Cam Mountain Forest Park – The sacred beauty of the mountains

The land of An Giang is famous for its natural landscape tinged with mysterious colors, including the Bay Nui or That   Son area. Prominent in That Son range is the “Forbidden Mountain” about 710m high above average sea level. Forbidden Mountain, also known as Thien Cam Son, is located in the center of the Seven Mountains region, so the “Forbidden Mountain” has wild and majestic beauty. In particular, Bo Hong peak on Cam mountain is the highest mountain in That Son and also the highest mountain in the Mekong Delta. With a cool climate like a version of “Da Lat” of the West, Cam Mountain becomes the most attractive place to visit, play and worship in An Giang tourist attractions.

A brief introduction about Cam Mountain

Cam Mountain is the highest and most majestic mountain in That Son cluster, considered by many devotees to be a sacred mountain with many different names. Since ancient times, Cam mountain has been called Gam mountain, Thien Cam Son, Thien Cam Son (the mountain is as beautiful as silk brocade). So far, there are still many theories about the origin of Cam Mountain, each with their own interpretation.

Legend has it that in the past, Cam Mountain was extremely dangerous and had many wild animals, so few people visited it, so it became a mysterious mountain area. Taking advantage of the desolate wilderness, many monks came to hermitage, the Luc Lam Thao Khau wards as well as the parties that robbed this complex border area also used Cam Mountain as a base.

In order not to be exposed, they spread rumors that there are many gods on the mountain, people are not allowed to come, anyone who sets foot on it will be punished, sick and dead. People at that time were very afraid and called it Cam mountain. A historical legend is that Nguyen Anh was wanted by Tay Son soldiers to come here, he and his entourage ran to Cam Mountain to take refuge. In order to keep the secret, Nguyen Anh’s courtiers let people float the news that the mountain was full of goblins and evil beasts to limit the eyes of the good people. Or the prohibition of Buddha Master Tay An, Doan Minh Huyen forbids the deity to go to the mountain to pollute the mountain, so the name is Cam mountain…

From a wild mountain “taboo”, now Cam mountain has appeared as Lam Vien tourist area.

The way to Cam Mountain tourist area

Cam Mountain tourist area is located in An Hao commune, Tinh Bien district, An Giang province. Located 90km from Long Xuyen city and about 37km from Chau Doc. If you are in Saigon, you can go to the Western bus station to catch the bus to Long Xuyen. Then you can refer to the following route.

• From Chau Doc city, you follow the national highway 91 – to Nha Bang market, turn left along provincial road 948 followed by Le Loi street – to An Hao, you will see a signpost to the Cam Mountain tourist area.
• From Long Xuyen city, you follow the national highway 91 – to Binh Hoa industrial park, turn left along provincial road 941 – to Tri Ton, turn right to continue provincial road 948 – to An Hao you will see a sign board on the way up. Cam mountain.

Time to travel to Cam Mountain

You can conquer Cam Mountain An Giang at any time of the year. In which, the most beautiful time to travel to Cam Mountain is in the spring, because the beauty is then full: the trees are budding, the flowers are luxuriant. The high mountain lakes are filled with white mist in the morning, the afternoon sun is gentle, the clouds are flying in the evening, the weather at night is cold.

If you want to immerse yourself in the vibrant atmosphere of traditional festivals of An Giang, you should go on April 23. 24 (lunar calendar) to attend Ba Chua Xu festival and August 29 to May 1. On September 1 of the lunar calendar, participate in the seven-mountain bull racing festival of the Khmer people.

Note, when traveling to Cam Mountain in these 2 months, you should bring more raincoats or umbrellas, because these months are often very rainy. If you want to see An Giang in the floating season at the top of Cam mountain, it is best to go around October.

Means of going up Cam Mountain

After reaching the foot of Cam mountain – An Giang, you need to choose 3 ways to go to the top of the mountain. You can take the cable car, take a motorbike taxi or hike to the top of the mountain. Walking or car is quite easy to go because it is newly built with a wide road. If taking the cable car brings a romantic feeling of flying when looking at the majestic mountain scenery, the feeling of sitting in a car is very adventurous because the car weaves through the winding and winding roads. The road to Cam mountain is round and round, one side is the mountain, the other side is the cool valleys with the shade of green trees, clouds and wind.

An Giang Cam mountain cable car

The cable car service to Cam mountain is for those who are in poor health or have limited time to climb the mountain. It only takes about 15 minutes by cable car to reach the top of the mountain. Sitting in the cable car, you can have a clear view of the whole An Giang sky from above.

Forbidden Mountain attractions

Lam Vien Nui Cam tourist area with diverse and rich forest ecological system, unique natural landscape, cool year-round climate. The harmonious setting between religious architecture and nature is an ideal destination for pilgrimage combined with a very unique and attractive resort. Coming to Cam Mountain tourist area, you visit pagodas, visit religious architectural works, explore caves, bathe in streams..

Architectural works and attractions on Cam mountain: Van Linh pagoda, Phat Lon pagoda meditation monastery, Thuy Liem lake, Vo Thien Tue, Thuy Liem cave, Bo Hong mall, Thanh Long stream, Gia Long king relic, palace 13 floors, Uncle Ho’s cave, Ong The cave, Ong Ho cave, Rau Tan palace…

Van Linh Pagoda

Van Linh Pagoda, also known as Leaf Pagoda, was painted by the Venerable Thich Thien Quang in 1927, originally built simply as a picture temple. In 1995, the pagoda was newly designed and built in the style of traditional oriental architecture, most notably the three majestic and contemplative towers, located at three different positions in front of the street, that is: the tower The 9-storey Quan Am is over 35m high (in the middle), the 3-storey Thich Thien Ha Quang pagoda (on the right) and the 9-storey bell tower with a 1.2-ton Dai Hong fruit (on the left).

Big Buddha Temple

The next temple visitors should explore when coming to Cam Mountain is Big Buddha Temple. Big Buddha Temple is also known as Zen Monastery, Big Buddha Temple. The pagoda was built in 1912. The pagoda owns a very large statue of Maitreya Buddha, 33.6 meters high, so it is called Big Buddha Temple. The Maitreya Buddha statue at Big Buddha Temple is also recognized by the Vietnam Record Book as the largest Maitreya statue in Vietnam.

Thuy Liem Lake

Thuy Liem lake is located in the center of Cam mountain. It creates a charming, poetic and romantic landscape for this place. The lake covers an area of more than 60,000 square meters with a capacity of more than 300,000 cubic meters of water. The lake is planted with flowers and bridges to create a beautiful landscape. Due to spiritual needs, Thuy Liem Lake today also becomes an ideal place to release fish for tourists.

The most wonderful thing is that when standing on the top of the mountain from above, visitors will have the opportunity to see the panoramic view of the immense rice fields stretching to the Ha Tien sea and the southwestern border.

Thanh Long Water Park

Leaning against the majestic Cam Mountain, Thanh Long Water Park not only inherits the beautiful scenery of nature, but is also equipped with an extremely “terrible” man-made waterfall system. Along with exciting adventure games guaranteed to captivate a wide range of young people and families across the country.

Forbidden Mountain specialties

Coming to Cam Mountain, visitors have the opportunity to enjoy dishes with bold Southern flavor, local products available at Huong Nui restaurant such as: pancakes with wild vegetables, stir-fried beef with Giang leaves, chicken cooked with bamboo shoots, jaggery, etc. Roasted mountain crabs, bamboo chickens, rabbits, milk ticks…