If staying in Ha Noi and having seen the different attractions within Viet Nam’s booming capital, there are three main highways to leave the city. First, there is the well-known Highway No.1 coming from Lang Son in the northeastern part of Viet Nam towards the south to Hue, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City, while Highway No.2 leads via Phu Tho and Tuyen Quang to the mountainous Ha Giang Province in the north of Viet Nam. To take Highway No.3 leads via Thai Nguyen and Bac Kan toCao Bang Province, and it is on this highway that you can reach one of most scenic parts of Viet Nam at the beautiful Ba Be Lake in Bac Kan Province, which is one of the national parks in Viet Nam.
Before reaching Bac Kan Province, tourists are advised to stop at the Museum of the Cultures of Viet Nam’s Ethnic Groups in Thai Nguyen City to study the 54 different ethnic groups living in Viet Nam. The museum introduces traditional Vietnamese culture of ethnic groups according to 5 language families, including galleries with nearly 3,000 valuable original objects.
Each gallery is arranged based on exhibitions topics: origin of ethnic groups, dwelling area, economic activity, gastronomy, costumes, houses, as well as cultural and spiritual activities.
An open-air exhibition introduces to six regional cultures: mountainous region, valley, Red River Delta, coastal region, central highland and Mekong River Delta.
From Bac Kan City, there is a side road going left to Ba Be and its beautiful lake. Passing Phu Thong and the Ra market, tourists will meet the Tay and Nung ethnic groups living in stilt houses. After a night’s home stay rest, travelers set out in double dug-outs on a short way to Puong Cave. The river flows 300 m through the cave and the middle part is not too dark with its fantastically-shaped stalactites.
Sailing out of the cave, the boats enter the limestone mountain, which is nine km long and 1 km wide in some parts. Soon the roaring sounds of the Dau Dang falls are reached. The waterfall has three cascades and extends to a length of 200 m with shoals of big and small fish. From the waterfall, travelers turn around for two km and then come to the mouth of a shallow tributary. After crossing it, you finally are coming to the immense body of the lake. Forests with monkeys abound and along the shore are limestone rocks with many caves. In the mornings are swarms of butterflies. Ba Ba Lake is also teeming with fish and shrimps, which are sold at the markets in the hamlets around the lake.
For travelers, who have enough time, it is advised to continue further north into Ha Giang Province to explore Mong and Dao ethnic groups. Also, there is the scenic view point into China at the most northern top of Viet Nam not to be missed.
For further information on the Museum of the Cultures of Vietnam’s Ethnic Groups, please go to the website www.mcve.org.vn
Written by Reinhard Hohler, Chiang Mai
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