South East Asian Trips

Ba Be Nation Park

Ba Be National Park is located in Bac Kan Province, about 240 kilometers north of Hanoi, about 70 Km northwest of the provincial capital Bac Kan, and about 14 Km west of the town of Cho Ra.

Considered as the eighth national park of Viet Nam, Ba Be National Park is a valuable natural heritage. Covering more than 23, 000 hectares, this beautiful region is a tropical rainforest area with over 410 named plant species and 300 wildlife species. It is surrounded by steep mountains up to 1554m high.

Ba Be National Park, or according to the mass, is simply called Ba Be (three lakes). In fact, this is the park's main feature. Ba Be is three linked lakes, which have a total length of 8 Km and a width of about 400m. The deepest point in the lakes is 35m. Nearly 50 kinds of freshwater fish reside there. Ba Be Lake is covered with many limestone mountain chains, which have numerous of caves and under-streams.

Puong Cave, 30m high, 300m long, with a navigable river inside - a part of Nang River, is an interesting place to visit by making a boat trip. Thousands of flitter-mice living in this cave generate many powerful odors.

Nang River flows at the foot of the limestone mountain, goes through Puong Cave to reach Ba Be Lake. It is navigable for 23 Km between a point 4 Km above Cho Ra and Dau Dang Waterfall, which consists of a series of spectacular cascades between perpendicular walls of rock. Ao Tien is a small lake on the top of the mountain. The climate around here is very cool and fresh. Legend said that the fairies above always go down in this place to swim and play chess. Therefore, people name this place Ao Tien (the lake of fairy),

Ba Vi National Park

Topography and hydrology

Ba Vi National Park is centred on Mount Ba Vi, a mountain isolate situated about 50 Km west of Hanoi. The mountain rises steeply out of a plain that rarely exceeds 30 m in elevation. In general, slopes on the western side of Ba Vi mountain, at an average of 25°, are steeper than those on the east. Above 400 m, the slopes on the western side may reach a gradient of 35° and rocky cliffs are present. Mount Ba Vi has three peaks: the highest is Dinh Vua at 1, 296 m, followed by Tan Vien at 1, 226 m and Ngoc Hoa at 1, 120 m. Because of the mountainous topography, the climate at Ba Vi varies with altitude. Above 500 m, fog enshrouds the top of the mountain on most days.

Except for the Da River on the western side of the national park, Ba Vi has no large, permanent water bodies. Streams in the national park are small, steep sided and fast flowing. In the rainy season, the volume of water flowing through these small watercourses and over the surface of the ground is sometimes sufficient to cause landslides. In the dry season, however, many of the streams are dry,

Biodiversity values

At Ba Vi National Park, natural forest is mainly distributed at elevations above 600 m. The natural forest types at Ba Vi are lowland evergreen forest, lower montane evergreen forest and lower montane mixed coniferous and broadleaf forest. In 1998, the national park supported 4, 701 ha of forest, comprising 1, 710 ha of natural forest and 2, 991 ha of plantation forest. The plantation forest is still, however, in the early stages of development, with only small trees present.

Ba Vi supports 812 species of vascular plant, of which several species were described for the first time from the site, for example Ixora balansae, Litsea baviensis and Lasianthus langkokensis. Also according to the investment plan, Ba Vi supports 44 mammal species, 114 bird species, 15 reptile species and nine amphibian species,

Other documented values

The forest at Ba Vi National Park is an important source of forest products for local communities. For example, medicinal plant collection is a major economic activity in the area. Between 1997 and 1998, an estimated 250 tonnes of medicinal plants were extracted from the national park. It has been estimated that 80% of the Dao ethnic group in Ba Vi commune extract medicinal plants, which is their second most important source of income. During the French colonial period, Ba Vi was developed as a hill station, and around 200 villas were constructed on the mountain. In addition, a road was built up the mountain to an elevation of 1, 100 m. With a relatively favourable climate, good infrastructure and close proximity to Hanoi, Ba Vi already attracts large numbers of visitors. Several tourism companies have developed resorts and visitor attractions in and around the national park. Ba Vi National Park is also an important site for education and scientific research. Further major tourism resorts are planned in and around the national park,

Cuc Phuong Nation Park

With 25, 000 hectares and 140 Km South of Hanoi, Cuc Phuong is the first National Park of Vietnam which was established in 1962. The botanical richness of the forest is impressive as it supports a wide variety of flora species and patches of primeval forest, including ancient trees with thick clusters of roots, and parasitic plants and ligneous creepers.

