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Story: Hien Phung
Photos: Quang Ngoc
If asked which place in the Mekong Delta remains most vividly in my memory after each journey, I would promptly name U Minh Forest, spanning An Giang and Ca Mau provinces. It is a region veiled in the endless green of waterlogged melaleuca trees, where fresh breezes carry visitors into a world that’s pristine and captivating.
The Uminh Forest occupies an area of 2,000 km2, divided into Uminh Thượng (An Giang Province) and Uminh Hạ (Ca Mau Province). This region is significant not only for its tourism and local culture but also as a critical sanctuary of rare genetic resources, vital for maintaining the biosphere’s ecological balance.
Wildlife and water
U Minh Thuong resembles an immense zoological garden, where plants, animals, and birds weave a vibrant tableau. A motorboat carried me through endless pillars of melaleuca. Beneath their canopies, carpets of green duckweed drifted slowly, their leaves shimmering in the sunlight. Occasionally, a water snake darted past, leaving a rippling wake. The air was fresh, tinged with the faint, raw sweetness of leaves and wood. The sun had yet to rise high, and a veil of mist hung over the treetops, casting the forest in a gauzy, mysterious light.
As he steered, the boatman spoke of fierce forest fires, the crocodiles that once inhabited this area, and the wild bees that build honeycombs atop blooming melaleuca trees when summer turns the forest white with flowers. In the past, people would see herds of wild deer, boars, and ancient melaleuca trees filled with families of monkeys.
Today, the forests still shelter hundreds of endemic species. Names like Mang Doi, Trang Chim, and Ho Hoa Mai sound poetic yet brim with life: giant fruit bats spread their black wings at dusk, flocks of birds wheel across the sky, fish splash in wide lakes, and plants grow in wild abundance.
From a watchtower in the heart of the forest, I looked out over an ocean of greenery stretching to the horizon. Waves of green rolled endlessly, rising and falling in the morning wind. In the distance, tall groves appeared and disappeared like brushstrokes in a vast ink painting. The forest’s symphony unfolded in the calls of birds, the rustle of leaves, and the murmur of water flowing through channels beneath the leaves.
As soulful as a Southern ballad
Leaving the northern forest, I drifted toward U Minh Ha. If U Minh Thuong embodies grandeur, U Minh Ha feels as raw, tender, and soulful as a Southern folk song. Forming part of the core of the Mui Ca Mau Biosphere Reserve, U Minh Ha National Park is considered a treasure trove of life by experts, home to hundreds of aquatic plants, wild animals, and rare birds. To me, it feels shaped by memories – rustic and unhurried, offering visitors a glimpse into the Mekong Delta of yesteryear.
Along the canals near the visitor area, monkeys darted from branch to branch, plucking ripe fruit and chasing their companions. Some tumbled like acrobats, much like children at play. Birds, unafraid, flew overhead or foraged calmly in the grass below.
Vast, silent melaleuca forests still blanket U Minh Ha, while slender boats glide along winding streams. Wildflowers bloom on the banks, intertwined with bright green reeds. At times, the sky opens to admit a patch of sunlight, and golden ripples shimmer on the water amid the forest’s shadows. Venturing deeper, I saw wild honeycombs still clinging to branches. The traditional craft of gac keo ong – an ingenious form of beekeeping practiced by locals in U Minh Ha – has been recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage. Here, generations of people have lived in harmony with the forest, the water, and the wild bees. They coexist, endure, and share their lives.
At dusk, as the boat turned back toward the forest’s edge, the crimson sun sank behind the melaleuca trees. Looking back over the watery paths I had traveled, it felt like I’d just awoken from a green dream. In my hands was a small jar of honey; in my heart, a landscape of green. More than a forest, this is a place where nature whispers. Every channel, every bird’s nest, and every drop of honey belong to an endless symphony of earth, water, trees, and humankind.
Here, one realizes that the forest is not merely a place where trees grow and birds sing, but a living being in its own right, at times wild and fierce like a great beast, or gentle and nurturing as a devoted mother. The forests of U Minh stand as a spiritual heritage, preserving the culture, memory, identity, and pride of the Southern people. Through the flow of time, the forest endures like a silent guardian, telling the timeless story of the bond between humanity and nature.
