The duckweed carpet
Green channels between the trees.
Bùi Thụy Đào Nguyên — CC BY-SA 3.0 · trungydang — CC BY 3.0 · trungydang — CC BY 3.0 · Tran Anh Khoa (zorrotran) — CC BY-SA 2.0
Tra Su is a flooded forest of tram (cajuput) trees covering 845 hectares, about thirty kilometres south of Chau Doc, and a model of the flooded forests west of the Hau River. It became a protected area in 2003, after BirdLife International judged it of international importance for wetland conservation in the delta. The visit is on water: a motorboat runs into the channels between the trees, then a small rowing boat paddled by locals glides along passages carpeted with bright green duckweed, the trees reflected in it. Some 70 bird species live here, two of them rare enough for Vietnam's Red Book, the painted stork and the oriental darter, along with large numbers of herons and storks. There is also a bamboo bridge recorded as the longest in Vietnam, and a watchtower over the whole forest. The best season is the flood season from September to November, when the water is high. Weekends are busy and the wait for boats grows long, so go on a weekday morning.
Green channels between the trees.
Paddled by locals.
Over the whole forest.
An Cu, Tinh Bien, about 30 km south of Chau Doc
The flood season from September to November, when the water is high, on a weekday morning to avoid waiting for boats.