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Ba Be National Park

Ba Be National Park

Ba Be National Park
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4.5
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KerryandDave
Greater Sydney, Australia52 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2011 • Friends
Arrived at Ba Be National Park (UNESCO World Heritage site) after a long and tiring 7 hour drive from Hanoi. We had our own guide and driver which was just so good and made everything much easier. They are readily available in Vietnam and we learn't so much about the people and area from them. Highly recommend this. Along the way everything was dusty and dirty but the culture is fascinating. It was so worth the trip! Stayed in Pac Ngoi, a small village beside a large freshwater lake 8 kms in length. Our wonderful home stay family welcomed us with open arms and were so proud of their meager facilities. We stayed in Nha Nghi Guest House - the only one with their own generator for which we were thankful when the whole village lost power the first night!. We were so excited to find a western toilet after all those squatting pans!!! Food was delicious and traditional Vietnamese - fish, beef, pork, chicken, catfish rolls, shrimp, bean sprouts, cabbage, steamed fresh vegies, mushrooms, tofu, rice, noodles, pickled bamboo shoots, egg, bananas, apples and the sweetest mandarins. They even cooked us pancakes, bananas and honey for breakfast to impress the visitors! We slept on thin mattresses on board beds. Lovely and warm under the colourful Vietnamese quilts. Needed all our warm gear as it was peak winter - beanies, gloves and coats a necessity! We had electricity, hot water and of course the western toilet. It was so quiet in the village at night (and dark) and you could hear the people chatting around their fires in the evenings. We were woken by the menagerie of animals in the early hours of the morning - roosters, chickens, ducks, pigs, dogs, cats and water buffalo! Got up and went for an early walk. The village was alive with women and girls washing clothes in the river and the men attending to their farms and animals. The mist was just rising and the whole place was stunning. Went right around the lake in a wooden long boat and was amazed at the beauty of this place. I can't believe we are in Vietnam. It looks just like Tasmania with the majestic mountains, beautiful forests and unusual rock formations. I am so thrilled I have had the opportunity to see it all. Travelled up a river and walked over rice paddies to a small isolated village where we presented a bag of Vietnamese children's books to the teacher of the tiny school. So special! No road access to this village, everyone and everything comes by boat. Looked over the school which had desks and a blackboard but very few other resources. Had lunch in the sun at a village "restaurant" by the river on little plastic Chinese kind of chairs watching the farmyard animals at CLOSE quarters- piglets, kittens, dogs, buffalo, ducks- all within 5 metres. Also saw an amazing cave system which the river boats went through, a massive waterfall and Widows island where we could have had a swim but the temp was beanies, overcoats, thermals and fleece weather! Don't miss the opportunity to visit Ba Be if you get the chance. You really live with the people and it is much quieter than other areas, so beautiful and so pristine!
Written January 25, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Mike N
Da Nang, Vietnam248 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2011 • Family
This was DIY a family trip in summer. Ba Be is worth to visit and still wild and less touristy.

My route is: Hanoi - Thai Nguyen (80km) - Bac Kan (88km) - Phu Thong (20km) - Cho Ra (40km) - Ba Be (16km)

The first day we got in Ba Be lake in the afternoon and trekked around the village and rice fields. 1 night home-stay at the stilt house located near the lake. Ba Be is a very quiet and peaceful and less touristy place. So I think no need to book home-stay in advance. Just get there and check which home-stay is fit for you then dealing.

There no direct bus to Ba Be (Three Lake) Park. You can take a bus to Bac Kan at My Dinh bus station and off at Cho Ra town (228 km). Then take a taxi motorbike to Ba Be (16 km). You can stay in Ba Be guest house or home-stay inside the park. As I know there is no group tours, the easiest way is to get a private car or tour.

If get there by bus, from National Highway 3 you will go through ChoRa town to approach Ba Be National Park at Park Entrance (also Park H.Q). Go straight until you see the boat wharf on the right. Turn left to drive along the lake and you get Pac Ngoi then Bo Lu villages. There are stilt houses in both. You can ask directly home-stay owner for meals and boat hiring.

Other choices for accommodation are hotels at Cho Ra Town (a little bit far from the Park) and Ba Be National Park Guest House (at Park Entrance).

The next day I ask the home-stay's owner for hiring a boat to cruise around the lake. His son take us boating on the lake and along Nang river to visit Puong Cave, Dau Dang waterfall, Fairy Pond, An Ma island (and the temple), Widow island.

Dau Dang waterfall flows for 2km where the Nang river is blocked by various sized stones for nearly 500m, The pleasant look of the waterfall and the primitive nature of the forest are extremely impressive. Furthermore, there is a special rare and valuable species of fish called "ca chien'' living in the river; some of them weigh over 10 kg.

Puong cave: 200m long, 25 - 30m high. Sailing in the dim light of the cave to see various strange stalactites at the entrance. It was created by the river's current as it flowed next to the base of Lung Nham mountain, which are a chain of limestone mountains

The scenery and the primary forest were very impressive. The water was so green and pure, but when approaching the river it become red.

