Siu Puong Waterfall - one of the beautiful waterfalls mentioned a lot on social networking forums and among young people who love to travel and explore nature recently. The waterfall is located halfway up the Van Peo mountain range across the North, in Dak Na commune (Tu Mo Rong district).
From Kon Tum city, go north along National Highway 14 about 42km, to Dak To, follow Provincial Road 672 about 16km and reach Dak Tram market intersection, turn left onto Provincial Road 678 about 30km more to reach the center of Dak Na commune. From here, we continue to travel by motorbike (the optimal solution) taking about 20 minutes to reach Siu Puong Waterfall area.
On the way, we will pass through immense terraced fields, very beautiful layers, in the middle of the fields there is a winding stream flowing through looking very poetic and soft. Before reaching the parking area, we have to go through winding, twisting roads in the vast pine forests and a flat, green lawn that the locals call a "golf course" in the middle of the forest. This place is actually the location of an old village, due to the nomadic lifestyle in the past, the people have moved to a new village, so now the grass here is smooth and green, like a golf course. After about 10 minutes past this lawn, we have to leave our motorbikes in the middle of the forest to continue walking, crossing the forest, wading through streams for about 15 more minutes to reach the waterfall.
In the midst of majestic mountains, towering, accompanied by the roaring sound of the waterfall and the white steam rising up, anyone who comes here cannot help but be overwhelmed. The majestic and extremely poetic natural scenery of Siu Puong waterfall is like a soft white silk strip standing out against the green background of the old forest.
The height from the top of the waterfall to the foot of Siu Puong waterfall is estimated at 240m. The waterfall does not pour down from above but flows into many different levels. Of which, there are 5 main levels in a zigzag shape, the highest level is about 60m, the remaining 4 levels are on average about 40m each and 2 shorter levels, on average about 10m each. The width of the waterfall's water flow depends on the rainy or dry season, the water flow season is highest around October, at this time the width of the waterfall reaches about 30m.
Because it originates from the old forest, the soil and rock layers have stabilized, so the water of the waterfall is very clear and cool all year round.
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| The water of the waterfall is very clear and cool all year round. |
In addition, Siu Puong Waterfall is located at an altitude of more than 1,600m above sea level, surrounded by old forests, so the climate here is often very cold in winter and always cool in the remaining seasons. However, regardless of the season, when coming to the waterfall, we must always bring a thick coat because the amount of steam emitted from the waterfall will make you susceptible to cold.
The local people highly value the water source of the waterfall, it is said that the water source of the waterfall is a sacred water source. People use this water source for daily activities. They strictly prohibit washing at the source. Women on their period are not allowed to wade through the water of the waterfall. When burying the deceased in the village, they are not allowed to carry them across this water. Over time, the old customs have somewhat faded, but the water source here still has great significance for the Xo Dang people living in the basin of the waterfall.
In addition to the natural beauty of Siu Puong Waterfall, the forest here, when visiting the waterfall, we also experience extremely precious emotions when going with the local people to pick some wild vegetables such as sour vegetables, fern vegetables, and wild vegetables to boil or grill with stream fish, rock snails, pork belly, etc. and use them to cook on the spot for the trip as one of the survival skills when going to the forest.
In addition, some dishes are prepared in advance to bring along on the journey to cook when going to the forest such as grilled meat, grilled chicken, forest salt and pepper, bamboo rice, grilled meat in bamboo tubes combined with wild bananas, which are extremely impressive and the delicious feeling is indescribable.
The most impressive dish for me is the sweet potato and cassava grilled in bamboo tubes, a new and different dish that can only be found here. Processing like this will keep the original flavor of the potatoes and the potatoes will be very rich and fragrant, helping you quickly satisfy your hunger as a dessert while waiting for other dishes.
Another impressive thing is that there are many stops to prepare food and camp on the way to the waterfall because there are many open spaces, streams flowing through and beautiful rapids, avoiding unfortunate incidents such as forest fires when tourists do not completely put out the fire while preparing food.
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| The local people attach great importance to the waterfall's water source. |
From the top of Siu Puong Waterfall, upstream is a system of large and small waterfalls that are very beautiful. The water flows between the mossy green cliffs all year round with ancient trees leaning out. In winter, some trees change their leaves to green and red, looking from above like a wonderful landscape painting. The highest waterfall in the upstream waterfall system of Siu Puong Waterfall is Siu Ngọk La (Tiger Mountain Waterfall). This waterfall is about 70m high, the white waterfall stands out clearly on the vast green forest, looking very impressive. However, this route is only for tourists with good health and climbing skills to access.
According to Mr. Bui Van Vien, Deputy Secretary - Chairman of Dak Na Commune People's Committee, in the past, when the road to Siu Puong Waterfall was cleared by local youth union members, making it more convenient for travel, many tourists came here, especially on holidays and weekdays. In the near future, the Commune People's Committee will propose to develop a plan for eco-tourism development, exploring the nature of this waterfall and neighboring waterfalls, along with maintaining hygiene, protecting forests, and protecting the waterfall's water source. In addition, the commune also proposes to build nearby community tourism villages to introduce to tourists the unique cultural features of the Xo Dang people here through traditional festivals, daily activities, renovating houses in the village in the ancient traditional style and preserving the village's granaries - a unique cultural feature of most ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands.
Another interesting thing is that recently, the District Party Committee and People's Committee of Tu Mo Rong District established a medicinal herb survey team in Dak Na Commune. Through the survey, the delegation discovered about 20 hectares of Schisandra chinensis growing in clumps on ancient trees under the natural forest canopy in Sub-area 204 in Dak Na commune, along with dozens of ancient hawthorn trees growing naturally in a cluster near the Siu Puong waterfall area. This helps the district have directions for preserving and developing medicinal resources in this area with the aim of building this place as an attractive destination for eco-tourism, health care and growing medicinal herbs under the forest canopy. In addition to the above medicinal herbs, around this area there are also red ginseng, Ngoc Linh ginseng, lingzhi and many other rare medicinal herbs.
In addition to the journey to explore Siu Puong waterfall, we can stay in Dak Na to continue exploring other waterfalls such as Siu Mo Mam waterfall, C2 waterfall, medicinal herb gardens, Xo Dang artisans to bring back impressive souvenirs of the trip./.
By: Nguyen Ban