Introduce to kien giang

Phu Quoc – an ideal tourist destination

Phu Quoc National Park in the southern province of Kien Giang has become an ideal eco-tourist destination. It has special and unique biodiversity values compared to other national parks across the country.


This biggest National Park covers an area of nearly 30,000ha, including more than 27,000ha of forest. It also has 6,000ha of buffer land and 20,000ha of surrounding ocean area, which help mitigate external impacts on the park’s fauna and flora.

According to director Pham Quang Binh, Phu Quoc National Park is located on an island that has a mixture of continental and coastal climate, creating a rich ecosystem of primeval, secondary and indigo forests. Its indigo forests are distributed in the wetlands, the lowlands that are flooded in the rainy season, and sloping hills.

The co-existence of the Malaysian, Burmese and Himalayan ecologies in Phu Quoc has created a rich ecosystem. There are more than 470 species of plants, 140 species of wild animals, and several types of coral reefs offshore. Phu Quoc is also one of the two places in Vietnam where the Dugong, a marine species on the brink of extinction can be found.

In 2001, the government decided to upgrade the park to preserve its ecology and recognise it as a National Park. The Park Management Board has coordinated with local residents and military units to implement forest protection measures, particularly fire prevention.

“The rainy season in Phu Quoc is short but the dry season is longer there. So we have established a forest fire prevention steering board and firefighter units which are on standby,” said Mr Binh. “Every commune and local military unit has worked out detailed fire prevention plans. We also have regular communications with local residents to raise their awareness of forest protection.”

Phu Quoc National Park is a good destination for tourists as it offers a wide range of activities such as camping and trekking. It’s also ideal for those who want to study the tropical forest. As Phu Quoc develops into Vietnam’s ecotourism capital, the jewel in its crown, the park will become ever more attractive to visitors from around the world.


Kien Giang – a mini Vietnam


Kien Giang was once regarded as a miniature Vietnam with the sea, forests, islands, mountains, and caves.


Maybe one will find the most beautiful scenic places in Ha Tien. Ha Tien is a place that makes many visitors feel as if they were in Ha Long Bay. Here the weather is wonderful all year round and the different places are so magical that they inspired the old Vietnamese poets. There are the Mac Cuu Tomb, Mui Nai Beach, Mo So Mountain and Phu Tu Islet. Look just a little bit further and there are the archipelagos of Hai Tac (11km off Mui Nai Beach), Binh Tri, Ba Lua, and Ba Hon Dam (14km from the Hon Chong Islet and the Hang Pagoda), to name just a few. Sleepy fishing villages dot the shorelines on many islands. It's not hard to find someone with a boat that'll take visitors out to the island of their choice. Relax and make themselves at home. Taste some local specialties cooked-up by an islander at their home.

Vietnam's largest island is Phu Quoc Island, one of 13 most beautiful islands in the world. Phu Quoc Island ripples with 99 hill and mountain ranges emerging from what's left of vast primitive forests. The island has attracted many people's attention and construction on more than a few resorts is now underway.

The U Minh Forest is known as a base for revolutionaries during wartime, shielding many Vietnamese liberation soldiers. Today the war is long past and what's left of the forest is seen as a resource for the local people. When visiting, tourists can stop at the restaurants that border the forest and sample the local wildlife.

Besides the beautiful scenery, the province also attracts a lot of people who come to take part in the feast that takes place in the eighth lunar month. This is a feast to honor the Vietnamese national hero, Nguyen Trung Truc.


Hon Thom - a getaway close to nature

Hon Thom (Pineapple Islet) is one of the many harbours of Phu Quoc Island, which lies in the Gulf of Thailand, 45km from Ha Tien and 15km south of the coast of Cambodia.

However, compared to other harbours where international and domestic ships anchor, the small port city is arguably the most lively and crowded with some unique characters.

With an area of 400ha, Hon Thom has sloping seashore, white sand, coral reefs and about 110 fishermen. The primitive view of huge rocks, hills could easily worry tourists on their way to the islet.

However, as the boat draws nearer, the view takes a completely different turn. There is a crowded fishing village with different kinds of fishing boats. The area is said to be a good fishing place with a large number of shrimps and fishes. One can also see how a good fisherman dive and catch small groupers with bare hands. Next to the fishing boats are small rafts supplying marine products ranging from crabs to cuttlefishes to visitors.

