Located at over 1,000 metres above the sea level and at the
start of legendary Truong Son mountain range, Mu Waterfall is described as an
"attractive girl in her twenties” thanks to its imposing beauty, pure and cool
water, and strong water flows. A special feature is that a small pure blue bay
like a natural pool was formed at the foot of the 100m-high waterfall section.
The waterfall is surrounded by an untouched and picturesque forest landscape.
Mu Waterfall is truly a "paradise” for foreign tourists and youngsters who love
motorbike tours to explore.
Due to the waterfall’s beauty, visitors from Hoa
Binh and other localities have flocked to this "paradise” recently. Secretary
of the Party Committee of Mu hamlet Bui Van Khuyen said the number of tourists
to Mu Waterfall has risen sharply since April 30. The ticket admission even
reached 7-10 million VND (308 – 440 USD) on peak days, excluding revenue from
accompanying services.
Since 2014, local residents have capitalised on
tourism potential, mostly beautiful natural landscapes and long-standing
customs. Mu Waterfall is an important highlight of that tourism potential.
Thanks to Mu Waterfall’s attractiveness, local people have also gained more
income from tourism and accompanying services.
"Natural
swimming pool” in the foot of Mu waterfall is selected as an ideal destination
by foreign visitors
Statistics showed that 19 out of the 59
households in Mu hamlet have engaged in tourism with new trades such as selling
groceries, renting swimsuits, and offering beverages, food, and homestay
services. Other locally-made farm produce such as honey and vegetables are
widely sold.
At present, households are afraid that the
waterfall would be destroyed one day due to the implementation of a hydropower
project on the Mu river. Bui Thi An from Phu Lai commune (Yen Thuy) and her
friends have visited Mu waterfall many times. An said "The landscape is
wonderful and the Mu waterfall brings us the most excitement when coming here.
Therefore it would be a pity if the waterfall may disappear in the future.”
The
implementation of a hydropower project near Mu waterfall has been postponed due
to environmental violations
The hydropower project along the Mu river was approved by the provincial
People’s Committee in Decision 495/QD-UBND dated November 10, 2015. The project
is designed to have a capacity of 9 MW. It is invested by the Van Hong Co. Ltd.
and carried out on the Mu river, Tu Do commune. Its construction started in
2016 with a total investment of 167 billion VND. As planned, the project will
be put into operation in March 2017.
Chairman of the communal People’s Committee Bui
Ngoc Thien said according to technical design, the project will build a water
storage dam at the head of the Mu waterfall. This could pose negative impacts
on the waterfall, especially changing its flows, affecting tourism and water
resources for local irrigation. In the worst situation, the waterfall could be
totally destroyed. He emphasized the local government and people’s viewpoint of
ensuring harmonious development between tourism and hydropower. They had better
choose the waterfall instead of the project because it is a valuable natural
tourism resource and it is impossible to implement the hydropower project but
destroy the surrounding landscape./.
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