And I think trekking in primitive forest and/or numerous of minority villages of Tay, Nung, Dao, Mong will be also very interesting experiences.

Spend at least 1 night for visiting and enjoying Ba Be National Park. However if you have more time, straight to HaGiang or BanGioc Waterfalls. They are also worth for a visit.
Written May 27, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Stijn F
Boom, Belgium65 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
After Hanoi we chose to stay in BaBe National Park, a welcome change after the hectic capital and much less touristic compared to for example Sapa. We were welcomed by Mr. Linh, the manager of the park and his lovely family. After a nice talk and a cold beer we were given a room that offered a stunning morning view on BaBe lake. The next morning, after a nice breakfast at Linh's home we took a boat tour around the park. Calm rivers and lakes, stunning views on limestone cliffs covered with rainforest. We walked through a small village that lived off rice farming and visited the Bat Cave! A scary place housing over 7000 bats, very nice but be prepared for the smell :). After a nice lunch we visited one of the waterfalls and headed back around 4pm.

BaBe is a great place if you're looking for a peacefull, beautifull environment. Next to this Mr Linh is very helpfull, he organised our return as well. Transport from BaBe, straight to Haiphong including the boat trip to CatBa Island and all at a very reasonable price.

@Linh: keep it up, with your enthusiasm i'm sure you will make a succes out of this park

Regards,
Stijn

Written November 14, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Amanda
Nairobi, Kenya33 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2012 • Family
We decided to head up to Ba Be having heard it was very peaceful and we needed time out from Hanoi. We organised our own car and driver and booked the Thuy Dung Hotel in Cho Ra through Asia Rooms. When we hadn't arrived by early evening, Daisy from Asia Rooms was calling to make sure we were OK as the hotel were worried about us! We had paid in advance so they were "quids in" but the concern was genuine. The hotel is clean, basic, 2* Vietnamese standard. We arrived in a huge storm so there wasn't any power so it was all lit with candles. We ate at local restaurants. The best was to the right as you came out of the hotel: a large open space with a big cooking area at the back and a display cabinet of food to be cooked to order. Really good, simple food and lots of Vietnamese eating there. We would advise against going to the guy at the top end of the town at the T junction: the food wasn't nearly so good and way overpriced. He has lots of photos of himself in Thailand and various animals or bits of animals in bottles: avoid. Organised through the hotel, we took a boat up the river, through the cave and then into the lake itself. We then walked about 10k back to the Ba Be resort where the driver picked us up.
The area is lovely: the air is clean, people are very friendly and just a great break out of Hanoi.
Yes, the journey is long and the driving can appear reckless so you do want to be assured of a careful driver. There are new roads being built so in a few years time, the journey should be more pleasant.
Written April 23, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Chris B
Aberystwyth, UK73 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2015 • Couples
We spent three days in Ba Be National Park, staying at Mr Linh's homestay (which I will be reviewing in due time!), and we have to say we had an exceptional time. The landscape is absolutely stunning and quite overwhelming, especially if like us you are unfamiliar with a jungle environment. The trip on the lake (and up and down nearby rivers) was a delight, even if it rained and the temperature was, remarkably, colder than back home in Wales! We also thoroughly enjoyed the excursions to the waterfalls and cave systems, and the views as we drove around the National Park were out of this world. One of our favourite afternoons was a simple walk along a country road with little traffic, looking at the water buffalo, the beautiful butterflies and plants, and simply drinking in the atmosphere of rural Vietnam. We ate at a number of local eateries - the food was fine, especially the fish - and the welcome we had from the local Tay people - was lovely. Had we been physically able to, we would love to have gone trekking in the jungle, or kayaking on the lakes. 3 days was simply not long enough. I appreciate that such peaceful simplicity and natural beauty might not appeal to everyone, but it's fairly obvious what you are going to get, and we would love to get more of it. Please don't change your wonderful countryside and become too commercial.
Written November 19, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Sheree O
Beechworth, Australia68 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2015 • Couples
After visiting this area we discovered that the guests houses and home stays are plentiful. We thought the only accommodation was Mr Linh home stay as this is all your hear about for this area on the net and trips advisor.

I went past at least 20 others.

We decided to support other people in the community and stayed lake side with a lovely family. We did not prebook and had the choice of many although it is off season. It is more of a guest house which gives us a little extra comfort, however as there is no restaurants here to eat at your host cooks your dinner and your eat with them.

Our dinner cost 80,000 VND each

The room cost 200,000 VND. We could have bartered but decided not too.

Entrance fee into park is 25,000VND

If your thinking of self touring I have included at photo below of the cost of the boats,guides etc taken 8/11/2015

The area is beautiful, lots of walking and enjoying the peaceful country side. We rode our motorbikes all the way into the lakeside. People will tell you that you can't and your must take a boat. This is not true. Beautiful ride as well. Worth visiting.

