Not too far, approximately 40 kilometers, from situated in the central region of the country and really popular with Russian-speaking travelers Vietnam resort town Nha Trang, there’s an amazing and highly advised for visiting place that is called Eco Park Yang Bay. Even the road leading there and surrounded by marvelously beautiful landscapes brings a lot of delight. The park itself is absolutely wonderful and definitely evokes a tide of positive emotions.
The way to Eco-park Yang Bay goes past villages and mountains, rice fields and tropical forests, so a trip to Yang Bay can be a great additional excursion to see more of Vietnam. The park has three picturesque waterfalls named Ho Che, Yang Kang and Yang Bay. The last one is the biggest of them and the park is named after this waterfall.
Besides the waterfalls, there are thermal springs on the territory of the park and also a small Zoo which runs animal shows. Representatives of a small local people called Raglai give in the park musical performances that are quite worth listening to and seeing.
General Information
The park is situated at a place that is rather distant from the well-known resorts of Vietnam so you won’t see big hotels near the park, instead, there are small settlements with humble huts in them. The nearest to Yang Bay park resort is Nha Trang, which is the starting point for most tourist excursions to the park. Entrance tickets for the park which include visiting all its attractions and hot springs are from 100 000 to 250 000 dongs or about 5 – 12 USD. Entertainments are not included and should be paid for separately.
You can get a personal guide if you buy a most expensive ticket. The eco-park is opened from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. You can see the scheme of the park on a large stand near the entrance. A paper scheme can be bought at the ticket office. It’s possible to move around the park’s territory on foot or use free transport. There are very nice small vehicles, designed for companies of several tourists and not so small special carriages for tourist groups.
How to Get to Yang Bay From Nha Trang
There are several ways or methods of getting to the park. The most convenient though the most expensive way of getting there is traveling by taxi. You should ask the driver to pick you up after the end of your excursion around the park (you have to fix the time) or to wait for you somewhere near the exit. The cost is going to be about 50 – 80 USD for both ways (there and back). Using a taxi becomes much more cost-effective if you go with 2 or 3 companions and are afraid of going there by bike.
If you prefer to travel on your own and are fearless enough to go to the park by bike, the way to the waterfalls will cost you considerably less. To be more exact, you can rent a bike in Nha Trang for the price of 5 USD per day and pay about the same amount of money on petrol. After adding the price of the entrance tickets, payment for the entertainment and lunch, the cost of the whole excursion for two people will be approximately 30 USD, while a package tour bought at a tour agency in Nha Trang will cost from 25 USD to 40 USD per person.
You should get used to the chaotic traffic in Vietnam. It’s normal here to drive on the lane of the opposite direction and move without stopping before zebra crossings. First, it’s needed to drive 17 kilometers along a good road from Nha Trang to Dalat, then you make a left turn and follow a road that on one hand is not so good but on the other hand is half-empty. The road goes past rice fields and villages and leads directly to the park.
Buying a tour at a tourist agency in Nha Trang is one more way to visit Yang Bay. The prices may vary depending on the number of people in the group, the guide – whether he’s Vietnamese or Russian – and on lunch – if it’s included or not. Park Yang Bay is rather extensive and, taking into account its vast territory, you may not be able to see everything, so taking a guide may be quite helpful.
Waterfalls, Thermal Springs
On one of the flanks of the mountain the biggest park’s waterfall Yang Bay can be seen. The waterfall is extraordinarily beautiful and extremely powerful, particularly during the rainy season. Its waters are clear and cool. There are always some people eager to have a swim in the water after the waterfall at the root of the hill. To provide safety, fences have been built and life-savers work there. One more waterfall, Yang Kan, flows down the opposite slope of the mountain. Its waters containing red clay are muddy and nobody wants to have a swim in them.
The path leading to the thermal springs goes over two slimpsy suspension bridges hanging above a mountain river. A bridge of this kind can bear no more than seven people standing on it at the same time. After overcoming all the obstacles, you finally get to a scenic place where the small waterfall Ho Cho is situated. There are also several swimming pools there. Tourists can change clothes for swimming in a changing room and use a toilet.
Having changed their clothes, the trippers can go to the pools. Near each pool, there’s a board showing the water temperature. In one of the pools having a round shape, the temperature is 19 degrees and the water is rather cool. In the other two pools with warm water, the temperature is 32 degrees. It’s possible to have a shower near the pools. All the pools have bowels made of concrete.
