Tan Lap Floating Village

The tràm trees of Đồng Tháp Mười stand twice here, once on the bank and once in the water. A boat pulled along a cable moves slowly down the Rạch Rừng. Passengers hear the water and watch the rows of tràm reflected below. That feeling is hard to find anywhere else on this delta plain.

Tân Lập Floating Village is an eco-tourism site on National Highway 62. It lies in Mộc Hóa commune, Tây Ninh Province. Many older documents give the address as Tân Lập commune. They place it in Mộc Hóa, in Long An Province. That was the earlier name, before the administrative units were rearranged. Both addresses point to the same place and the same tràm forest. By published figures, its core zone covers about 135 hectares. The buffer zone around it covers about 500 hectares.

The tourist site explains the name "floating village" through local memory. Residents of this area were once used to living with the floodwater. They built their houses on high ground and got about in boats, and daily life followed the waters of the seasons. Today that story is told again in a setting of tràm forest, canals and channels, lotus, water lilies, water hyacinth and lúa ma, all typical of Đồng Tháp Mười.

A visitor has several ways to see the place. A cable boat moves slowly along the Rạch Rừng. A xuồng ba lá winds through small channels. The tàu vỏ lãi, a faster boat, crosses the same water more quickly. Or a visitor can paddle a kayak on Hồ Bán Nguyệt. Each choice shows a different side of the same tràm forest.

For many families, the most memorable part is the boat route along the Rạch Rừng. The route carries visitors past a field of water lilies and a pond of lotus, toward the landscape area around the X Bridge, and it runs for nearly three kilometers. The cable boat takes about 70 minutes, which leaves time to look into every corner of the forest. The tàu vỏ lãi takes about 30 minutes, for younger children who need a shorter ride.

After the boat route comes the path through the tràm forest. A family can walk slowly here on a concrete trail between the trees. The path leads to the X Bridge, the T Bridge, Hồ Bán Nguyệt and the observation tower. It is a good stretch for stopping to look at the water and to watch birds perched on tràm branches. It is also a place to let children find the natural rhythm of the flooded forest for themselves.

The site calls Hồ Bán Nguyệt a favorite resting point. Its water is shaped like a half moon, ringed by green tràm, and the place is quiet. It suits a family photograph, a drink of water, and a few minutes of listening to nature before moving on.

The xuồng ba lá tour is a gentle and close way to see the forest. The guides paddle and talk as the boat winds through narrow channels, past bèo cám, birds and fish. The tour lasts about 30 minutes. It suits small children and anyone who likes a slow pace.

One sight comes only late in the afternoon, on the bird island. The site presents it as a separate area deep in the tràm forest. Birds and cò gather there on their own, drawn by water full of fish and by the green trees. The tour leaves then, just as the sun turns the tops of the tràm gold. Flocks of birds fill the sky on their way back to their nests.

The tràm forest here is not a wild forest left to itself. According to Vietnam's national tourism authority, this area belongs to Đồng Tháp Mười, with the same tràm forest and the same plants named earlier. It shelters many kinds of birds, cò and fish. The forest is protected and has had more trees planted, which makes a large green patch in the middle of the plain. That is why the flocks still come flying in each evening, as they have done through so many seasons of rising water.

The same source says the Rạch Rừng winds through the village, and the Vàm Cỏ Tây River lies ahead. This is a large river of the southwestern delta. The detail shows how small a corner this village is of a much wider network of rivers and channels.

Tân Lập Floating Village is not a place of loud music or a stage for performances. Its strength is the slow pace and the feeling of riding among the clumps of tràm with no need to hurry. It is the color of the water and the sound of the boats.