Come to Ba Vi nature

Ba Vi National Park is one of Vietnam’s most famous areas of outstanding natural beauty, and is centered around a three-peaked mountain jutting steeply out of the landscape.

Come to Ba Vi national park

Ba Vi National Park is centered on Mount Ba Vi - an isolated soil-limestone mountain situated about 50 km west from Hanoi. The mountain located in Hanoi city and shared the border with 2 districts of Hoa Binh Province. Mount Ba Vi has three peaks: the highest is Emperor Peak at 1,296m, followed by Tan Vien at 1,226m and Ngoc Hoa at 1,131m.

The national park offers a great escape from the city with cool fresh mountain air in a mystical atmospheric backdrop of clouds, jungle and tropical rainforest. There is also a spa resort nestled at the foot of the mountain offering a host of natural therapies in an absolutely stunning setting.

The three mountain summits are Dinh Vua which is the highest at 1,296m, Tan Vien which is 1,226m and Ngoc Hoa the smallest at 1,131m. Together they form a three humped crest which is often obscured by clouds at the highest point due to the varied climate at the park. Pilgrims and tourists alike usually make the walk to the summit of the Tan Vien peak where an 11th sacred century shrine stands in memory of the Mountain God.

Tan Vien peak

There are also superb tropical forest views and vistas all the way to Hanoi to be enjoyed from this peak. The fast-flowing Da River is located on one side of the national park; there are also several streams running through the park.

In the middle of mountainside, there are many waterfalls flowing down every day and it forms the attractive places such as Khoang Xanh, Ao Vua, Thac Nga, suoi Ngoc…

Ba Vi National Park has 1,209 species of plants, including 21 rare plant species listed in the Vietnam Red Book as  Bach xanh, Sen mat, Phi ba mui, De tung soc trang, Hoa tien, Rau hum, Kim tuyen…The animal including 63 species of mammals, with many rare species such as: Cay gam, Cu li lon, white pheasants..

In addition to the legend, Nui Ba Vi is the incarnation of the Tan Vien Son Tinh Holy ,. To remember the merits of him, people set up the temple to worship him at the top of Tan Vien, or called Den Thuong. Den Thuong was ranked historic national culture in February, 2008. In addition to the historical value, visitors will have the opportunity to learn more about the culture of Van Lang born 18th Hung King and a deeper feeling of love between Son Tinh and Ngoc Hoa Princess. 

 Ba Vi national park is a primary park with thousands of great and old trees. This primary park is located in the height of above 600 kilometers. This area has kept hundreds of vestiges for more than a century since the French colonist came there. Ba Vi also has a village of Dao people who are one of the minorities in the south. When you get there, it will bring you knowledge about Dao People’s lifestyle and a chance to taste the very delicious dish of bamboo shoot.

Come to Ba Vi country farm

Ba Vi country farm is located 65 km centre from Hanoi on a small hill and lean against Ba Vi mountain range. The country farm is on the west suburb of Hanoi capital which has a very nice and diverse agricultural terrains (forest, lake, pond, spring, lake) which are the symbols for the ancient wet rice cultivation in The Red River Delta.

Dairy farm in Ba Vi

From the country farm, tourists can gaze with low-ladder rice field and the back is the stretched green of the primary forest of Ba Vi mountain. Come to Ba Vi country farm, tourists also visit cattle farms as well as agricultural village with nice landscape and taste fresh and special foods in warm atmosphere.

Tourists also have the chance to directly take part in agricultural tourist activities like: growing rice, catching fishes by bamboo tools as well as grow and gather forest vegetables or herbs, roast tea and feed ostriches, goats and etc. Tourists also have the chance to visit tea gardens, learn to make honey and take part in eurhythmy exchanges or bamboo pole dances with art teams of Muong and Dao minorities who live near the farm.

To server for the rest of tourists, the country farm has full of space and facilities with modern equipments as well as professional staff.

Drive back the heat at Ho Tay Water Park

Cool down your Vietnam summer vacation with the only water park in Hanoi city. It situates on one side of West Lake, the largest lake in the city and also a nice entertainment complex of a "Sen" buffet restaurant, a large Kinder park, an amusement park named "new Solar" and this Water Park.

Fun rides and attractions, great place to hang out with locals in a non-touristy setting, great views of Ho Tay Lake and adjacent lotus pond, relaxing setting with lots of shade and benches.

Bathrooms and showers are sprayed down frequently but remain smelly and feel pretty dirty with no soap available and no mirrors in the gents' room, the park has uneven (and even slightly slippery in places) pavement making flip-flops a necessity, men can't wear a rash guard (sun-protective in my case) even on the lazy river ride or wave pool.

Fun things to see: There's a temple dedicated, it says in Chinese, to the water moon, in one corner of the park. Creaky, rusty old monorail from adjacent theme park sometimes trundles around overhead. Vietnamese, while not prudish, are very modest and you'll notice that many women wear swimsuits that amount to leggings-plus-T-shirt. Western visitors may want to take this into account. Lockers are available in several sizes. Fast food and drinks at several stands.

Ho Tay Water Park in early morning

Sliding lanes should be the most exciting activities when one comes to this water park, consisting of high-speed lanes for single; black thrilling lanes for couples and carpet sliding lanes with a height of 14,5m may provide extremely excitement.

