Ta Kou Nature Reserve

About 30km south of Phan Thiet city is Ta Kou Nature Reserve - Ham Thuan Nam district, Binh Thuan . Bung Thi - an area with many interesting things in this reserve - is our destination on the motorbike journey to explore the landscape here.

 

Winding through the small road gradually leaving the residential areas, passing through the dragon fruit plantation in bloom, the forest was already green before our eyes. Bung Thi, the name of this forest area originally came from the fact that there were many banyan trees growing among the white sand dunes stretching next to the large brackish water swamp (bưng) system near the foot of Ta Kou mountain. There are four main sand dunes, long and narrow, zigzagging around the swamp system in the middle of Ta Kou forest. From above, they look like giant rows of potatoes in the middle of a field. The sand dunes are slightly raised in the middle, and on them grow dense thorny bushes - a characteristic of the savanna ecosystem. Along both edges of the sand dunes, the land is slightly sunken, and there is a strip of dry dipterocarp forest. On the banks of the swamp are a tangled system of vines of all kinds: fern, pitcher plant, morning glory… and on the surface of the swamp grows a variety of tall grasses with yellow flowers, swaying in the wind, dancing wildly. It is a strange forest because there are 3 adjacent ecosystems: savanna - dipterocarp forest - brackish swamp.

We carefully crossed the sandy trail for about 2km to reach the Bung Thi ranger post. This is the place to camp and spend the night in the forest. There is a small stream with cool, clear, fresh water running along the edge of the lagoon. In this area, people also discovered a source of hot mineral water since 1997. When the geological survey team drilled an exploratory well, hot water has been gushing out from that well until today.

 

Next to the water source, a small artificial lake containing hot water was created for visitors to soak and relax. In addition, there were a few hot foot bath spots for visitors. We set up a tent, stretched a hammock under a large cotton tree near the hot water lake and lit a fire to grill chicken. The forest was deserted, only the two of us and “Tang” – my little dog – were by the fire. We took turns tending the fire and diving into the hot mineral pool between the earth and sky. Another strange thing was that in the middle of the hot and brackish mineral water underground, people had drilled a well of cool, fresh water. After soaking in the hot mineral water three times and rinsing ourselves with cool, fresh water, we enjoyed dinner in the wild and quiet space of the mountains and forests.

Heritage Magazine