Exploring the Yok Don dense forest

When I mentioned going to Yok Don, my friends looked puzzled and asked, 'Which country is that?'. Well, Yok Don is the second-largest national park in the country (after Phong Nha – Ke Bang), located in Buon Don (Dak Lak), home to one of the almost unique deciduous forests in Vietnam.

Exploring the Yok Don dense forest

Yok Don is situated in the border region between Vietnam and Cambodia, restricting cross-border movements. The only option is to reach Buon Don via the Buon Me route. We drove along an inspiring route, wandering for dozens of kilometers through the quiet forest, under the lush green canopies. If you like, you can stop by the roadside, set up chairs, brew a cup of coffee with the equipment we brought along.

Upon arrival, the entire group received attentive hospitality from the Garden Tourism Center, from the 'handsome' director to the welcoming head chef. The dinner table featured a dish of golden ant soup, cooked with snakehead fish and wild vegetables.

The first Vietnamese trekking group

Walking 15 kilometers through the dense forest, enjoying sesame salt rice by the stream, setting up tents by ourselves, venturing into the forest for firewood, cooking, and personally roasting wild rice, fish, and meat for dinner. We had a busy day, a challenge that brought out various emotions.

Having hiked through the Hoang Lien forest (conquering Fansipan before the cable car era), Cuc Phuong forest, Bach Ma forest, Nam Cat Tien forest, and Cau Mau forest, trekking in Yok Don gives us an entirely different feeling. Unlike tropical rainforests, evergreen forests, dense forests, or mangrove forests, Yok Don is the only deciduous forest left in Vietnam, experiencing green and leaf-shedding seasons like temperate forests.

The term 'khộp' is derived from the Lao language, meaning 'hardship or poverty.' A 'rừng khộp' implies a poor forest due to the nutrient-poor soil, resulting in small trees, sparse canopies, and during the dry season, the trees shed leaves to minimize energy consumption.

Because of this, from December to February every year, the entire forest turns golden, with layers of dry leaves covering the ground like golden and brown rice crackers. Around May, as the rainy season begins, the forest will be covered in vibrant green hues.

Our 15-kilometer trek wasn't just a walk but also practical hours of learning about nature, biological diversity, and safe forest navigation with Hien - a young 'teacher' from the 80s generation.

Born and raised in the Central Highlands, Hien took international courses on forests and wildlife, worked in restaurant and hotel management, but then gave up everything to return to the forest, as he couldn't stay away from it.

At the end of a day trekking through the forest with us, Hien mentioned that the Yok Don National Park tourism center has been operating for 26 years. He himself has worked here for over a decade, yet we, as the first Vietnamese group, are experiencing this unique type of forest, typically chosen only by Western tourists.

The majority of Vietnamese tourists prefer car rides, boat trips, or elephant rides straight to the camping site, where they light bonfires and sing. Our 15km route that day was just a 'mosquito' in the vast 1,200km forest, with countless undiscovered wonders.

In the evening in the forest, with a fire made from self-collected firewood, using bamboo tubes for sticky rice, cooking on an open flame, dishes like grilled fish with fish sauce, pork wrapped in forest leaves, and drinking from bamboo tubes - we enjoyed a meal without any wild game yet still filled with the taste of the wilderness.

We gathered everything before leaving the forest the next morning. The only thing we could leave behind was... our footprints.

Farewell to the Serepok River

We left the Yok Don forest along the Serepok River, the largest river flowing through Dak Lak, still retaining its surprisingly pristine and majestic appearance.

Many rocky banks in the river pose dangers for inexperienced boat drivers, yet they are landing spots for herons and storks hastily flapping their wings on the waves. These areas also serve as bathing grounds for water buffaloes and, perhaps, even elephants.

Yok Don still harbors a population of around 70 wild elephants.

In addition to the wild elephants, the park also keeps a few domesticated elephants for tourism purposes. However, 'maybe we will discontinue the service of riding elephants,' suggested Hien. He has some new plans after this trip, starting with building a social platform for Yok Don (which currently doesn't exist) to share more accurate information about the forest, preventing people from misspelling Yok Don's name.

Parting ways with Yok Don from the Serepok boat pier, driving back on the old national road, within us were many things that felt very new: the forest experiences, the initial understanding of Yok Don, hope for the young man's love and connection with the forest...

According to Thuy Pham/Youth

***

Reference: Travel guide on Mytour