Often referred to as the Ba Be Lakes, Ba Be National Park was established in 1992 as Vietnam’s eighth national park. The scenery swoops from towering limestone mountains peaking at 1554m down into plunging valleys wrapped in dense evergreen forests and speckled with waterfalls and caves.The lakes dominate the very heart of the park.
The park entrance fee is payable at a checkpoint about 15km before the park headquarters, just beyond the town of Cho Ra.
Ba Be (meaning Three Bays) is in fact three linked lakes, which have a total length of 8km and a width of about 400m. More than 100 species of freshwater fish inhabit the lake. Two of the lakes are separated by a 100m-wide strip of water called Be Kam, sandwiched between high walls of chalk rock.
The park is a rainforest area with more than 550 named plant species, and the government subsidises the villagers not to cut down the trees. The hundreds of wildlife species here include 65 (mostly rarely seen) mammals, 353 butterflies, 106 species of fish, four kinds of turtle, the highly endangered Vietnamese salamander and even the Burmese python. Ba Be bird life is equally prolific, with 233 species recorded, including the spectacular crested serpent eagle and the oriental honey buzzard. Hunting is forbidden, but villagers are permitted to fish.
The region is home to 13 tribal villages, most belonging to the Tay minority plus smaller numbers of Dzao and Hmong.