The Ban Gioc Falls

Here’s an image-heavy post about the Ban Gioc waterfall(s?) which straddle the border of Vietnam and China. These majestic falls are located in the upper north eastern corner of Vietnam where the the Quây Sơn River separates the two countries, and tourists from both flock to see the spectacle.

It was a relatively easy drive to get to the area from the nearest town of Cao Bang (90 km away). We spent the night in a tiny village nearby, and ate duck phở at the only restaurant.

But I digress. We’re here for the falls:

Clambering up the cliff beside the falls gave us a great view. Steps had been hacked into the dirt in some places, but others we had to climb.

The far riverbank is China, and is thus is filled with Chinese tourists. The little rafts pictured could be hired in either country and the passengers would be punted to the foot of the lower tiers.

We clambered further around the dirt paths…

and further…

and were rewarded with this splashy view of a fall previously hidden.

It was just the two of us clambering around the upper falls. The other visitors were happy at the base.

The path lead even higher up and we found a huge group of Vietnamese people cooking chickens over a fire. We also got to take in this birds-eye view.

Further around was a little pool that lead to the top of another set of falls.

And here is the base of those falls (with a man fishing). These can only be seen from the Vietnamese side, but are still part of the Ban Gioc falls as a whole.

A few kilometres south of the falls was a nice guesthouse in a small village. Here’s the early evening view from our window.

The next day was a harrowing drive over dusty, muddy roads, destroyed by 12-wheelers carting goods from China, with craters wide enough to be scientifically analysed. But that’s a whole other story. Probably one I won’t be telling since I don’t particularly want to relive it.

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