Upon entering the shore, visitors can enjoy a small but crowded market which sells ready-made clothes, canned food and footwear. There are tens of food stalls too. The two round-trip boat routes to the islet ensure the market always has fresh food. The eateries serve mainly to fishermen from neighbouring areas such as Ca Mau, Phu Quoc Island and Rach Gia who have anchored for trading and rest.

Visitors can go along a 1km sand road where coconut trees link the two poles of the islet that looks like it has cut the islet in two equal parts. The road is the islet’s equivalent of downtown - there are motorbike taxi services, karaoke section, ice-making factory, post office and drinking stalls. Most of the islet’s residents live along the road.

Ships cannot land at Hon Thom, so motored boats transport tourists to the islet. It costs VND 10,000 for four people.


Visiting Mac Cuu's mausoleum, founder of Ha Tien

Ha Tien's picturesque landscapes and numerous sites have enticed more and more local and foreign tourists to visit this small town in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang.

More than 300km from Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Tien is opposite the To Chau Mountain with its green pepper gardens and famous pagodas of Phu Dung and Tam Bao.

The history of how this town began, and its founder, is of special interest. ln the late 17th century, a Chinese man by the name of Mac Cuu, was dissatisfied with the Qing Dynasty and traveled to Vietnam, where he started a community and established the town of Ha Tien.

Mac Thien Tich, the eldest son of Mac Cuu, composed "Thach Dong Thon Van" (the stone grotto that swallows clouds) as part of a series of poems about Ha Tien. Eight hundred kilometers from Ha Tien Town, is Ao Sen (Lotus Lake) and Binh San (also called Lang) Mountain, home to Mac Cuu's mausoleum built 300 years ago.

Tombs of the Mac Cuu family are next to the mausoleum, including Nguyen Thi Hieu Tuc, Tich's wife, Mac Thien Tich, and Mac Tu Hoang, Cuu's son. Carved figures of dragons, phoenixes, lions and guardians decorate all of the tombs. Residents there say that Tich requested that the lake be dug in a semicircular shape for planting lotus flowers.

On the mountain, is a worship temple to Mac Cuu. His tomb is seen as the main part of the area, which was built in a semicircular shape with blue stones brought from Guangxi in China.

lt is said that Tich had set up "Xa Tac foundation" on the mountain to worship martyrs and "Xuyen Son foundation" to worship heaven and earth every 9th of the first lunar month. Phu Dung Pagoda was the religious place for Phu Cu, Tich's concubine.


Saigon Phu Quoc Resort


Saigon Phu Quoc resort is the first Vietnam's three-star island resort with 90 well-equipped bungalows and apartments of international standard. The Phu Quoc Island and resort offers pristine beaches and forests to all nature lovers and travellers, making the your stay there a memorable time.

The 12 exquisite colonial-style bungalows and villas including 38 guestrooms with bathroom and private terrace make up the first well-equipped resort in the island. All rooms are equipped with air-conditioned, minibar, shower and bathtub with hot water, satellite TV and IDD telephone.

The Resort provides a perfect balance between relaxation and excitement : private beach, swimming pool, pool bar, sauna, steam bath, massage and karaoke club. Paradise restaurant with 150-seat and private dining room serving international and local dishes, a wonderful pool bar and a meeting room.

Address: 1 Tran Hung Dao, Duong Dong Town, Kien Giang, Phu Quoc Island
Number of Rooms: 90
Credit Cards: Amex, Visa, Master, Diners
Cancellation: 3 days before date of arrival
Check In: 10.00 hours
Check Out: 09.00 hours
Ratings: 3 star


Mo So cave

Mo So means limestone mountain in the Khmer language. This is the name of a mountain in the Chung Son mountain system in Ba Nui village, Binh An commune, Kien Luong district, Ha Tien province. Located about 30 kilometres southwest of Ha Tien town, and eight kilometres far from Hon Chong port, Mo So cave is a wonderful landscape in southern Vietnam.

Although the cave is located five kilometres far from the main road, it takes visitors two hours to reach the cave after going past lakes for shrimp rearing, paddy fields and canals.