Written November 8, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Thelatinbeauty
Taipei, Taiwan3 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Stay at a homestay from family Mr "hope" close to the lake, walk 5 minutes to get to the boat. The boat ride will take 4-5 hours from the lake then to the small river then to visit the poong grotto with bats/take a good torch with u otherwise u will not see nothing, then to the small but special dau dang waterfall at the end of the lake walking 10 min through a small village. Stay at the homestay 1 night, 2 lunch, 1 breakfast, for 550,000vn then boat ride for 40USD. Homestay is clean and with warm blanket and the food is excellent. In January take warm cloths, rains coats, gloves; another experience eventhough not to sunny for best shot pictures but I enjoyed very much meeting great friends and warm people. Cristina C
Written January 29, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Sarah K
36 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2016 • Couples
We highly recommend to visit this great nationalpark! We decided to explore Ba Be from Hanoi by ourselves without one of those expensive tours. But after reading how hard it is to go there by public transportation from Hanoi, we decided to take the shuttle from Mr Linh's (Mr Linh's adventures, Honoi) for 500000 VND p.p. This was easy, but still pretty expensive and they dropped us at the boat not at our homestay like agreed. We were staying at Ba Be lake view homestay, which we can highly recommend (7 USD per night, dinner 5 USD, breakfast 2 USD). They are very friendly there, even though they don't speak much English. We booked a boat tour at our homestay. The boat trip was 600000 VND in total, so the more you are, the cheaper it gets. The tour included all attractions like the cave and took about 5-6 hours. It was very worth it. The boat driver didn't speak English, so it was more or less an unguided tour, but they always show you were to go and see the main attractions. The second day we were hiking to a waterfall by ourselves. But you can book other tours like hiking, bamboo rafting and mountainbiking, too. Or you just rent a bicycle or a motorbike. Most buildings in those villages offer homestays. In the village we were staying in are some small shops to buy water and basic stuff. But there is no atm. So make sure to bring enough cash. It was very easy to get back to Hanoi. We just asked in our homestay for a bus and they called them for us. The van picked us up at 7.40 am and took us to the bus stop at the entrance of the park. There we entered a air conditioned bus that took us to Hanoi (My Dinh) for 200000 VND. It took about 5-6 hours. There is no toilet in the bus, but it stops almost every hour. Ba Be was more than worth a visit. Very relaxing with stunning landscapes. We really enjoyed our stay.
Written October 6, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Ellebow
Australia245 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2016 • Friends
I recently visited BA Be National Park with my mum. Had a wonderful time and a beautiful lake and different again from other places. Stayed at Dat Diem which was wonderful.

On research it appeared that Mr Linhs is all there is here... Well no there are over 15 other homestays around or near the lake. All these families offer nice accomodation ( obviously some better than others) but they too would like to benefit from tourism too. There are new ones being built. The people just obviously have difficulty in advertising and use of internet. I think if you arrived without booking (not in Vietnamese holiday season though) and walked along the road you'd walk into a homestay. Very cheap.

Mr Linh rules the national Park website and a majority of other search areas. We went and visited his place and to be honest other homestays are just as nice and offer a more cultural traditional family homestay experience. His is very hostel like and at times would be noisy.

The difficulty is getting here as we hired a private car Hanoi which was reasonably expensive. There are buses from all parts of the north.

We really enjoyed our time and the boat ride around the lake was just beautiful. I would also suggest hiring a scooter and visiting silver falls and the cave. Such magic scenery and off the beaten track away from the masses.

Hope this helped
Written October 13, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Scott E
Tucson28 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2016 • Solo
Guidebooks warn against un-guided hiking on the hills surrounding the lake. Mr Linh & son provide such well guided hikes. I try to avoid such peopled excursions - I like my quiet exploration! My following 2 options are absolutely safe from 'getting lost.'

1st Hike:

From Mr Linh's Homestay entrance I turned left away from the main area following the continually more rough road over a bridge onto a pathway down valley thru the rice paddies and fields. I saw no tourists perhaps because while easily accessible from Mr Linh's Homestay, it is far from the main road and tourist boat tours etc. I DID see folks working in their fields -- we waved. I met a retired old man going down valley to one of the high hill villages I occasionally glimpsed. We shook hands & waved as only old men can do -- each knowing we held much to share, if only we could.

The valley is flanked by steep, axe-ringing forested hills and 2 small villages whose folks welcomed my curious passage with smiles, graciously allowing my privacy shattering video camera to probe at will and friendly direction-pointing hands. Butterflies danced on the air, irrigating water gurgled thru small tunnels between fields & the aroma of local foods cooked on wood fires drifted past from somewhere nearby.

2nd Hike:
Return along main road almost to the ferry, but above it turn R up the hill and walk a forested road above the lakes thru several villages who make their living, in part, from this lake and its fertile flatlands. I made a few brief, but prudent side hikes to absorb the ultimate roadless silence. This walk is not as remote as the 1st hike, but equally pleasurable in a different way.

Always I wonder how such 'untouched lives' would react to 'my life' if they could share it like I shared theirs. I imagine that my alien world might intrigue them briefly reassuring their desire to return to the comfort, predictability and tradition-laden security of their own lives. I pocket 'this life' away in the vaults of my mind for the time when the fears of my life send me rushing for such an anonymous refuge.
Written February 14, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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