Some tree species have been introduced from Burma, India, and Borneo. Clusters of orchards grow near cave entrances, where the moisture conditions and light are ideal. Varieties include thousand-year dracontomelum and parashorea trees which can be visited in a one or two hour hiking, and coral, vanilla, snow-white, and butterfly orchids everywhere. Large mammals inhabit the park including panthers and bears, but rarely appear, so the most popular animals you can see are monkeys, gibbons, flying squirrels and pheasants. There are also over 120 species of birds and many varieties of beetles living here, and April and May arrive swarms of butterflies. At night, million of cicadas create a deafening din, and million of fireflies flicker about.

Lying in a limestone area, Cuc Phuong includes numerous caves. At "Nguoi Xua" (Cave of Early Man), two ancient tombs have been discovered, along with Neolithic remains and evidence of stone implements; there have been similar finds at Trang Khuyet (Crescent Moon), Thanh Minh, and Con Mong Caves. Hang Dan Cave is known for its bat population. Hiking in Cuc Phuong is following some kilometers of trails and passing through old-growth forest with long vines wrapped around strangled trees, visiting the caves, waterfalls and streams in the forest or stopping over at a Muong ethnic's village. Since the location in between three provinces, it's easy to combine a trip to Cuc Phuong with a trip to Hoa Binh or Ninh Binh province, or you can depart from Hanoi, spend the whole day exploring the forest and overnight at the Park's guest house,

Phong Nha - Ke Bang Nation Park

The karst formation of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park has evolved since the Palaeozoic (some 400 million years ago) and so is the oldest major karst area in Asia,

Bach Ma Nation Park

Bach Ma National Park is located in central Vietnam (less than an hour drive from Hue city) and around 680 Km from the country's capital Hanoi. The national park covers an area of 22, 031 ha and was created in 1991 to protect the centre of the last corridor of forest stretching from the South China Sea to the border with Lao PDR.

With steep mountains and dense forests this area is home to a wide variety of animals and plants. At the base of the mountains there is tropical monsoon forest, above 900 m the forest is sub-tropical. There are species from both the northern and southern areas of the country and Bach Ma is recognised as one of the biodiversity centres of Indochina.

The highest point in the park, Bach Ma mountain, is 1450 m above sea level and only 18 Km away from the coast. Visitors have been coming to Bach Ma since the 1930s, when the French Colonials built a hill resort here to escape the hot and humid plains during the summer months. The National Park has restored some of the villas built at that time, and is upgrading the services they offer. The rich flora and fauna also attract many tourists. Bach Ma National Park is home to 233 species of birds and 55 species of mammals, as well as extensive vegetation of more than 500 species. Thus, the park does not only offer beautiful landscapes, but it also allows for scientific research,

Nam Cat Tien Nation Park

This park covers 74, 000 Hectares of lowland forest and swamp approximately 100Km (70miles) north east of Ho Chi Minh City and is home to numerous birds and mammals. One of Vietnams most important and largest National Parks. Supported by the WWF, projects include surveying the small population of Javan rhinoceros, that still exist in the area the last remaining population on main land. Other mammals include Elephant, Gaur and tiger. Many birds can be found, including such specialities as Germain's Peacock Pheasant, Bar-bellied Pitta and the rare endemic Orange-necked Partridge.

Fauna of the Cat Tien NP includes at least 55 mammal species, more than 300 species of birds, 40 reptile species, 14 amphibians and 16 species of freshwater fish. The forest provides a refuge for a number of other threatened or unusual species including black gibbon, elephant, tiger, leopard, clouded leopard, Gaur, Banteng, Indian Muntjac and wild boar. This is the only location in mainland South-east Asia where southern Douc Langur is still recorded. There are also reports of kouprey being found in the reserve and Crocodile lake is a breeding area for a number of Siamese crocodile. Other reptiles include monitor lizard.

Bird species include peafowl, Siamese fireback, endemic Germain's peacock-pheasant, endemic red-vented bulbul, Indian darter, milky stork and a wide variety of resident and migratory waterfowl. Groups of 10-20 lesser adjutant storks have been observed, and the species is said to breed in the centre of the marsh along with various herons and egrets. Woolly-necked stork has also been reported in recent years.. Some migratory ducks are present during winter. The reserve is also rich in birds of prey including several species associated with the wetlands, such as osprey, black kite, brahminy kite, grey-headed fishing eagle, crested serpent eagle and red-legged falconet. The Cat Tien National Park is located in the three provinces of Dong Nai, Lam Dong and Binh Phuoc and located approximately 150Km north-east of Ho Chi Minh City.

Vegetation is varied and made up of seasonally flooded grassland and swamp forest. The wetland is bounded to the east, south and west by dense humid evergreen forest with Hills support semi-evergreen and deciduous forest.

As well as the wild life interest there are also several ethnic tribes of the Stieng, Ma, Ta Lai and Cho'ro tribes who have lived in the central valley of the reserve for several centuries, and several hundred people are currently resident.