Van Long nature reserve It is an interesting experience to sit in a basket boat rowed by local people to visit Van Long Nature Reserve and listen to the rower talking about the history and culture of this submerged area.    Van Long, the largest of submerged nature reserves in the mountain delta, has been open to tourists since 1998. Every year, from May to September, Van Long Nature Reserve is very crowded with visitors who come to explore its landscape. Our first impression when we set foot on this land was the introduction by Nguyen Dinh Tan, manager of the tour to Van Long, about the tourist site of his homeland. He told the story about a tourist from France, named Robest who came to find recorded in the memoirs of his father a former war soldier in the battlefield in Viet Nam. In the memoirs there are the words: “On September 24, 1943…On the operation route to northern An Nam there is a strange submerged area. Here in autumn, a large number of birds hovered in the sky. In the afternoon, groups of monkeys and apes go down the mountains to drink water and seek food. This area seems unexplored by people.” Robest came to Gia Vien in the autumn of 2011 and asked the local people about the words recorded in the memoirs. He was told about Van Long and visited the area a day. He confirmed this was the strange land where his father had been stationed during the expedition in the past. Robest’s story only served as a reference on Van Long land but it made us curious. Van Long Nature Reserve covers 3,500ha and is surrounded by concrete dykes which are over 20km long. Around the reserve there are typical villages of the northern delta where foreign tourists like to explore by ox carts or bicycles to enjoy the tranquility of the rustic areas. To visit the reserve, people can only take a basket boat rowed by local people to go along the sole waterway from Van Long Wharf to the reserve. The basket boat is versatile. In the past it was used to travel and catch fish and shrimp in the submerged areas. Since Van Long became an eco-tourist site, about 400 boats have been used to transport tourists. With a fare of VND 75 per passenger the boat brings a large income for the residents in the area. Our boat rowed by Thuy Lan ran northward of the reserve and then along the foot of the mountain to the east. It went through a small rivulet towards the foot of the mountain. Around, there are green reed trees and we can see schools of fishing swimming among the green algae under the water’s surface. We enjoyed the cool wind from the east. In the distance, the fishing boats of the local people were silhouetted on the water and only a small fish coming to the surface to get air could make the small waves spread to a large area. Like a professional tourist guide Thuy Lan told us the legend of the highest mountain in this area. In the old days, while passing this mountain, a fairy saw the charming landscape and stopped to behold it. She met and fell in love with a poor man who lived on the mountain to study. Due to their love they were punished by god and turned into two mountains, called Nghien and Fairy Mountains. These mountains stand side by side but they have never become husband and wife. During our trip we also passed mountains whose names are associated with interesting things, such as Meo Cao (scratching cat), Mam Xoi (tray of sticky rice), Hom Sach (box of books) and Da ban (slate). The most interesting place was the island of the storks at sun set. This is a submerged forest lying in the area of reed trees. It is the habitation of the migratory birds in winter. During that time many migratory birds from the north such as the Bonelli eagles, gray herons, great egrets, teals, Chinese pond herons and white storks hovered in the sky, creating a very beautiful painting. When sunlight was hidden behind the lime mountains Thuy Lan told us that we could see the languors going down the mountain to the lagoon to drink and seek food. We saw a big languor clinging to a cliff on a ravine. Seeing our boat it went into the dense canopy of leaves. According to Thuy Lan, on wet and cloudy days visitors can see over 10 languors going down the mountain. If they see the boat they will scatter and call to each other to go up the mountain. At the end of the day, the sky was dusky. The cries of the storks calling each other from the distance and the rustling of the reed trees created unique sounds of peaceful mountainous areas. (Viet Nam Pictorial) Source: VGP