This 380-square-kilometer (75,000 hectares) wedge of neon-green mountain range sliced by the treacherous Dong Nai River is located about 20 km northwest of Tan Phu and Highway 20 and about 160 km from Ho Chi Minh City north toward Bao Loc and the hill station town of Dalat. It's not an easy place to reach - definitely for off-the-beaten-path travelers. It reaches into three provinces - Dong Nai, Lam Dong and Binh Phuoc.

Cat Tien is a beautiful, unspoiled national preserve, and home to some pretty rare and endangered wildlife, including elephants, leopards, the gaur ox and the Javan rhino - a regular jungle book of characters - and one of the few places on the planet where one can get a glimpse of nearly-extinct species (the Vu Quang ox, an almost mystical, deer-like species of ox was discovered only in 1993). The park's major path is constantly traversed by creatures other than the few humans who make the laborious trip out here - gibbons, macaques, myriad species of colorful birds, wild boar and giant lizards. Shafts of sunlight pierce through the 40-meter-tall rainforest canopy, spotlighting kaleidoscopic clouds of multi-hued butterflies. Orchids perch on the trunks of the many varieties of mahogany, teak and banyan trees like neon signs.

As most foreign guests usually spend only one evening at Cat Tien, the most popular treks are to Ben Cu and Heaven Rapids on the Dong Nai River, one and seven kilometers from the park headquarters respectively. The park's single main path/road ribbons through this semi-mountainous, electrically-lush park. The Dong Nai River, which flows in fast-forward during the summer's southwest monsoon, severs the path after about 14 kilometers, leaving the park's abandoned reaches the domain of its most exotic and elusive treasures. There is nary a walking trail which branches from the park's principal path. And you won't find any trail markers, observation platforms or signs on the trees marking their species in Latin. It's about as primitive as it gets out here.

You'll probably want to make contact with the park's director, Mr. Duyen. Though his English isn't exactly flawless, he makes for an excellent guide (when he's got the time) and is an expert in botany and biology. His knowledge of the park's innumerable species of flora and fauna is vast, and he'll be more than happy to tell you all about it. Other English-speaking guides are available.

The park's headquarters has been given a face-lift over the last couple of years, and the staff seems more helpful. Good thing, as you'll be prodded - perhaps even required - to hire a park guide for most of the trips offered in the park, including those to the rapids and the research and observation areas. Though the park is more lush during the rainy season, more of it is accessible during the drier months. The best time to visit is December through April, the ideal months being December and January.