Ba
Be is Vietnam’s largest natural lake and is now the centrepiece of
an extensive National Park. The park and the surrounding area is
limestone country, so lakes, waterfalls, caves and unusual rock
formations abound. The whole area is richly forested and home to
many ethnic minority communities.
The
National Park is covered by tropical and semi-tropical evergreen
Thailandian monsoon forest. The bio diversity is rich – 50 animal
species, over 400 plants and many species of insects, reptiles and
birds. The ten seriously endangered animals in the park include two
primates, the Black Gibbon and the Tonkinese 'snub-nosed' monkey.
The
latter is one of the world’s rarest species and on the brink of
extinction. Flora and Fauna International is working with
the park authorities and other agencies to save this attractive
creature. The lake itself is really three lakes linked by wide channels.
Overall, it’s about 7km long and a kilometre across at its widest point,
and contains around fifty species of freshwater fish. The surface is
nearly always calm, making a boat trip a peaceful experience. In
adddition, there are islands and caves to visit. Within the park’s
boundary there are a several small villages inhabited by members of the
Tay, Red Dao, Coin Dao and White H’mong ethnic minorities. However, the
colourful costumes typical of most of these groups are seldom in
evidence apart from performances and demonstrations for tourists. Some
of the villages offer basic, but reasonably comfortable, homestays. An
alternative is the park’s guesthouse, which provides basic accommodation
only. Elsewhere, there is limited local standard accommodation in Cho Ra
town, about 18km away outside the park.
Ba Be
can only be reached by road - the 250km journey takes between six and
eight hours. The road gets rough along the latter part, but the
excellent scenery compensates. An interesting stop en-route is
Thai Nguyen, a centre of heavy industry based on steel manufacturing,
and the unlikely home of the Museum of Nationalities of Vietnam. It
provides an informative overview of the country’s many ethnic
minorities, particularly useful for visitors that haven't already
visited Hanoi's excellent Ethnology Museum
Further
north is Cao Bang province, a remote area on the border with China. Cao
Bang is sparsely populated. It has very few large settlements but
several ethnic groups in villages hardly affected by tourism.
The
limestone ‘karst’ scenery is attractive, unspoilt and fich in
bio-diversity. Few visitors venture further north than Ba Be, so Cao
Bang vies with the remote northwest as one of the best places to see
truly authentic ethnic minority lifestyles.
From
Cao Bang, it’s possible to loop round to the south via the border town
of Lang Son to Quang Ninh Province and Ha Long Bay. However, the road is
poor, and the scenery is not particularly interesting
