National Park of U Minh Ha

According to the Vietnamese, U Minh Ha is a fascinating and thrilling name. Tourists visiting the U Minh Ha mangrove indigo forest are paying a visit to the home of Ba Phi Uncle, a well-known character in Vietnamese folklore. Visitors will be given stories about fictitious animals that appear to be real in stories of Ba Phi Uncle's battles with huge pythons, giant crocodiles, and so on.

People who live in the U Minh Ha forest are given land and forest by the government and are able to make a living by planting trees, exploiting woodlands, fishing, placing layers, putting eel-pots, trawling, and planting trees on the bank, among other things. Because they have lived so close to the forest for so long, the locals here adore nature, especially U Minh Ha, and treat the forests as if they were their prized possession.U Minh Ha has become a popular tourist site, drawing enormous crowds. More than 8,000 hectares of indigo blues and 25,000 hectares of buffer zone, as well as a diverse fauna and flora, make up U Minh Ha national park. The observatory, which stands at a height of 24 meters, is open to the public. Visitors who stand on the forest observation deck are astounded by the limitless trees and immense waterways.

Visitors to U Minh Ha can rent a boat to travel along the intertwining canals or take a walk through the forest. The flooded area is atop a peat coal layer built by long years of collected plants, and the region has a distinct flora and fauna. Indigo, mop, nan, reed, choai, and other endemic plant species can be found here. The nostril-hair otter, pangolin, deer, long-tailed monkeys, wild boars, turtles, snakes, pythons, freshwater fish, birds, insects, and so on are examples of typical animals, many of which are classified in the Red Book.

U Minh Ha national park has around 60 different species of freshwater and brackish water fish. Visitors can fish alone or enlist the help of locals to spread the net and capture fish. Following their forest adventure, tourists gather to prepare and enjoy rustic delicacies such as grilled freshwater fish, fried field mice, grilled snakes with water lily, and premature lotus leaves.

Wild honey is something that should not be overlooked. Bees work carefully throughout the year, especially under the forest canopy, gathering nectar and pollen from the indigo flower to build their nests, which annually offer great quantities of honey to the inhabitants here. Here, wild honey is exceptionally clean and potent. Above all, it is high in nutrients and can be used as medication.

U Minh Ha National Park is also responsible for preserving and re-creating the natural landscape, ecology, and biodiversity of a typical wetland ecosystem, melaleuca cajuput forest on peat land; the conservation and development of genetic resources of valuable plants and animals; cultural, spiritual, and historical values; and reservations for scientific research, sightseeing, and tourism development.

One thing to keep in mind is that due to forest fire prevention and control efforts, visits will be limited during the peak seasons of March and April.