Tuyen Lam unique natural heritage

Located to the north of Phoenix Mountain, Tuyen Lam Lake National Scenic Area, together with Truc Lam Zen Monastery, has created a famous scenic complex - one of the attractive destinations when coming to the land of thousands of flowers.

Morning sunshine on Tuyen Lam Lake. Photo: Vo Trang

Tuyen Lam Lake is about 6 km south of Da Lat city center, on the right side of Prenn pass along Highway 20, towards Da Lat - Ho Chi Minh City. The lake was formerly Suoi Tia stream, the upper source of Da Tam river originating from the majestic Elephant Mountain. Tuyen Lam Lake was formed by a dam across Suoi Tia stream, built by Lam Dong Irrigation Department and invested by the Ministry of Irrigation, completed in 1987, to serve the irrigation of rice fields and crops in the downstream area of Duc Trong district.

Also from here, under the influence of human hands, the harmonious combination of the source water and the forest has created a masterpiece of natural painting with a strangely attractive and charming beauty. Perhaps that is why the lake was named "Tuyen Lam", a rather romantic name that matches this combination ("Tuyen" means "stream" and "Lam" means "forest"). A vast lake, clear all year round; a basin of over 32 km2, the lake bed has many oases, and many branches deep into the mainland, some places are more than 30 m deep, surrounded by a majestic mountain range. The landscape is also very diverse, here are pine hills, there are deep green old forests with towering peaks; where the hills are gently sloping with grasslands stretching gently to the edge of the lake. All blend together with the clouds reflecting on the calm lake surface, creating a magical scene that makes us feel elated, our souls wandering as if we are lost in a fairy tale paradise.

Not only does it have a diverse natural landscape, but this place is also a revolutionary base for the army and people of Lam Dong in general and Da Lat in particular in the two great resistance wars against French colonialism and American imperialism.

Indeed, especially when walking leisurely under the green pine trees swaying in the wind, or sitting and watching the lake's scenery change like a watercolor painting. In the morning, the mist covers the lake's surface, the space is so quiet with a pure and fresh atmosphere. At noon, the lake's surface shines brightly like glass with ripples when a gentle wind blows enough to make the pine tops rustle. In the afternoon, the lake's surface gradually turns blue, the wind is cold and when the sunset falls, the scene here is hazy, mysterious, unreal, real, extremely romantic. The bright moonlit nights seem to plate silver on the water surface and the surrounding scenery, sitting by the lake to admire the scenery, fishing or walking with a lover is the best pleasure.

On the hills in the scenic area of Tuyen Lam Lake and neighboring areas such as Voi Mountain, Hon Bu, there are still almost all the trenches where the units of Zone 6 Party Committee and Da Lat City Party Committee are stationed. In the old forest area of Gia Lam along the banks of Dau Voi stream in Hiep Thanh commune, Duc Trong district, there are also traces of a prehistoric archaeological site from the Paleolithic period 30,000-40,000 years ago. This area has many rock niches, large rocks with many mysterious shapes, stretching hundreds of meters upstream where it borders the revolutionary base. "Here, there are pebble beaches running along the stream bank, which must have been a rich source of raw materials for the ancients to make tools. Along the stream, there are massive rock rapids and deep nooks and large holes, which could also have been temporary residences for the ancients during the rainy season" (according to the assessment of archaeologists Nguyen Khac Su and Vo Quy - Vietnam Institute of Archaeology). Through surveys by archaeologists, Lam Dong Museum and Da Lat University have collected many relics with signs of the Stone Age. These relics are currently being preserved for research to accurately determine their cultural and historical value.

Deep in the central area of the revolutionary base (Gia Lam old forest), the rocky mountain area (Elephant Mountain) also has primeval forests, clear streams, pebble beaches, waterfalls with the biodiversity of tropical forests with many rare species of animals and plants, especially red pine and some birds, animals, wild orchids,... Especially the road up the mountain has many very dangerous cliffs between the canopy of primeval forest, vines, with many species of wild orchids, the scenery is wild and very romantic. The peak of Elephant Mountain is 1,814.5 m above sea level, from here we can observe the whole East of Da Lat city and part of Duc Trong and Don Duong districts. Living around this area are also villages of the K'Ho ethnic group with very unique customs and festivals.

It can be said that it is rare to find a natural cultural heritage that combines ecological, environmental, historical and cultural values like Tuyen Lam. Tuyen Lam Lake (including Truc Lam Zen Monastery) has been recognized as a national historical and cultural relic (of the Scenic Landscape category) according to Decision No. 1811 of the Ministry of Culture dated August 30, 1998. Since its recognition, the local government has paid attention to preserving and embellishing the landscape and orienting tourism development planning. At the same time, together with tourism businesses here, they have invested in building and creating many tourism products that meet the criteria according to regulations of high-quality tourist areas, meeting the needs of tourists visiting and relaxing. On February 15, 2017, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 205 recognizing Tuyen Lam Lake Tourist Area as the first national tourist area in the country among 47 tourist areas approved by the Prime Minister in the Vietnam tourism development strategy to 2020 and vision to 2030.

In particular, recently, Tuyen Lam Lake National Tourist Area was honored as "Asia-Pacific Typical Tourist Area" on August 3, 2023 in New Delhi, India in the forum program "Vietnam - India Cultural and Economic Exchange". This is an honor, pride and also an opportunity for Tuyen Lam Lake National Tourist Area - Tuyen Lam Lake National Tourist Area to promote its image, tourism brand, high-quality resort tourism services to friends, domestic and international tourists. Contributing to raising the tourism brand of Da Lat - Lam Dong in general and Tuyen Lam Lake National Tourist Area in particular. From here, Tuyen Lam Lake National Tourist Area will be on par with famous tourist areas in Southeast Asia and the world, worthy of being an attractive destination for global tourists.

It is known that in the coming time, Tuyen Lam Lake National Tourist Area will continue to adjust its planning and build to meet the criteria of a high-quality national tourist area; along with that, the planning of the Elephant Mountain area will be expanded and added to the general planning to support the development of Tuyen Lam Lake Tourist Area, contributing to creating a series of unique tourism activities, attracting more and more domestic and foreign tourists to visit and relax.

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