Ban Gioc Waterfall, 400 kms from Hanoi, is one of Vietnam’s most impressive natural sights, located in the northeast province of Cao Bang, and at the border of China/Vietnam. The falls are 30 metres high and 300 metres across on the Quay Son river – a beautiful jade blue body of water flowing from China through a pastoral landscape of rice fields and bamboo groves, surrounded by limestone pinnacles. Both countries have bamboo rafts that punt visitors around the base of the falls for a better view of the cascades. Raft activity on the river increases exponentially at 11am, as the authorities release more water over the waterfall from upstream! My driver Khoa, a photography enthusiast, did a splendid job of capturing waterfall images from all sorts of vantage points, especially videoing. And I loved the pony lady’s attitude to being photographed.

The Phat Tich Truc Lam Pagoda hangs halfway up the Phia Nhan mountain and is a good place to enjoy initial distant views of the waterfall. My first motorbike ride in decades (tightly gripping a poor motorbike tout around the middle, who offered to take me up 🙂 and got me to the pagoda entrance. And then of course down we went, once again a vice tight grip….a well earned 50,000VN ($3) for him!! I really am getting too old for this sort of caper!

As we returned to Cao Bang, we drove through mountains and valleys where I discovered farming practices here haven’t changed much in centuries, much of the work is done by hand. One piece of ‘technology’ I saw, was the bamboo water wheel. This device scoops up water from the river, carries it up to the level of the fields and drops it into earth gutters, which channel the water into the fields to irrigate the crops. This particular one might have seen better days.

We diverted off to see Nui Thang mountain (Angle Eye), located in the heart of valley of the Ban Danh hamlet next to the Thang Hen Lake UNESCO complex, which features a charming green landscape and 36 interconnected lakes.

Next day, on the way into Hanoi, saw this precious scene….is there anything oversize that the locals aren’t game to balance on a bike, or riding device?? I think not!