Visitors will admire the magnificent beauty of stalactites hanging over their heads or be anxious about their finding of their way among many paths through dark caves. However, all the ways will lead them to a valley in the centre of Mo Son mountain.

Going along a path in the west of the valley, visitors will reach a wet cave, which is considered the most wonderful and the biggest cave in the local cave system. The cave is 20 metres high and has an underground stream flowing inside. Its stalactites have created many magnificent shapes, dimly visible through the haze.

Mo So cave used to be a revolutionary base during the anti-American resistance war. At that time, US troops bombed to destroy cajeput forests where the headquarters of the Kien Luong district Party Committee was located in order to suppress the local revolutionary movement. The committee’s headquarters was moved to Mo So cave continuing to lead the local people to struggle against the US imperialists and provide supports for the battlefields.

The cave was recognised a historic relic in April 1995 by the Ministry of Culture and Information.


Ha Tien's Beauty


People visit Ha Tien hoping to capture the magic of the land in South Vietnam, where many heroic historical places such as imperial tombs and ancient pagodas can be visited. Ha Tien is such a delightful location that a French film company chose it to produce the movie "L'amant" (The Lover) in 1995. It is an ideal location to spend holidays.

There are several attractions in the area: Thach Dong stone grotto, a piece of green stone emerging from the ground; Chong stone; Hon Phu Tu, Father and Son rocks which lie approximately 100 m offshore; and Hang Pagoda. By boat, one can reach Hai Tac islets, 16 islets around which the water is 4 m deep. On the coast of Hon Doc, the largest islet, is a magnificent white sand beach running towards the sea.

Near Hon Chong Beach is Tien Cave that has 2 openings; the east door on the sea and the west door, opening on Duoc Beach. In the cave are many oddly shaped stone drops, some suggesting Nguyen King’s gold throne. Hon Trem Beach, 1000 m from Hon Chong Beach offers the nicest white sand in Ha Tien. Hang Pagoda is also very interesting. This pagoda, 40 m underground, somber and foggy, echoes the sounds of the pagoda’s bell on the stone drops.


The anniversary of Nguyen Trung Truc

Date: 27th to 29th of the 8th lunar month
This festival is held annually at the communal house, at 14 Nguyen Cong Tru Road, Vinh Thanh Quarter, Rach Gia Town.

It is dedicated to the memory of Nguyen Trung Truc, a hero celebrated for his services in fighting against aggressors to protect the country. Before losing his life, he made a very famous statement, "Only when all the grass in Vietnam is pulled up will there be no more Vietnamese people to fight against the French aggressors."
Every year, on the anniversary of his death, thousands of visitors attend the festival and pray to Nguyen Trung Truc. The Co Hoa Festival (the ceremony of staging a procession for a throne) is held on the 28th of the 8th lunar month. The communal house also provides accommodations for the groups of visitors who attend the festival.


Duong Dong

Duong Dong is the chief town of Phu Quoc and a big fishing port located on the central west coast of the island. The Phu Quoc airport and most of the hotels on the island are located here.

The main tourist attraction in Duong Dong is Cau Castle (Dinh Cau). This temple was built in 1937 and was dedicated to Cau, the God of the Sea who protects fishermen and sailors from storms and other sea dangers. The castle has maintained its ancient architectural style, and there is a great view from here.


Phu Quoc island

Phu Quoc, the largest island in Vietnam, lies in the Gulf of Thailand, 45 km from Ha Tien and 15 km south of Cambodia. Phu Quoc, in Kien giang Province, covers an area of 585 sq. km and is 50 km long. Phu Quoc has many harbours such as An Thoi and Hon Thom where international and domestic ships can anchor.

Also, there are several historical sites on the island: national hero Nguyen Trung Truc's military base, Emperor Gia Long relics from the time he spent on the island and Phu Quoc Prison.

Off the coast there emerges a group of 105 islands of varying sizes. Some of them are densely inhabited such as Hon Tre and Kien Hai, 25 km from Rach Gia.

The population has undergone a dramatic increase over the last 20 years; there are 55,000 people living here now, while there were no more than 5,000 people in 1975.

