes and ingredients as Long Hoa Market (Hoa Thanh town).
Ingredients for vegetarian dishes are sold at Long Hoa Market.
After talking to the people at the Cao Dai Holy See, we learned that Long Hoa Market was established in 1952, primarily serving the buying and selling needs of Cao Dai followers, and has sold many vegetarian dishes ever since. Vegetarian food is available every day, but on vegetarian days, the market sells more.
The religion and beliefs of the people have shaped the vegetarian culinary culture in Tay Ninh. The province has over 500,000 Cao Dai followers, who observe 10 vegetarian days each month on the lunar calendar: the 1st, 8th, 14th, 15th, 18th, 23rd, 24th, 28th, 29th, and 30th (if the month is short, they also observe vegetarianism on the 27th).
Tay Ninh also has approximately 200,000 Buddhist followers who typically observe vegetarianism on four days: the 30th, 1st, 14th, and 15th of the lunar month. With such a large number of local people practicing vegetarianism on so many days, the demand for vegetarian dishes and ingredients is enormous. Furthermore, Tay Ninh hosts numerous Cao Dai and Buddhist festivals each year, attracting countless pilgrims. In addition, tourists visiting Tay Ninh also have a significant demand for vegetarian food. All of these factors contribute to the high consumption of vegetarian food in the province.
However, to truly win over diners and establish the "vegetarian food land" brand, it's also essential to mention the diversity of vegetarian dishes and the art of preparation that appeals to many tastes. Vegetarian dishes such as: rice noodle soup, spring rolls, fresh rolls, stir-fried noodles, rice noodles, vegetarian shrimp skewers, vegetarian nem (Vietnamese sausage), vermicelli with pork skin, pork skin rolls, vegetarian beef rolls…; and dishes served with rice such as vegetarian ribs, vegetarian grilled meat, Thai-style fish sauce, braised offal…, even those sold in Long Hoa market are carefully prepared by the vendors. For around 15,000 - 25,000 VND, you can get a delicious meal, so many tourists conveniently buy a few vegetarian dishes when they visit the market.
Vegetarian buffet at Phuoc Lac Duyen restaurant
There are quite a few vegetarian restaurants and eateries in Tay Ninh. We had no trouble finding a spacious place to enjoy the art of vegetarian cuisine. After hesitating a little in front of the impressive entrance and beautiful grounds resembling an eco-tourism resort, we finally entered Phuoc Lac Duyen vegetarian restaurant. Our first priority was to check the menu and prices before we dared to sit down.
The menu boasts hundreds of dishes, from simple to elaborate, with most dishes priced at only 30,000-50,000 VND per plate, and only a few costing 60,000-80,000 VND. A hearty meal for 12 people with 8 dishes was delicious, beautifully presented, and filling, and we paid less than 800,000 VND. The dishes like gourd salad, mixed rice noodles, crispy rice with braised pork, Thai fish sauce, and braised young jackfruit were all unique and everyone enjoyed them.
Fruit orchards and vegetarian dishes – that's all it takes for Tay Ninh to leave a lasting and enjoyable impression on visitors from afar who come to experience the life and culture of this "land of vegetarians".
Organize a vegetarian market.
Recounting her experience exploring vegetarian cuisine in Tay Ninh, Ms. Pham Thi Hong (Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City) said she arrived in Tay Ninh on the 1st day of the 5th lunar month and was introduced to Tojy restaurant – a soy kingdom – for a vegetarian buffet.
This restaurant serves a vegetarian buffet on the first day of each lunar month for only 99,000 VND per person. Besides à la carte dining, Phuoc Lac Duyen restaurant also caters to large groups for vegetarian buffet parties. With its spacious grounds, Phuoc Lac Duyen also holds a vegetarian market on the afternoon of the 19th of each lunar month, selling vegetarian dishes on-site and many ready-made vegetarian food options for customers to take home.
Source: https://nld.com.vn/thu-vi-qua-xu-do-chay-196240706195615418.htm
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