Ba Be lake and national park

Ba Be is Vietnam’s largest natural lake and is now the centrepiece of an extensive National Park. The park and the surrounding area is limestone country, so lakes, waterfalls, caves and unusual rock formations abound. The whole area is richly forested and home to many ethnic minority communities.
The lake itself is really three lakes linked by wide channels. Overall, it’s about 7km long and a kilometre across at its widest point, and contains around fifty species of freshwater fish. The surface is nearly always calm, making a boat trip a peaceful experience. In adddition, there are islands and caves to visit.
Some of the villages offer basic, but reasonably comfortable, homestays. An alternative is the park’s guesthouse, which provides basic accommodation only. Elsewhere, there is limited local standard accommodation in Cho Ra town, about 18km away outside the park.
Ba Be can only be reached by road - the 250km journey takes between six and eight hours. The road gets rough along the latter part, but the excellent scenery compensates.