Ba Vi National Park is centered on Mount Ba Vi – an isolated soil-limestone mountain situated about 50 km west from Hanoi. The mountain located in Ha Tay Province and shared the border with 2 districts of Hoa Binh Province. Mount Ba Vi has three peaks: the highest is Emperor Peak at 1,296m, followed by Tan Vien at 1,226m and Ngoc Hoa at 1,120m.
The hidden myth. In Vietnamese mythology, Tan Vien Mountain associated with Son Tinh, the mountain God. Son Tinh- one of four Immortal Deity – is the Saint who founded the Vietnamese culture; the hero struggled against the foreign invaders and disaster. Accordingly, this national park is luring tourists for not only the natural beauty, but also its legendary fairy tale, which helped make up its cultural attraction.
Let’s join a trip to this park. Traveling another 16km from the National High way, you will come to Hai stream to take some boats around before stopping on islet to see medical plants and birds nest. Then, going east Ba Vi Mountains, you can visit Ao Vua fall. Looking from above, the fall makes a three-story cascade, the last flows into a small lake with emerald-green water.
Now, are you ready for climbing to strongly relax your mind and body and forget all the troubles? Looking from the foot, the mountain rises steeply out of a plain that rarely exceeds 30m in elevation? On the way up the hill, visitors stop for a while to contemplate the surrounding lyrical and inspirational landscape. Off in the distance, shadows of mountains disappear into the clouds, streams wound their way through the valleys and paddy fields spread out toward the horizon. The mountainous topography makes the climate at Ba Vi vary with altitude. Above 500 m, fog enshrouds the top of the mountain almost everyday. The higher you reach, the more romantic of a vista you can feel as the mist gets clear to reveal sunshine within a few minutes.
Back at the foot of the mountain, now the time for exploring what Ba Vi National Park is proud of, that is the diversified fauna and flora. With the area of more than 12,023 ha, the park is home for more than 800 rare and exotic plants, 280 of which have medicinal applications. It also boasts 44 species of mammal, 15 species of reptile, 9 species of amphibian and more than 100 bird species. This roughly explains why Ba Vi National Park is called “Capital Hanoi’s lung” by most Hanoians.
Tourism potential
The natural beauty and special geographic and climate features converge into the park’s eco system, making it one of the four mountainous ecological tourism centers besides Da Lat, Sapa, and Tam Dao. Staying here, tourists can explore the site via a number of activities, such as trekking, bird watching… One ever said that containing such a fascinating complex of numerous lakes, (both natural and artificial) plays an important role in forming various famous relaxing tourism spots in Ba Vi like Khoang Xanh, Suoi Mo and Thac Da.
Apart from natural beauty, Ba Vi is also said to be the home for hundreds of relics dating back a century or more to the French colonial era with a former military training range and a church between 600m and 800m above sea level. Hence, these days, tourists flock to the site not only for dipping themselves into a fresh and green ecological area, but its historical & cultural side also.
With a relatively favorable climate, good infrastructure and close proximity to Hanoi, Ba Vi is considered as one of four famous ecological destinations beside Da Lat, Sa Pa and Tam Dao. It promises to bring you unforgettable experiences with friends and family!
If you’ve never been to the park, from Ha noi, you can reach the town of Son Tay (42 km) by following national Highway32 or by High speed highway Lang-Hoa Lac. Have an interesting trip!
