(HBO) – Bumpy roads to Tu Do, a mountainous commune of Lac Son district, Hoa Binh province, cannot hold back footsteps of adventurers who want to explore the beauty of the land and enjoy the pristine nature here.
Mu Waterfall, a tourist attraction
this summer
The commune is favoured by nature with a magnificent
waterfall, called Mu. It is located at
an altitude of over
1,000 min the first stretch of the legendary Truong Son range where water pours down
into a small lake. The deepest point of the bottom of the falls is around
2 metres, not too
dangerous for tourists.
One of the highlights of the
Mu Waterfall is an amazing blue lagoon that is as large as a natural swimming
pool at the foot of the falls. To many backpackers, the destination is like a "heaven”
on the earth.
Below the Mu Waterfall is
Mu cave, a masterpiece of nature that can excite any adventurer. The large cave
has many beautiful statuesque stalactites that look shimmery and vague under
sunlight.
Large fields and terraced
paddy fields, other landscapes together with friendly locals and the simple
rural life here make Tu Do even more appealing to visitors.
Sat Thuong, a village of the
Muong ethnic minority people, was turned into a place renowned for
community-based tours. And Bui Thi Him is one of the local women who firstly
introduced community-based tourism in this remote village.
She said proudly that Sat Thuong is one of
the province’s four nature reserves and also the largest with a primeval
forest. Over 98 percent of its population are Muong people and all families
here live in stilt houses, a tradition that has been kept until today.
Him and some other locals
have joined a community-based tourism model, namely Ngoc Son – Ngo Luong since
the end of 2011. At the same time, six households began offering homestay
services, mostly in the Mu Waterfall area.
With fairly good accommodations
and services, the homestay places have become popular among holidaymakers. Thanks
to that, the commune welcomed more than 10,000 tourists each year, of whom over
500 visitors, including 400 foreigners, stayed at these homestay establishments.
Developing
community-based tourism in Tu Do is part of Lac Son district’s project to boost
tourism by 2020 with a vision to 2030, which has helped the commune unleash its
potentials. The commune plans to cooperate with other tourist destinations in
neighbouring areas like Mai Chau in Hoa Binh and Pu Luong Nature Reserve in
Thanh Hoa in an attempt to further bolster its tourism industry.
The establishment of
community-based tourism villages has brought a new lease of life to Tu Do and
promoted local hidden charms, thus improving incomes for local people.
In the first 9 months of 2024, Hoa Binh province continues to implement the expanded tourism development cooperation program plan of 8 Northwest provinces with Ho Chi Minh City; deploying digital transformation content in tourism and developing a smart tourism province. Hoa Binh province received about 3.6 million views, an increase of 7.9% over the same period. In which, international visitors are about 380 visitors, domestic visitors are estimated at 3 million 220 visitors.
Spanning thousands of hectares and winding gracefully along mountain slopes, hillsides, and riverbanks, the terraced rice fields of Lac Son District present a stunning and captivating beauty. This region, renowned for its remarkable terraced landscapes, is also the centre of Hoa Binh Culture known for numerous archaeological sites.
The life of Mong people in Hang Kia and Pa Co communes of Mai Chau district has improved much thanks to tourism development.
The man-made Hoa Binh Lake, with a water surface area of approximately 9,000 hectares and a capacity of 9.45 billion cubic meters, stretches over 200 kilometers from Hoa Binh to Son La provinces. With the goal of developing into a national tourism area, the Hoa Binh Lake tourism area is expected to not only become the largest tourism centre in the province but also one of the 12 key tourist destinations in the northern midland and mountainous region of Vietnam.
Da Bia hamlet, now Duc Phong, in Tien Phong commune, Da Bac district, was once almost isolated from the outside as the only way to the hamlet was to get a boat ride across the Hoa Binh reservoir. However, as its tourism potential has been unleashed, the hamlet has established itself as one of the most attractive destinations on the tourism map. It has even received the ASEAN Community-Based Tourism Awards in 2019.
In the first 9 months of 2024, Mai Chau district, Hoa Binh province welcomed over 684 thousand visitors to visit and relax. In which, over 516 thousand domestic visitors and more than 168 thousand international visitors. Total revenue from tourism is estimated at over 821 billion VND.