Last weekend, Tip review recently participated in a wonderful experience at Tri An Lake. If you want to find a place near Saigon but with charming mountains and water and away from the noise of the city, this largest artificial lake in Vietnam is definitely a destination not to be missed. Come on, let’s explore this experience with Tip review through the 2 days 1 night trip below.
Random trips always bring us difficult emotions. Tip review’s trip to Tri An Lake is the same. While sleeping soundly on a beautiful Saturday, his friend called and asked if he wanted to go to Tri An Lake to play? Dreamily, I agreed and went back to sleep. Yet somehow, at 11am I was at my friend’s house in District 2 to ride a motorbike to Vinh Cuu – Dong Nai.
It takes about 1 hour to drive and you will reach the edge of Tri An Lake because this place is only 60km from Saigon. I don’t understand why there are so many police checkpoints on Hanoi Highway, remember to drive at the right speed, in the right lane and turn on your turn signals to avoid being called in and reduce the fun of the trip.
At 12:00 noon, we stopped at a roadside restaurant and went to a coffee hammock to rest, avoid the sun and wait for a few more friends to come down by car from Bao Loc – Lam Dong. At around 2:30 p.m., the whole team gathered at the Ma Da ferry terminal (from Ma Da market, go straight along the dirt road to the lake shore). Luckily, on this trip, we had friends from the Steam Boat Rental – Sup boat rental company with us, so we had many more interesting games.
As you have seen in my experience video above, Tip review and his friends ran around the rafts near the shore in an inflatable boat to buy fish for dinner. After that, the group went to find a “promised land” to anchor and set up tents. Islanding back and forth, we finally found Nam Bau Island (Uncle Nam’s island, who has lived separately here for more than 30 years), 5km from the mainland.
The lakeshore here is beautiful, flat, and convenient for setting up tents. Besides our group, there were 1-2 other groups that took the ferry up first, but thanks to the large island, they hardly affected each other at all. It seems that the goal of escaping the noise and epidemic has been initially successful.
After setting up the tent, we were instructed by the team member on how to run the inflatable boat with the engine. At first, you’re not very familiar with how to shift gears, accelerate, and navigate, but with just a little practice, you’ll get used to it. It’s easy and done, my friends.
Finally the most interesting scene came. The inflatable boat will pull the Sup boats through the waters of Tri An Lake. Tip review believes that at first you will have difficulty balancing the Sup boat in the pulling direction of the inflatable boat and you will certainly fall a few times face down into the cool water of the lake. However, after a few times of courageously standing up from falling, you will experience an extremely high feeling that you have never experienced in your life. When you’re tired of playing, you just need to lie down on the Sup and let the inflatable boat pull you away, admiring the majestic nature, that feeling is so wonderful.
We got ashore at 5:30 p.m. when we were all wet. Everyone split up to change clothes and build a fire to warm up. Our chef showed off his talents in cooking hot pot and grilling fish, while the others were in charge of preparing the “banquet table” and grilling beef in the sun. In that wild atmosphere, you share “plates” of hot food, enjoy a little alcohol and laugh at everyday gossip.
One of the things I like most about this trip is that instead of organizing activities like eating, drinking, singing, and sleeping like other groups on the island, our group decided to wear life jackets and get on the boat. Go out to the middle of the lake, turn off the engine and let the boat drift by itself. Everyone sat close together on the boat, holding a cup of hot coffee they had just brewed, looking up at the starry sky with acoustic music coming from a phone that was almost out of battery. It feels like stepping into a romantic movie.
It was 12:00 at night when we finally went ashore. Yet everyone hasn’t gone to sleep yet. Everyone gathered around the fire, snacking on unfinished pieces of grilled fish and sharing with each other about future plans. Perhaps when in such a natural, pristine place, people can easily express the feelings that have been stored in their hearts for a long time. It was nearly 3:00 a.m., when our eyes could no longer be opened, we crawled outside the tent to sleep, even though the half moon had reached its peak outside and a few fishermen were fishing on the lake.
The next day, we had to wake up at 6:30 to watch the sunrise. Oh my god, the sunrise on Tri An Lake is super beautiful, guys. I have watched the sunrise in many places in Vietnam and neighboring countries, but the feeling of peace, not hustle and bustle and fully enjoying this moment is probably only Tri An Lake that can bring it. As long as you sit on the Sup boat and glide out onto the lake, you will definitely have super magical photos of the sunrise.
Enjoying the sunset experience, we had instant noodles for breakfast and enjoyed filter coffee. After that, the whole team cleaned up the area and continued to walk around the lake by steamboat and Sup boat. Surfing in the morning is much better than in the afternoon, because it’s warm, not too sunny, and the lake surface is super calm, without ripples, so surfing becomes much easier. If you’re a little lazier, lying on the boat, basking in the sun to kill the virus and admiring the surrounding scenery is enough to get you high.
At 10:30, we went up to collect our belongings and clean up the camping area, leaving no trash on the island. After that, the whole team walked to explore this 4-hectare island full of cashews and mangos and then took a boat back to the mainland. After lunch, everyone said goodbye and see you again on the next trip. After 1 hour of driving, Tip review arrived at home with indescribable relief and comfort.
