Located in the northeastern province of Cao Bang, Ban Gioc Waterfall is a truly amazing and appealing attraction for tourists as well as local people. Considered as one of Vietnam’s most impressive natural sights, however, the waterfall has still been unknown to many people. But once they can have a chance to come there, they would definitely be blown away with the wonderful beauty of nature and enjoy such a masterpiece of Vietnam.
Being 90km far from Cao Bang and roughly 360km from Hanoi, Ban Gioc Waterfall is 30 meters high and 300 meters across, making it the widest waterfall in the country. In Vietnam, Ban Gioc is considered the sole name of the waterfall that divide into Ban Gioc and Detian Falls, the later is in China. The falls occurs on the Quay Son River, an excellent jade-blue waterway spilling out of China through a peaceful scene of rice fields and bamboo forests encompassed by limestone pinnacles. There, the river forms the border between Vietnam and China, leading to the fact that the falls are half in Vietnam and the other in China. Talking about Ban Gioc Waterfall in Vietnam, people notice that it is separated into three falls by rocks and trees, with the thundering effect of the water hitting the cliffs heard from far away.
Despite improved system of transportation recently, Ban Gioc Waterfall seems to be off the beaten track for most travelers to Vietnam. But if anyone wants to reach there and explore the roaring sound of this site, the easiest way is to go by motorbike. Unless you have one, you can either rent from some hotels or guest houses in Cao Bang. Another option is to take local buses running from Cao Bang to Ban Gioc and back again several times a day. In case you are still in Hanoi, the way to reach Cao Bang would be much straightforward. You can either book a tour to Ban Gioc, take a bus from Hanoi’s My Dinh Bus Station or you can rent private car with driver to Cao Bang. By these way, you will have a trekking trip full of surprise and interest. Another note is that because it is right on the Chinese border, you might reach the kiosk and buy a ticket with showing your passport to check for verification. And then, let’s keep up with your journey!
Before reaching the falls, the Quay Son River flows through a sumptuous and charming valley, seeing that everything seems to be quite primitive and natural like the work mostly done by hand or the farming technology that is mainly seen on some high mountainous area, called the bamboo water wheel, standing along the bank of the river. This alluring, medieval-looking gadget scoops into water from the waterway, conveys it up to the level of the fields, and drops it into earth canals, which channel the water into the fields to inundate the products. It’s an entrancing, quiet and ageless sight.
The peaceful atmosphere and the beautiful valley are now broken when you reach the limestone ledge of Ban Gioc Waterfall. Over a wooden scaffold to a shoreline underneath the falls, there’s a misleading way driving up through wilderness to the first and second levels of the cascade. Not for the timid – or for those without appropriate footwear – this track climbs steeply among vines and roots to a few exquisite pools of blue running water. Tread painstakingly as the stones are elusive and there are some weak endeavors to piece access to this way, and on the off chance that you climb it, you do as such at your own particular hazard. It’s conceivable to meander further and higher up the side of the falls for much more fabulous perspectives of the downpour from above. It’s a magnificent sight – in the genuine feeling of the word – however be to a great degree cautious, and don’t consider endeavoring it if it’s bee drizzling. There are no handrails so on the off chance that you slip there’s nothing to clutch with the exception of uncovered roots. You can discover the beginning of the way at the base of the falls behind a point of reference denoting the Vietnamese fringe, situated over a ramshackle wooden extension.
If you choose to approach it safely and closely, let’s take a bamboo rafts with paid to get closer to the cascade for better views of the fall. You will get wet during the ten-minute ride. In some areas, signs in Vietnamese read ‘No Swimming!’ But it’s difficult to resist taking a plunge in one of the blue pools of water, especially around the smaller falls to the left of the central waterfall. Of course, you must be very careful when doing so as you might want to continue to discover its beauty, don’t you?
