Tram Chim National Park: Cold Season, Warm Experience

Tram Chim National Park: Cold Season, Warm Experience

Tram Chim National Park is globally recognized as a world Ramsar site because of its rich flora and fauna life, among others. Located at Tam Nong District, in the Mekong Delta Province of Dong Thap, the place is a nature's wonder especially between September to November when it is in its full bloom.

 

Tram Chim National Park is blessed with a natural history of collective ecology of geomorphology, hydrograph and underwater creatures. Home to a diversified flora and fauna, the park for one is a migrating site to storks coming from Laos and Cambodia to look for warmth during the cold season. For bird enthusiasts, between February to April are perfect months to get a chance to see the rare Seu Dau Do (Red Head Crane) which is among the world's Red Book of Threatened Species.

 

Tram Chim National Park is also filled with big rice fields covering an area of more than 1,000 hectares. These fields are called Lua Troi or Lua Ma (Oryza Rufipogon) which means Heaven's Rice or Ghost Rice in which the seed itself is bigger than the edible one. But the rice fields are maintained not for commercial purposes, but to provide as primary food for the birds at the park.

 

Aside from the wonderful experience of watching birds fly or witnessing them catch fish, guests at the park also have the opportunity to see herds of buffalos usually grazing under bamboo shades along the river bank. There is an observatory towere wherein visitors can gain a full, spectacular view of the park. Local children cheering and waving to tourists visiting the site is always a bonus.

 

Outdoor lovers can also rent a small junk to go fishing. This is available between 5 p.m. to 6 a.m. the next day which is the ideal time to catch fish. For the truly adventurous ones, they can hire a small boat which they themselves can sail.

 

For those who are hungry after the tour or simply want to taste the local specialties, tourists have a choice between a floating restaurant below the observatory tower or a food shop by the entrance of the park which costs about VND800,000 for a five-meal course already good for ten people.

 

A boat trip around Tram Chim National Park costs VND900,000 per boat for ten persons accompanied by a tour guide. September to November is the time when water from the upstream Mekong River flows to the delta and bring wet season to the area, but guests can visit Tram Chim National Park anytime of the year to witness its natural beauty and experience its unique adventure.