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W
hen people consider a trip
to the north east, they
normally think of Ha Gi-
ang, the Dong Van pla-
teau, Hoang Su Phi rice terraces and
Bac Ha market; however, the north-
east has plenty more hidden treasures
to uncover.
My first destination was Bac Kan,
which is over 200km from Hanoi – a
journey of some five hours due to the
mountainous road’s twists and turns.
Looking through the window I saw
stunning scenes of valleys, mountains
and forests bathed in vibrant, golden
sunlight.
Bac Kan welcomed us at noon. Af-
ter having lunch and taking a short
rest, we took a 15 minute car trip to Ba
Be Lake. Different from the romantic
landscapes of Ha Giang or the elegant
charm of Trang An – Ninh Binh, where
you can experience similar boating
among mountains, this land has more
untamed beauty.
Ba Be lake impressed me at first
sight with its red colour, which is similar
to a river rich in alluvium. Ba Be is one
of the 100 largest fresh water lakes and
one of only 20 preservation lakes in the
world. Formed 200 million years ago, it
stretches for 8km.
Contemplating the imposing scene,
I thought about the legend that sur-
rounds it. It is said that long ago, every
year the villagers celebrated the Vo Gia
ceremony with great offerings to the
Buddha. One day, an old leper woman
came to the village during the ceremo-
ny. Her clothes were ragged and tat-
tered. She smelled foul, and everybody
fled. The leper knocked on every door
in the village, begging for a place to
sleep, but she was driven away by every
villager except, that is, for a widow and
her son.
The old woman turned out to be a
giant aquatic serpent who had come to
test people’s hearts. She informed the
kind hearted mother and son about the
sudden flood that was coming the next
day and gave them two big boats to
save others.
After the flood, the mother and
son set up a new village with survivors,
while the valley they used to live in be-
came three immense lakes.
As we boated on the lake in the Au-
gust sunshine, I admired the tree-carpet-
ed limestone cliffs, their reflections spar-
kling on the water. This verdant land is
home to over 1,200 botanical species
and more than 500 animal species.
“If you are lucky, you can even see
TOURISM
While rains soak the
centre and south of
Vietnam, the lure of
the challenging roads
and endless green
landscapes of the
north east becomes
ever stronger.
Nhung
Nguyen
headed to the
hills in search of an-
other side of Vietnam.
The
UNTOUC