When thinking about Vietnam Popular Destinations, I usually think about Cao Lãnh and Eco Tourism. And have you ever had a trip that just spent only 200,000VND ($10)? You may think I am a liar, if you think like that, it means you never ever been Cao Lãnh.
Cao Lãnh, which is one of Vietnam Popular Destinations, it just takes 157km from Ho Chi Minh City to Cao Lãnh province. At there, I had a nice eco picnic on weekend. There are two ways to come to Gáo Giồng forest, I choose the easier way even it is longer the shortcut which is go through the forest. In my opinion, my choice was correct; the road is cover by two straight trees which is very beautiful.
When you see the gravel road, it is the road come to Gào Giồng ecotourism. The entrance fee is only 10,000VND; you might take a cup of tea, eat the lotus seeds, watch the resort trailer and go fishing which are totally free. I stayed at the entrance gate for more than 30 minutes, then buying one ticket for boat tripping. Each boat has a tourist guide’s girl who will take you to the Sân Chim (Birds’ Garden), but I choose sailing boat by myself due to I had done it many times before.
Landing at the Sân Chim, I was so surprise due to this place seems to contain variety of birds in South Vietnam. There are more than 15 types of different birds living there like gold neck stork, herons and red spinach; especially there are some types of bird that belongs to the IUCN Red list of threatened species. In most Vietnam Popular Destinations, my father loves this place much. He totally fall in love with birds and usually collect them at my garden’s house.
After watching the birds, we came back the restaurant which is near the entrance gate. It is really fantastic when drinking a cool glass of beer and enjoys the specialty food. At there, I had a chance to eat the legend food of Cao Lanh which is blood dragon rice (Gạo Huyết Rồng). The rice is completely different with others that I have tasted. In each chew, the sweet flavor of rice is sweeter which makes the eater cannot stop chewing.
Next, I took another specialty food which is the grilled snakehead in the lotus leaf. The fish’s meat is really soft, the skin is brittle and the spicy of the fish sauce is really wonderful. The total price for all food and two glass of beer is 200,000VND. It made surprised too much, it was really cheap that I could not believe. Hope you love one of Vietnam Popular Destinations like this place. Good Luck to your trip.