From Rach Gia, tourists can go to U Minh Thuong National Park by different means of transport. If they use the hydrofoil, they will have to take a honda om (motorbike taxi) to travel some distance from the boat quay to reach the park.

Using a taxi is the most convenient way for tourists with limited time to visit U Minh Thuong National Park because a taxi can take them to Hoa Mai Lake deep in the park, where they can take a boat tour of the forest. They will not have to buy a VND7,000 (US$0.40) entrance ticket for the taxi driver.

From Hoa Mai Lake, tourists can take a boat to visit Bat Field, a trip that takes about 45 minutes. They can also rent a speedboat for VND200,000 ($11.80) to visit both the Bat Field and Bird Field in about two hours.

Bat Field is part of a primeval forest that covers about one hectare. It is the habitat of about 1,000 large bats which usually feed in Can Tho City, several kilometers away.

Boating from the Bat Field to Bird Field, tourists will see plenty of water ferns. Some places have so many water ferns that the water is no longer visible. After a big fire of 2002, an embankment was built to store water all year round to protect the core area of the national park from fire.

At the Bird Field, the speedboat will stop at the observation tower. Visitors have to climb up a ladder to observe the birds from the tower. Dozens of different species can be seen, as well as plenty of birds? nests.

At U Minh Thuong National Park, you may encounter some people from Saigon enjoying a spot of fishing. Some Saigon anglers have landed fish weighing more than 10 kilos here.

Visitors to the park are served mainly grilled snakehead fish and eel hot pot, two main specialties of the region.

Reported by Tan Tu