This is one of the many places I had visited while I was in Vietnam last week, the Dai Nam Wonderland Park. It is a must visit place if you are in Ho Chi Minh City.
A spectacular place for vacation and recreation with many outdoor activities. It's not only attracted many tourists but also Swiftlets. That is true. These Swiftlets really have the taste for expensive buildings and heavily invested structures.
(The Entrance of The Dai Nam Wonderland Park)
Dai Nam Wonderland is a tourism complex in Binh Duong, Vietnam. Open on September 11th, 2008, Dai Nam Tourist - Cultural - Historical Zone includes the first safari in Vietnam and the largest artificial sea in Southeast Asia and is expected to be the biggest park and tourist destination in the country by 2010.
Đại Nam Sea is 21.6 hectare, with a total water surface area of 20,000 sq.m and coast of 1.4 km long. The artificial sea has beaches, with artificial waves up to 1.6m high.
The construction of the largest tourism site started in about 1999, on a 450 hectare plot of land, some 40 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City. The Paradise now includes the Dai Nam Van Hien Temple, an entertainment site, zoo, shopping area, hotels, and cuisine sites. The 12.5ha open zoo is part of the 450ha Lac Canh Dai Nam Van Hien Entertainment Complex. The park is home to rhinos, white lions, tigers, elephants, bears, ostriches, chamois, zebras, gnus, squirrel-monkeys, and foxes, many of which are not typically found in Viet Nam.
Dai Nam Van Hien, a huge tourism complex in the southern Vietnam, was opened on September 11, 2008 in Binh Duong Province. Dai Nam Tourist - Cultural - Historical Zone is expected to be the biggest park and tourist destination in the country by 2010. This area is about 450 hectares located in Thu Dau one, inh Duong about 50 Kilometer away from HCMC. Dai Nam Park is a huge complex, encompassing a shopping center, hotel, movie theater, theme park, campground, water park, zoo, and numerous temples. Its cost for building Dai Nam about VND 3,000 billion. Dai Nam Van Hien looks like a small great wall. The park is so large that people get around by bus and electric train. The 12.5 ha open zoo is part of 450ha Lac Canh Van Hien. An assortment of thrilling rides such as the roller skating and biking.
Manmade Caves
The 5.000 square-meter temple isn't an exact copy of the main temple in Hue but it's still impressive with its lotus-shaped flag tower and 13.5 kilometer wall that also encloses a 5.000 room hotel. Outside is Bao Son which at 63 meters tall and 250 meters in length, is the biggest man-made mountain in VietNam. The five peaks and the Bao Thap Tower are a scales-down version of Ngu Hanh Son Mountain in Da Nang on the central coast.
Inside Bao Thap Tower are nine theme-based altars, one on each level, to venerate the country's founders and later heroes and heroines like HO Chi Minh, Tran Hung Dao and the waeeioe sisters Hai Ba Trung, who lived from 12-43 AD.
( Behind the walls are Swiftlet Farms. Stretched more than few Kilometer in lenght. Recently converted into Swiftlet Farm.)
( Water sprinklers are everywhere. To create a wet humid environment.)
The Man-made Mountains and caves with 5 peaks is one of the most interesting attractions here. It was built for tourists to have a feel of the cave environment. Unfortunately or should I say fortunately Swiftlets had decided to stay and make nests inside these (artificial) Man-made caves.
The owner saw the potential of Swiftlets farming here and turn it into Swiftlet farms.
The owner saw the potential of Swiftlets farming here and turn it into Swiftlet farms.
(An Astonishing view. This is tranquility)
(Birds circling above the Mountain)
It was an unplanned investment and the owner had never expected that the man made caves could attract so many Swiftlets. It was sheer luck. Now visitors are no longer allowed to enter these caves and it had been cordoned off. Around the Man-made Mountains and caves there are few Pagodas and temples, those that are closer to the Caves had been converted into Swiftlet Farms as well.
( Even the Pagoda is converted in Swiftlet farm)
( Bazooka to attract Birds)
I think the owner had never thought of Swiftlet farming, This Park was built for tourism purposes and Swiftlet farming came in as a surprise. I guess the owner see the return on invest is greater on Edible Birds Nests than Tourism therefore he made this move.
These Man-made Mountain and Caves look very natural and real. It has trees planted all over the valleys and cliffs to make them look real. I think many would have not noticed this and for some they may think these are real natural Mountains and caves
( One of the many Entrance Holes)
( Cave like Entrance Hole)
( Camoflaged Entrance Hole with Tweeters)
( Small Stream that flows into the cave)
( Ponds Surrounding the Mountains and Caves.)
With its size and the huge investment involved, I can confidently say this is the largest and most expensive Swiftlet farm ever built in the Swiftlet farming History.
Water sprinklers and fountains were installed on all peaks of the mountains to cool down the internal temperature and to create a similar wet limestone cave environment. There are man-made ponds and streams that flow into the caves through underground passages. It is getting so close and similar to natural cave environment no wonder it attracts so many birds. Currently this man-made Mountains and Caves is one of the most successful Swiftlet farms in Vietnam
( A good balance of Ying and Yang and good Feng Shui. Mountain and Water)
( Three of the Five Mountains)
( Another new Mountain. "To be precised BH" )
(The Great Wall is also Swiftlet farm)
( All these are Swiftlet farms)
So next time if you do visit Vietnam, make sure you visit the Dai Nam Wonderland Park.
Good Swiftlet farming All!
