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Ngo Tran Hai An
Mountains, wetlands, and wild flowers await in Tay Ninh province
Just 100km from Ho Chi Minh City, Tay Ninh province is full of cultural values and local attractions. Along with famous tourist sights like Black Virgin (Ba Den) Mountain, Tay Ninh Holy See, and Lo Go – Xa Mat National Park, there are many other picturesque destinations in Tay Ninh. They include Dau Tieng Reservoir, Truc Stream, the Twins Palm Tree, and the Lonesome Jamblon Tree (“cay tram co don”), etc.
Tay Ninh still has a wild atmosphere, where the sacred Black Virgin Mountain dominates the blue sky, sometimes hiding behind layers of hazy clouds. Locals consider this mountain, the highest in Southern Vietnam, to be a symbol of their love and pride for the Southeast borderlands.
I have enjoyed several hikes on Black Virgin Mountain. To gain a new experience this time, I took the cable car to the peak. Thanks to this newly-opened cable car, visitors can reach the summit in just eight minutes, compared to a four-hour trek.
It was a lucky day for me. The sky was clear with clouds hanging on the mountain sides. When the cable car was halfway up, we were engulfed in a sea of clouds. Two minutes later, we were above the clouds, gazing at a scene of incredible beauty. From the peak, one could easily view the entire city of Tay Ninh. Further away, on the horizon, the vast Dau Tieng Reservoir gleamed under ethereal clouds.
To catch sight of the morning clouds, I decided to camp overnight on the peak. Around midnight, the mountain was wrapped in thick mist. The colorful lights of the city sprinkled through the haze to create a surreal scene. I patiently waited in the cold air until the first light of dawn began to shine. Golden rays streamed over the sea of clouds and poured onto the verdant fields below. Huge pillars of clouds rose up, billowing atop the mountain. This joyful union of heaven and earth was so magical I felt humbled by nature’s magnificence.
Bidding farewell to the “roof of Southern Vietnam”, I went straight to the Lo Go – Xa Mat National Park on the border with Cambodia. Covering an area of 74,000 acres, the park has a unique changing ecosystem that spreads from the Central Highlands to the Southeast Region to the Mekong Delta. It is home to Dipterocarpaceae flora typical of the Southeast, the dipterocarp forests of the Central Highlands, and melaleuca forests and wetland habitats of the Mekong Delta.
We reached our first destination – deciduous lowland forests, also called dipterocarp forest. Ms. Tuyet Mai, a park employee, explained that most of the lowland forests flood seasonally. When the water recedes, yellow orchids and various wild flowers burst into bloom, creating colorful fields of flowers. Some rare orchid species can only be found here, including habenaria rostrata, and pecteilis susannae – the rarest and most beautiful orchids in Southeast Asia.
We followed a narrow trail leading deep into the forest, and wonderful scenes of wild flowers appeared before our eyes. We held our breath while admiring rows of mildly fragrant melaleuca flowers, thousands of nepenthes carpeting the ground, and golden oak (hopea odorata), and pastel jack dyer (cratoxylum formosum) flowers showing off their beauty from above. What a wondrous fairyland made of sweet little wild flowers!
The flower magic held my feet, but Ms. Mai gently encouraged me: “Let’s go, there’s a miniature Plain of Reeds ahead.” Our motorbike raced along a red dirt trail covered in yellow leaves until we reached an observation tower. I climbed to the top and was amazed to see endless shades of green. Behind me lay Cambodia with sky-high palmyra palms. On the other side stood the vast melaleuca forests and flooded grasslands typical of Southern Vietnam. The entire 9,800-acre water-covered surface is composed of immense fields of reeds: Ta Not, Tan Thanh, Ba Diec, Bau Dung Lon… These wetlands are a heavenly habitat for fish, herbivores, and birds from other lands.
After lunch, we went in search of giant Thorel pitcher plants (Nepenthes thorelii). Accompanied by several forest rangers, I ventured deeper into the forest, seeking this unique carnivorous species. Currently, there is a population of six plants in the forest, bearing over 100 pitchers. Discovered 151 years ago in Binh Duong by the French scientist Clovis Thorel, the species suddenly disappeared, only to be rediscovered about 10 years ago in Lo Go – Xa Mat National Park.
On this trip, I also had a chance to visit a famous site: the lonesome ancient jamblon tree in the middle of immense rice fields, near Hoa Thanh town. When the rice fields turn gold, the scene is so poetic that mile-long queues of visitors form, waiting to take photos here.
My four days in Tay Ninh passed in a flash. It wasn’t enough time to thoroughly explore this region’s wilderness and distinct cultural identity. One day, I’ll return and set foot in this remote and intriguing region. 