Phu Quoc has also been called the Emerald Island (not to be confused with the Emerald Isle) because of its natural treasures and infinite tourism potential.

The area is well known for its high quality fish sauce; apparently it smells particularly good since it is made from a small fish, ca com, with a high level of protein.

The island produces 6 million litres of fish sauce every year. The number of litres purchased by tourists is probably not too high.


Ha Tien town

People visiting Ha Tien hope to capture the magic of the land in South Vietnam, where many heroic historical places such as imperial tombs and ancient pagodas can be visited. Ha Tien is such a delightful location that a French film company chose it to produce the movie "L'amant" (The Lover) in 1995. It is an ideal location to spend holidays.



There are several attractions in the area: Thach Dong stone grotto, a piece of green stone emerging from the ground; Chong stone; Hon Phu Tu, Father and Son rocks which lie approximately 100 m offshore; and Hang Pagoda. By boat, one can reach Hai Tac islets, 16 islets around which the water is 4 m deep. On the coast of Hon Doc, the largest islet, is a magnificent white sand beach running towards the sea.

Near Hon Chong Beach is Tien Cave that has 2 openings; the east door on the sea and the west door, opening on Duoc Beach. In the cave are many oddly shaped stone drops, some suggesting Nguyen King’s gold throne.

Hon Trem Beach, 1000 m from Hon Chong Beach offers the nicest white sand in Ha Tien. Hang Pagoda is also very interesting. This pagoda, 40 m underground, somber and foggy, echoes the sounds of the pagoda’s bell on the stone drops.

Primitive Cajuput Jungles - A Valuable Natural Heritage

The natural cajuput jungles in South Vietnam prior to 1930 covered an area of 175,000 ha, of which those in Ca Mau Province are called Lower U Minh and the others in Kien Giang Province are called Upper U Minh. As a flooded ecosystem, they are rated second only to the Amazon of South America in terms of area and bio-diversity.

The peat layers and the amber streams

The wooden cajuput jungles represent a secondary forest in the immense submerged ecosystem of alluvial soils of the Cuu Long Delta - a marshland covered with disintegrated vegetation under flooding and often harsh conditions. Their geomorphologic structure is 0.5 - 1.5 m below sea level, flooded in the rainy season but depleted of water in the dry season.

The soil and water characterize the cajuput jungles of U Minh. The reddish brown stream generates from the age-old layers of peat formed by accumulated humus about 1m thick, soft and brown, water-absorbent but free from salt and alum. It stores water in the rainy season and generates humidity and evaporates in the dry season, thus breeding a rich, diversified and rare population of fauna and flora. The heterogeneous vegetation crisscrossing and interconnecting in numerous layers and strata, sections and canopies over the flooded ground is the habitat of many species, water-birds in particular. In the Upper U Minh jungles you may still find the hair-nosed otter (Lutra sumatrana) and the water-cat (Prionailurus viverinus) exceptionally rare among a total of 24 species, including seven already listed in the World Red Book of Endangered Species. There are 12 marshland bird varieties, and particular attention should be given to the protection of the flock of herons and the large populations of amphibians and aquatic creatures such as pythons and snakes, turtles and fish, prawns and shrimps. The most famous product of the U Minh jungles is its cajuput-honey, a tonic that helps increase resistance to disease. The water from its amber stream is quite fresh, alum-free and wholesome, used as drinking water by the local inhabitants. During the resistance war, I spent a long time there using the water from the U Minh streams to do the cooking, prepare tea and wash white clothing without worries about their discoloration.

A 3,000-year-old cajuput discovered in the national preservation park of the Upper U Minh (the oldest ever recorded for the cajuputs so far, according to sources from the British Royal Institute for Environmental Studies) shows the cajuput jungles here are pristine, representative of the submerged, luminous forest ecosystem on peat plates. Since 1998, a project for the development of the community and preservation of the Upper U Minh jungles, sponsored by CARE of Denmark (which is still going on), has a total budget of VND 100 billion and USD 3.2 million. The project has recorded fine achievements, providing favourable conditions for the environment preservation and scientific studies.

