If
your looking for an outdoors adventure in Northern Vietnam then look no further
than Ba Be National Park. Ba Be boasts a
pristine lake, beautiful rivers, scenic waterfalls, and prehistoric caves set
amid towering forest shrouded mountains.
The national park offers rich biodiversity, unique landscapes, and at
its heart, Ba Be Lake, which is the largest and highest natural freshwater lake
in Vietnam. The park can be explored on
foot by trail, bicycle/motorcycle by road, or kayak/boat. Offering great and welcoming homestays, Ba Be
National Park is a great place to get way from the hustle of Vietnam.
What to Do
Ba Be
National Park is known for being the best place in the Northern Vietnam for
outdoor adventures. Whether you are
looking to trek through the lush jungle, cycle through the beautiful mountainous
landscape, exploring some of the many caves hidden below, kayak across the pristine
lake, or take in all of the beauty on a boat tour, Ba Be has it all. Depending on your schedule you can easily
spend a full day or a few days exploring everything it has to offer. Any of these adventures can be planned
through the Ba Be
Tourist Center, Mr. Linh’s
Adventures, and most of the guesthouses.
Through your guesthouse is the far cheaper option since you will have
the opportunity to bargain the price, as well as customize your trip.
Nang River
 |
| Floating down the Nang River. |
The Nang
River flows from China and connects with the northern tip of Ba Be Lake as it
continues westward. Along its route
through the park it flows through Puong Cave on the eastern end and down Dau
Dang Waterfall on the western end. Riding
down the Nang by boat is one the best ways to take in the beautiful scenery of the
Nang River as it is lined with beautiful lush jungle, karst mountains, and
green rice fields.
Puong Cave
 |
| Mouth of Puong Cave |
Located
up the Nang River from Ba Be Lake, this 30 meter high cave spans the river as
it cuts its way through the mountain. Boats
can dock just within the mouth of the cave allowing their travelers the chance
to get out and explore the cave. A
concrete trail runs the span of the cave, from one opening to the next,
enabling people to walk through the entire length of the cave. A colony of bats have also made one of the
dark recesses their home.
Dau Dang Waterfall
 |
| Dau Dang Waterfall from the observation deck. |
Located
down river from Ba Be Lake, Dau Dang Waterfall crashes down 500 meters of
boulders. The whitewater hurtling through
the rocks while surrounded by primitive jungle creates a picturesque
scene. There is a viewing deck just
below the first level of rocks that is easily accessible by walking down a
trail just west of the line of restaurants upriver.
Fairy Pond
 |
| Fairy Pond as advertised (Photo Credit: Ba Be National Park). |
 |
| Fairy Pond during our visit. |
Fairy
pond is located northeast of Ba Be Lake and is a small pond surrounded by
cliffs of thick forest. A local legend
has it that a hunter came across fairies bathing in the pond who then cast a
spell on him. Along the short walk from
the boat dock to the pond there are many stalls selling traditional medicines
and foods. I had heard great things
about this pond before going, but it was far from impressive when I
visited. On my arrival the once pristine
pond was dirty and stagnate possibly due to recent rain.
Widow's Island
 |
| Burning incense at the shrine on Widow's Island. |
Widow's
Island is a small island reaching out of the middle of Ba Be Lake. Made of karst rock tangled in the roots of trees,
this island stands as a picturesque silhouette against the still lake and
mountains in the background. The island
is topped with a temple to the widow and her son, who local folklore says saved
the people of Ba Be from disaster.
Tay Ethnic Minority Villages
 |
| Vietnamese village on the Nang River. |
Many
of the Tay ethnic communities lay within Ba Be National Park, along Ba Be Lake
and the Nang River. Most of the people
still retain a traditional way of life, living in stilt houses and practicing subsistence
farming as they always have. You can see
some of the villages while you ramble past on a boat tour, while others are
only accessible by the hiking trails. Though
most people stay in guesthouses and homestays in Bo Lu or Coc Toc villages,
some of the other villages also have homestays that allow you to get a real sense
of traditional Vietnamese way of life.
How to Get There
 |
| Boat tour on the Nang River. |
The two
main ways to get to Ba Be National Park is by shuttle or public bus. It is also a popular location for those that
are traveling by motorcycle and is on many people’s itinerary for the northern
loop.