The native pool with big smooth stones at the bottom has a more natural look. The stones are comfortable for lying and sitting on them. There’s one more pool but nobody is allowed to swim in it as it gives mineral water for all the baths there. Seven funny statues of tigers mounted not far from Yang Bay waterfall create quite an interesting look.
Entertainments in Eco-park Yang Bay
Various options for having a good time are available in the territory of the park. They’ll be interesting for both children and adults. In addition to the waterfalls and springs, there are some attractions that usually hard to find in other Vietnam parks. It’s possible to see the following activities or events:
- Cock-fighting;
- ragla tribe show;
- piglet races;
- feeding of crocodiles;
- ostrich riding;
- feeding of black bears;
- lunch with ostrich and crocodile meat.
The first halt for tourist groups is the Tree of Wishes. According to what the guides say the tree is a cult thing for both the Raglai and all the Vietnamese. To make your wish come true you should tie a ribbon on one of the branches. The tree is quite high – 25 meters, so the Vietnamese use slingshots to throw their ribbons up on the branches. As a result, the Tree of Wishes looks like a Christmas tree.
At a close distance from the Tree of Wishes, there’s a pond with big man-made lotuses. Some golden fish waiting for being treated live in the waters of the pond. The fish are allowed to be fed using a special dropping tube. Such feeding is especially liked by children. You’ll also find a souvenir shop and several interesting sculptures of animals at that place. After the ritual with the Tree of Wishes, feeding the fish and taking pictures of the animal sculptures, tourists follow to the entrance of the park. There they see a monumental golden sculpture of a snake with a head thrown back. Usually, tourist groups first visit the waterfalls and the thermal springs, then they have an exotic lunch and after that, they can choose some entertainment to their taste. At the café near Yang Bay waterfall, you can taste crocodile meat and ostrich meat. No entertainment is at a particular time with the exception of the Ragla musical performance taking place at 12.30.
The Ragla Show
The show includes dancing and playing traditional musical instruments. Musicians perform Ragla folk music and some melodies specially learned for tourist. For the Russians, they have such songs as “Kalinka”, “Katusha” and even “A wind was blowing from the sea”. The show has a drive; young performers dance, play instruments, invite the audience to take an active part in the show and in contests that they organize.
The Ragla people in Vietnam mainly live in two provinces and there are just about 120 000 of them. Their facial features have characteristics of the Australoid race: dark skin, wide nose, and full lips. The name that the people bears is “ra glai” which being translated means “forest children”. Nowadays, the main occupation of the Ragla people is ecotourism and production of musical instruments and different made of bamboo household items.
During their shows, they use different kinds of gongs, a made of stone plates lithophone, flutes and pipes made of bamboo. The guys sing and the girls perform dancing. The audience is invited to learn the movements and participate in Ragla dancing.
Black Asian bears
These animals are quite nice and live here in spacious comfortable aviaries. They are approximately two times smaller than our ordinary brown bears. The other names of the species are the Himalayan bear, the Ussuri bear, and the white-chested bear. The last one is given the name for its white or slightly reddish semi-lunar spot on the chest. Plant products are the main part of their natural routine food though they also eat frogs, clams, and ants.
Tourists can give these nice animals pieces of bananas or melons. When they do so the delicacies are tied to a fishing line which is fixed on a long pole. The bears are always glad both to have fun and have something to eat. They even stand up on their hinder legs and climb the elevation to be able to catch the treat. The most active and hardworking of them are rewarded. Young cubs have an especially funny look because of their children-like behavior.
Other Entertainments in Yang Bay Park
When a rather big group of tourists get together, cock-fights are organized for them. In fact, they are imitation cock-fights because in Vietnam real cock-fights are forbidden by low.
That’s why it’s much more interesting to watch the piglet races where betting is possible. At the finish line, the winner piglet gets delicious food and the lucky person who had made the right bet receives a prize.
Another funny thing to do in Yang Bay park is feeding crocodiles on a crocodile farm. They, like the bears, are also fed using a long stick, but they are given meat.
Conclusion
Spoiled travelers hardly will be astonished by the park’s attractions as everything is quite simple and without any special refinements. Nevertheless, the park is definitely worth one day’s visit. It’s better to go there on a weekday and not on holidays because local people like coming to the park and on days off it becomes very noisy and busy.
Have a good vacation!