Visitors seeking for strong high surf don’t need to go to the seas because Ho Tay Water Park features a 3m depth wave-making pool with its waves of 1,2m high. Extreme experiences can be collected in a system of swinging ropes and diving pool of 3,5m in depth. For ones enjoy relaxing moment may lay on a buoy, then let the artificial currents of the 450m long “lazy-stream” drive you around the park while sunbathing and sightseeing the poetic West Lake outside the complex.

Lazy stream

Children are prioritized with a large area well designed with funny cartoon characters and colorful lanes of lower height. Near this zone are a wide array of food and drink serving stalls as well as many eye-catching fountains and statue for photo posing.

Located right beside the water park is Moon Park with dozen of games for youngsters and kids vary from thrilling games like high-speed train, aspen blitz, dropping down from height to games which are more appropriate for kids like driving carts, bubble house, or bumping cars. In here can also found the magnificent ferries wheel lifting ones to a height of 60m, offering the whole great view of the West Lake and part of Hanoi.

Adjacent to the Water Park is New Sun Park, an amusement complex with more challenging games than the merry-go-round of downtown parks, such as the Giant Wheel or Thang Long roller-coaster. Just outside of both parks is the famous Sen Ho Tay restaurant, which took the lead in reviving Vietnamese traditional specialty in the forms of buffet. If you are a fan of Ngon restaurant, you cannot miss Sen.

Lotus Pond

Come and join the so funny atmosphere at Ho Tay Water Park to struggle in cool water, wallow and play exciting games, taste delicious dishes and soft drinks by the side of West Lake. This is a place worthy enjoying with families and friends. 

Ancient art of fish fighting in Hanoi

In summer, when temperatures begin to rise and tempers start to fly, many Hanoians find release watching the ancient art of fish fighting.

A good fighter

Another good fighter called La Han

Fish fighting in Dong Ho Painting

Gathering at a fish fighting

On my first visit to a fish fight, my friend took me to a xới (arena) adjacent to Ba Mau Lake. Under the blazing sun, more than twenty men gathered around three glass bowls containing a collection of colourful fish. As we arrived, two of the men prepared to drop their fighting fish into the ‘ring’ – a glass pot containing clear water.

As the two aggressive fighters (one deep black in colour, the other a bright pink) are dropped into the water, they immediately attack each other. The fish seem to fight harder as the crowd urges them on.

Long ago, fish fighting developed as a special hobby for Vietnamese children, especially in Hanoi. Now, this children’s game has become a popular hobby for adults as well. Fish fighting arenas are developing on pavements, lakes sides, or in more secluded areas such as gardens.

According to an ornamental fish seller in Mo Market, Hanoi, the best fighting fish can be found in Yen Phu and Nghi Tam villages in the Tay Ho District of Hanoi. Nguyen Van Huan, a fighting fish raiser from Nghi Tam village said, “To have a good fighting fish, you have to choose it carefully. A good fighting fish must have characteristics such as a big head, long and thick body, thick tail, hump back, and vertical fin.”

Quality fish such as these can be priced between VND50, 000-70,000 each, but even though the fish may display the characteristics of a fighter, it can still take two to three months before they are ready to be brought to the fighting arena.

There are now a few families in Nghi Tam village that continue to raise fighting fish. According to Phan Thi Hoa, breeders of this kind of fish now have numerous challenges they need to overcome. For example, she said, water in the area now contains a high content of chlorine which makes fish weaker.

“We often have to take water from West Lake,” said Hoa, “More over, we have to buy worms from neighbouring provinces to feed the fish.”

It is estimated that Nghi Tam village supplies thousands of fighting fish to fish markets every year. One of the most famous fighting fish breeders in Nghi Tam is Nguyen Quang Hung. He has set aside a 50 quare-metre area for raising fish in hundreds of bottles and pots.

Fish trainers from Hanoi, Hai Phong, and even Vinh City are all fond of Hung’s fish because they are, “strong, vigorous and fight to the death”.

Each season, Hung sells tens of thousands of fish, which earn him hundreds of millions of Vietnamese Dong. “Raising fighting fish is like raising fighting cocks. When they are small, we put them together but when they get bigger, we keep them separately.” Hung has a stable of one hundred or so of the best fish which cost hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese Dong each.

Fighting fish from Thailand are also appearing in Hanoi, but according to a trainer, “Thai fish are beautiful but not strong and vigorous like Nghi Tam fish.”

Training fish is also an important step. After choosing the best fish, trainers put them in a glass pot and keep it in a dark place. Some people wrap the pot with paper while others bury it in the ground for some days. The next training step is to place a mirror in front of the fish and let it shadow fight. To get them ready for their first show fight, the trainers let the growing fish spar with each other in order to choose the strongest one.

Fish must be four to five months old before being entered in an important fight, and to help their charges win, trainers sometimes use some special methods. One or two days before the game they put some salt or a quater of a B1 tablet into the pot. Salt and vitamin makes the fish hungry and so it will be more aggressive against its opponent.

To make the fight end quicker, people may shake the pot so as to make the fighters tired and end their bout. The fight ends when one of the fish dies or swims away. But if both flee, the fight will end in a draw.

Today, fish fighting is not only a game just for relaxing. Many people have been using this game for gambling. Besides football and cock fighting, fish fighting is now also becoming a hot gamble on every corner.

If you meet a man holding a glass pot or a nylon bag containing small colourful fish, it is probably a good bet that he is on his way to find a fish fight at Dong Xuan Market, Mo Market, O Cho Dua, Buoi Street, or Thanh Cong Park. Wish him luck.