From Hanoi
 |
| Shuttle bus to/from Hanoi and Ba Be National Park. |
A
shuttle can be arranged through Mr. Linh by email, phone: +84 9 860 160 68,
or by visiting his office: 83 Ma May street, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi. Tickets are $15/one way and will take 5
hours. Pickup locations are either his
office at 7:30 am or the Hanoi Opera House at 8 am.
If the
local buses are more your thing, they also make the route to Ba Be daily. You can catch the local bus at My Dinh Bus Station,
Gate 33, at 10 am (I suggest arriving early so that you don’t miss it). Look for the red bus to Cho Don, via Thai
Nguyen, run by the Thuong Nga bus company.
Once on the bus tell the attendant you are going to Ba Be and once you
arrive in Cho Don they will direct you to the connecting minibus from Cho Don
to Ba Be (total time also around 5 hours).
The first bus should cost 130,000 VND/6.50 USD and the second minibus
40,000 VND/2 USD.
From Sapa
 |
| Bus from Sapa to Thai Nguyen. |
There
is no direct bus from Sapa to Ba Be National Park so you will have to take a
series of four buses/minibuses to get there.
First, you will need to take a bus/moto taxi to Lao Cai. From the bus station in Lao Cai you can catch
the night bus to Thai Nguyen at 7 pm for 250,000 VND/12.50 USD. The following morning you catch a bus with
the Thuong Nga company at 8 am headed for Cho Don. Once on the bus tell the attendant you are
going to Ba Be and once you arrive in Cho Don they will direct you to the
connecting minibus from Cho Don to Ba Be.
Alternatively, you can take a bus
directly to Thai Nguyen, but you will most likely need to wait till the
following day to make the rest of your trip.
It leaves at 7 am, takes about 8.5 hours, and costs 250,000 VND/12.50 USD.
From Cao Bang
There
is no direct bus from Cao Bang to Ba Be National Park. From the Cao Bang bus station look for a bus
heading to Thai Nguyen or Hanoi. Once on
the bus you will need to ask the bus driver to drop you off in Phu Thong. There are many buses that make these trips and
it should cost around 80,000 VND/4 USD.
In Phu Thong catch another bus to Cho Ra. These buses leave about every hour and cost 50,000
VND/2.50 USD. At Cho Ra look for a motorcycle taxi to take you to Bo Lu village
(Ba Be lake-shore). These should cost
around 100,000 VND/5 USD – 150,000 VND/7.50 USD. Alternatively, you can take a motorcycle taxi
to the lake shore for 40,000 VND/2 USD, then take a boat across to Bo Lu
village for 40,000 VND/2 USD (for however many people you fit in the boat).
Leaving
When you are leaving, I suggest
you talk to either your hotel staff or Mr.
Linh’s Homestay to schedule a shuttle.
They leave daily to Hanoi and, if you’re on the main road, will pick you
up from your hotel. If you are hoping to
leave to a different location, they will also be able to direct you to the
easiest possible mode of transportation.
Where to Stay
 |
| Boat tour of Ba Be Lake. |
Ba Be
National Park has numerous homestays and guest houses for you to choose
from. The most advertised is Mr. Linh’s Homestay, which provides
rooms, food, and an array of tour packages.
That being said, the other homestays and guesthouses can also provide food,
rooms, and prepare tours for you.
 |
| View from the Anh Ngoc Guest House. |
We
stayed in the Anh Ngoc Guest House, located on the lake with amazing views, just a short
distance from the boat station. The guesthouse
has nice rooms, a porch seating area over looking the lake, and a common seating
area on a deck also overlooking the lake.
The staff was very friendly and the owner even gave us bananas as a parting
gift. They have a good selection of food
on their menu and the food is very good and reasonably priced. The staff also helped set up our boat tour of
the lake and our bus back to Hanoi.
Where to Eat
Finding
food in Ba Be is not hard to do, especially if you are staying there. All of the guesthouses/homestays will cook
dinner for you upon request. The menu will
differ depending on your housing situation, with most of the smaller homestays
having a set menu for the day and the larger guesthouses having a menu to select
from.
 |
| One of the delicious 'family meals' at Anh Ngoc Guest House. |
Since we
were staying at Anh Ngoc Guest House, we at all of our meals there, but they had a great
selection on their menu and the food was delicious. They have an array of single dish or multi
dish ‘family meals’ to choose from. If
you are looking for a place to stay or eat, I highly recommend looking to this
guest house.
You can read more about my experience at Ba Be National Park here.
Have you been to Ba Be National Park? What are your thoughts about the park? What did you enjoy there? Comment below!
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