In the Bay Nui (Seven Mountains) area of An Giang Province in southwestern Vietnam, near the Cambodian border, a small community-tourism venture has gotten under way that turns a grove of sugar palms into a tourist site as-is. The one who set it up is Huynh Ba Phuc, a 47-year-old local man. Beneath about three hectares of grove, you can take commemorative photos in Khmer traditional dress, ride a horse cart, and taste freshly pressed thot not (sugar palm) juice. For those thinking of a trip further west of Ho Chi Minh City, it looks set to become a candidate destination not yet in the guidebooks. Here, along with the news itself, we lay out the place's positioning, how to get there, and the best season, so Japanese travelers can use it on their next trip.
The origin story — one person’s challenge to turn a grove, as is, into a tourist site
According to the Vietnamese paper Thanh Nien on July 1, 2026, Phuc focused on the sugar-palm groves around An Cu and launched community tourism that blends nature with local Khmer culture. It opened at Tet 2026 (the Lunar New Year, the Year of the Fire Horse). Visitors can spend a half-day renting vibrant Khmer costumes to take photos in the grove and drinking freshly pressed sugar-palm juice while gathered around local dishes like grilled chicken, chicken congee, and grilled beef. In the evening, cultural-exchange events with local residents are also said to be held.
Phuc is reported to be envisioning a stall of traditional sweets made with sugar-palm sugar, a zone where visitors can try traditional Khmer weaving, and even a recreation of Bay Nui's signature bull racing. Not a big-capital resort development, but creating new livelihoods for local Khmer people without destroying the palm groves and their way of life—that is the core of the effort.
What are Bay Nui and the palmyra palm, anyway?
Bay Nui (Bảy Núi = Seven Mountains) is the name for a mountainous area made up of seven independent mountains scattered across the Tri Ton and Tinh Bien areas of An Giang Province. In the vast plains of the Mekong Delta, this is a distinctive terrain where mountains rise here and there, and it has long been known as a sacred and spiritual site. Tall-trunked sugar palms (thot not) standing in groves across those plains and mountain foothills have become the symbol of Bay Nui.
Sap is drawn from the palmyra palm’s flower stalks and boiled down into palmyra sugar (thốt nốt sugar). This sugar-making is a livelihood handed down for generations in Khmer kitchens, and with its distinctive richness and aroma it is an ingredient that underpins southern food culture. On February 21, 2024, the Vietnamese government registered this Khmer palmyra sugar-making as national intangible cultural heritage (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Decision 376, covering Tri Ton and Tinh Bien). This village tourism is positioned as an attempt to render that heritage into a form you can “see, wear, and taste.”
By the numbers — don't confuse 'the whole forest' with 'this place'
Online, this news is sometimes billed as a "forest of 35,000 sugar palms," but here caution is needed. The figure of over 35,000 is the number of sugar palms growing across the whole Bay Nui area (per various 2023 reports), not the count in the roughly 3-hectare grove that just opened. The original Thanh Nien article describes this facility as "several hundred towering trees." As a travel expectation, it's accurate to think of it as "tens of thousands across the whole area, staying and playing in one grove within it."
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Location | The An Cu area of An Giang Province (Bay Nui / the Seven Mountains region) |
| The site's size | A palmyra palm grove of about 3 hectares |
| The number of trees in this grove | Several hundred trees (as the original article describes) |
| Number of routes across the region | Over 35,000 trees (as of 2023, across the whole region) |
| Operator | Huỳnh Bá Phúc (47) |
| Start date | From Tet 2026 (Lunar New Year) |
| Cultural background | Khmer palmyra-palm sugar making was registered as national intangible cultural heritage in 2024 |
The original article does not specify admission or experience fees, and no firm figure could be obtained, so we refrain from listing amounts here. Confirming directly on site is the sure way.
The local reception — hopes for “tourism that doesn’t destroy”
The reactions that emerge from the reporting and local context can be sorted broadly into three directions. One is new work for the Khmer people. Renting costumes, serving food, making palm-sugar sweets — the fact that cash income arises without harming the grove's landscape is welcomed.
Another is appreciation for a form that doesn't leave culture as mere "exhibit." Some find value in being able to experience sugar-making—inscribed as national intangible cultural heritage—right there under the trees, not in a faraway museum. A third is a cautious view, asking how to protect the quiet of the groves and daily life as tourists increase, and calling for a design that doesn't scale up too far. Precisely because it is an effort one person started at a modest size, this balance will decide whether it lasts.
Implications for Japanese travelers—how to build "the depths of the Mekong" into your itinerary
Honestly, Bay Nui isn't a place Japanese travelers casually drop by. That's exactly why it makes a "one step further" destination for seasoned travelers. Here are some hints on how to work it in.
- Base yourself in Chau Doc or Long Xuyen. It’s realistic to head from Ho Chi Minh City by long-distance bus or car, then make a day trip or overnight out toward the Bay Nui (Seven Mountains) area from there.
- It pairs well with a Cambodia loop. Chau Doc is also a hub on the border route out toward Phnom Penh by boat along the Mekong, so it can be worked into a cross-border trip.
- Make it an experience-first trip. Different in character from beach or city sightseeing, the stars are "hands-on" experiences like costume, food, and sugar-making. It suits people who enjoy the texture of daily life over photogenic looks.
Getting around urban areas is also a premise for building your itinerary. Since transport around Ho Chi Minh City, the gateway, keeps changing under system revisions,City buses—134 routes went free from Julyand, before scattering out to the provinces,Summer domestic flight increaseskeeping these moves in mind too makes it easier to plan the trip in and out of the backcountry.
Ripple effects on the market — a test case for regionally dispersed tourism
In July 2025, An Giang Province merged with Kien Giang Province to become a new An Giang Province of about 4.9 million people (National Assembly Resolution 202 of June 2025). With sea-holding Kien Giang (Phu Quoc and others) and the farm-and-mountain former An Giang now one province, there is more range in how tourism can be pitched. While crowds gather at seaside resorts, inland places like Bay Nui can serve as a catch basin for those seeking "quiet" and "the real local."
Small community tourism that an individual started in a corner of the forest is one form of regionally dispersed tourism that doesn't rely on large-scale development. Moves to turn ethnic-minority villages and traditional livelihoods into experiences are spreading across Vietnam, and near Sapa,A village to stay in for the Red Dao's herbal baths and embroideryyou could call it the southern version of the same trend. If it works out, it becomes a fine example of a food heritage - sugar-making - linking with tourism and lifting local livelihoods.
Practical information and timing your trip
If you visit, the dry season (roughly November to April) is easier to get around, and the harvest-season scenery of paddies turning golden is also worth catching. Since tapping sugar-palm sap depends on the season and weather, those who want to be sure of drinking freshly pressed juice should ask their local lodging or guide about the timing in advance. As a rough yen guide, the rate at the time of writing has hovered around 165 dong to the yen (since exchange rates move, check the latest before departure).
Summary — for "one step further" on your next trip
Bay Nui's palmyra-palm village tourism, though not flashy, is a rare place where you can touch Khmer life and food heritage in one go. If you travel the Mekong Delta next, try planning a half-day to one-night trip toward Bay Nui, based in Chau Doc. Three things to do before you go: build your schedule around whether it's the dry season, lock in transport from Ho Chi Minh City (bus or domestic flight) first, and confirm with your accommodation the season when you can drink freshly pressed juice locally. Get these three done and you can savor a new destination deep in the Mekong while it's still quiet.