In 2002, Kien Giang Provincial People’s Committee made a decision to set up a national park to protect the Upper U Minh jungles, with an area of 8, 053 ha including more than 4,000 ha of primordial forest, a peat deposit of 40 million tons, the only location with the reddish brown water, surrounded by the cajuput jungles as buffer zone. This is the 12th national park in Vietnam. And as the only pristine forests left, the Upper U Minh national park is all the more important to scientific study and preservation of natural heritage in Vietnam.

The black fumes and the fate of the cajuput jungles


In the 1977 and 1984 dry seasons, clouds of dense, black smoke soared up high, prevailing over the peninsula of Ca Mau for months, not allowing even a beam of sunshine. The flames razed to the ground 50,000 ha of forests along with the pristine peat layers of the Lower U Minh jungles. They were two typical catastrophes, wiping off the immense primordial cajuput jungles of the Lower U Minh during the hard times of the national economy. Similarly, in the Upper U Minh, according to 1976 statistics, after 17 years of logging and foraging, as well as clearing land for cultivation and aqua-culture, coupled with local fires, the total area of devastation stood at 50,000 ha. The determination of the Government, the provincial authorities and the scientists working in the Upper U Minh national park project failed to avert and quench the flames of the March-April 2002 dry season. More than 3,000 ha out of 4,000 ha of primitive forest covered by the project, the last ones of the natural legacy, went up in flames and smoke. It is hoped that the timely rescue could retain the peat layers, the source of reproduction of the Upper U Minh national park. However, the foundations of the project are likely to be reconsidered and revised when only about 1,000 ha of cajuput jungles are left amid the ashes.

Worse still more losses, 5,000 ha of 15-year-old cajuputs in the Lower U Minh, grown on the burnt-out ground of the previous fires also went up in flames in the recent April dry-season fires, thus bringing the losses in the past two months to 8,000 ha. The vitality of the cajuput jungles is quite dim as their peat layers have been destroyed and they are depleted of the reddish brown water. Formerly, when the forests were in their full cycle of existence, with vigor and vitality, the natural cajuputs still soared up high, despite the devastation caused by the flames and the shelling, to protect and nurture the revolutionary movement of the two sacred resistance wars with their large canopies, contributing to the historic background of the nation.

Another devastation, no less catastrophic than the fires, is the ruthless logging and poaching of forest products. The economic plans of the localities with forests do not take account of eco-balances, or fail to check the reclamation of land by slash-and-burn practices, for terrace fields, rice cultivation or shrimp rearing. The over-exploitation of the cajuput forests has made them unable to play their role in regulating the climatic and hydrographical conditions, and perhaps denuded them for good of their ecological landscapes as well as the original environment they used to have. The memories of the pristine cajuput forests can only be found in the Upper U Minh preservation area that is under construction with focused energy and concentrated budgets so that this last natural heritage may be preserved.

Efforts of salvage

The calls for help from the cajuput jungles burned off by the disastrous fires this year have really woken up the administrators from the centre to the localities. Quenching the fires is an imperative task, and it should go hand in hand with actions to wipe out their consequences and work out approaches to prevention and salvage. A comprehensive master plan should be drawn up scientifically, with sufficient inputs in the re-location of the inhabitants, reforestation, efficient protection and exploitation of the cajuput eco-systems.

Deforestation is currently a State policy. The government’s grand plan for five million ha deforestation in the whole country shows its determination to apply re-forestation to the lost areas. In the U Minh jungles alone, growing anew the cajuputs is not so difficult, as they do well in the aluminous soils, they are tolerant to brackish water and drought, and they provide higher economic value than food crops. Quite a few jungles of cajuputs of dozens of hectares owned by private households or contracted to the forestry workers for cultivation or tending are under efficient exploitation.

The State plays its role in mobilizing capital for the digging of canals, construction of roads and bridges, banks and dykes and erection of power networks to the locations. This sound guideline is actively helping to alleviate hunger and reduce poverty, as well as create fresh ecological landscapes in the areas under the cajuputs. And the farmers are making profits from their cajuput forests in the traditional co-existence and development with nature.

The forest owners, who came from different parts of the country to settle in this area, like the two sisters, Hong Y and Hong Thu, I’ve talked with, will link their lives to the existence of the jungles. This will be the most compatible socio-economic objective that helps the U Minh cajuput forests survive as alluring tourist spots, with long-term historic and scientific values.