Embark on a Day in the 'Fruit Capital' of Long Khanh

The Southeast region of Vietnam has many recently popular and enticing destinations, but perhaps the most famous are the 'super gigantic' fruit orchards. One of the places near Saigon you can visit on weekends is Long Khanh - Dong Nai, known for its intoxicatingly fragrant and sweet fruit gardens. Join me in becoming a local and immersing yourself in the lives of the people here to see what's interesting!

Dong Nai boasts over 76,000 hectares of fruit trees, including over 300 concentrated production areas. Specialized fruits such as durian, rambutan, and mangosteen are the mainstays of the region. Among them, the Long Khanh areas are known for their particularly delicious and fragrant fruits.

The route from Ho Chi Minh City to the fruit orchards in Long Khanh is just over 60 kilometers, with an easy-to-travel road. Therefore, it only takes over 1 hour to reach your destination, starting from the moment you set off. You can search on Google Maps with the keywords 'Victory Beer Park Long Khanh' to get to the center of Long Khanh.

Every year, during the peak fruit season around June and July, Long Khanh City hosts a Fruit Festival that lasts for weeks. It serves as the perfect starting point for a day exploring the 'fruit capital' of Long Khanh.

Long Khanh Fruit Festival

Organized annually with free admission at Victory Beer Park in Long Khanh, the festival features various activities including fruit stalls, showcasing distinctive agricultural products from different regions, children's painting contests, model gardens, beautiful fruit stalls, artistic fruit displays, and even durian exports to China.

This year, the Long Khanh Fruit Festival highlights the 'Week honoring fruits and OCOP products of Dong Nai province in 2023', featuring the participation of numerous booths from local farmers, cooperatives, and businesses. Particularly, visitors will have the opportunity to freely enjoy rambutans during the festival. Throughout the event, organizers will present over 2.3 tons of rambutans to serve visitors.

Artistic Fruit Creations from Across Dong Nai Province

During the opening ceremony, Mr. Nguyen Son Hung, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Dong Nai province, emphasized that this is a significant event to honor outstanding orchard owners, promote and introduce key fruits, high-quality products, and OCOP products of the locality.

The festival is also a gathering place for managers, scientists, businesses, and farmers to exchange knowledge, learn, connect, and cooperate to expand the agricultural market. Especially focusing on fruits and OCOP products, it fosters the development of ecotourism agriculture, contributes to promoting the linkage of production and value chains in agriculture...

With 80 booths from localities, businesses, and cooperatives, the event creates numerous new collaboration opportunities. Also, it contributes to promoting the linkage process in producing agricultural goods, forming value chains in agriculture. Admission to the festival is free, where you can check in with artistic fruit works, booths representing each locality... So why hesitate to choose your favorite fruits at affordable prices to support the Fruit Festival?

The organization of the Long Khanh Fruit Festival annually helps promote and elevate local agricultural products and fruit brands. Furthermore, the fruit festival, with its diverse activities, is an opportunity to promote local tourism to residents and tourists both domestic and international.

Long Khanh City is a major fruit hub in Dong Nai province. The orchard owners in Long Khanh have successfully combined fruit orchard tourism, attracting a large number of tourists to visit. Therefore, when traveling to Long Khanh - Dong Nai, you cannot miss the activities of visiting fruit orchards.

Long Khanh Fruit Gardens

In recent years, ecotourism to fruit gardens in Long Khanh has seen remarkable growth. Thanks to the fertile soil and expert care of the gardeners, fruits here are abundant and fragrant. Fruit varieties commonly found in these orchards include durian, rambutan, each boasting its distinct flavor, attracting a plethora of tourists to explore and indulge.

To reach these lush fruit gardens, you'll venture deep into tranquil village communities, traversing shaded paths under the canopy of green trees, evoking a sense of nostalgia akin to childhood. Simply select a garden to visit, follow Google Maps, or rely on the guidance of friendly locals. You might even stumble upon Cau Dau Lake in Hang Gon commune, Long Khanh, a perfect spot for a relaxed photo before continuing your journey!

Explore the charming fruit gardens in Binh Loc, Bao Quang, Bao Vinh, where you can actively participate in harvesting activities and indulge in unlimited fruit tasting for a fee depending on the garden type. Afterwards, choose from a variety of fruits to purchase at incredibly affordable prices.

In Binh Loc commune, tour packages for different fruit gardens vary in price from 110,000VND to 170,000VND per person. A package including mango and rambutan gardens costs 170,000VND per person, while one with rambutan, jackfruit, and jujube gardens costs 110,000VND per person. Another option is rambutan and pomelo gardens for 110,000VND per person.

Due to the danger of falling fruits, particularly durians, from high trees, gardens provide designated photo spots (fruit stands) for visitors to take pictures free of charge. Visitors interested in purchasing or tasting fruits can weigh and buy them on the spot, priced according to the season.

Some gardens like Ut Tieu Garden and Mr. Loc La's Garden offer combined tours of fruit gardens and visits to streams, boat rides, and monkey bridge crossings for 60,000VND per person. Families with children under 6 years old enjoy free admission, while those aged 7-10 pay only 50% of the adult ticket price.

Currently, TP Long Khanh boasts around 20 fruit gardens open to visitors, such as Mr. Loc La, Ut Tieu, Hai Phuong, Tam Le, Phung Gia, Mr. Anh, Cau Dau Glamping... Each garden collaborates with several to dozens of other fruit gardens to create diverse and appealing tours for tourists. You can easily find the addresses by searching for the garden names on Facebook. Personally, I am fortunate to have a family friend who owns a fruit garden, where I receive warm hospitality and can immerse myself in hectares of fruit trees. Every year, each garden owner here harvests tons of fruits distributed nationwide.

Exploring and picking fruits in the fruit gardens is educational and enjoyable for families with young children, especially on weekends. It's a chance to escape the busy urban life and relax amidst the greenery of the sky and fruit trees while indulging in fresh, delicious fruits. Just a walk around the fruit garden yields a variety of fruits, providing ample natural vitamins for the body.

Long Khanh has always been renowned for its high-quality, sweet rambutans, and finally, I had the chance to explore this myself. Truly living up to its reputation, every rambutan is plump, red, with thick flesh and small seeds, biting into one instantly reveals its sweetness.

When visiting the fruit orchards in Long Khanh, what I found fascinating was the variety of rustic dishes available, such as grilled meat, grilled chicken, grilled snakehead fish wrapped in rice paper, free-range chicken cooked in porridge, rice soup with field crab...

The prices of these rustic dishes are reasonable and suitable for large groups, such as Grilled snakehead fish: 180,000 VND/fish, Young jackfruit salad with pig ears: 120,000 VND/portion, Grilled free-range chicken: 380,000 VND/chicken, Free-range chicken porridge + young mango salad: 500,000 VND/chicken, Field crab hotpot: 220,000 VND/pot, Stir-fried frog legs: 180,000 VND/plate... Make reservations with the chosen orchard at least 1 day in advance to enjoy the most delicious meals they have to offer.

A sense of tranquility reminiscent of childhood days washes over us at this moment. A delicious lunch amidst the serene natural scenery, with shady trees laden with ripe fruits swaying gently in the breeze...

If you haven't made any plans for this weekend or are still searching for a destination to explore, TP Long Khanh is a great choice for you! Not only can you enjoy the fresh air at the largest fruit orchards in the Southeast, but you can also indulge in the delicious four-season fruits here. Don't forget to buy some inexpensive fruits as souvenirs to support the locals. An amazing day of experience awaits you here!

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