Ho Thang Hen - Mysterious "Love Cup" of Cao Bang country

Located at an altitude of more than 1,000 m above sea level, Thang Hen Lake is like a pearl in the mountain with spectacular and poetic beauty. It is a natural product that adorns the watercolor painting of Cao Bang's mountainous landscape.

The emerald green water of Thang Hen Lake. 

From  Cao Bang  city along National Highway 3 to Ma Phuc Pass territory, along provincial road 205 to Tra Linh district for nearly 10 km, visitors to Thang Hen Lake will admire the beautiful natural scenery. With the steep cliffs belonging to the karst terrain of the overlapping mountains surrounding the lake, many stone blocks are cut to form giant harrowing teeth. In some places, the mountain has a steep slope and a gentle slope, creating the feeling of rows of single-roofed houses. Thang Hen Lake is a series of small lakes running along a limestone valley. Due to the process of rock on the ceiling of the underground channel of Tra Linh river, it collapsed to form a lake. 

Thang Hen has a charming landscape with green trees stretching over the craggy cliffs, reflecting on the green water surface, winding along the undulating valley of the reefs. The lake surface is likened to a jade-colored mirror, neatly located among the green forest canopy of the mountainside, the landscape is charming and poetic. From a distance, the lake looks like a giant "bee tail" just like the meaning of the word "Thang Hen" in the Tay ethnic language. 

The main lake has a diamond shape, the widest place is 500 m, the longest place is 2,000 m, some places are hundreds of meters deep. Floating along the boats on the water, visitors can roam from one lake to another to admire the green scenery. 

If you visit the lake in the early morning, in the middle of the blue mist like a silk ribbon blending the colors of the sky and clouds, the poetic scenery with the fragrant forest scent and the sound of birds, you can drop your soul in the immense water. and listen to the rowers next to the story of Thang Hen Lake - where a talented man Sung got married, so he loved to play, forgot to return to the capital to receive the official position, when he remembered that he had run 36 steps, he hit his head on a rock to die. so 36 clear blue lakes. 

Thang Hen Lake all year round always has blue water, attracting many tourists to admire. 

When the sun is high, the golden rays of sunshine like pouring honey into the sparkling lake surface, reflecting the shadow of the trees stretching over the craggy cliffs, the shadows of the boats anchored peacefully on the still water... in the distance... Some houses on stilts have a simple, rustic look of the mountainous region. 

Along the west, in the barbaric sky of the sunset, the sound of the oars chasing fish makes people's hearts nostalgic. Further to the east, the lake's shoreline spreads out gently with many cat-eared cliffs with funny shapes. On the Northeastern side, Thang Hen cave protrudes out of the water like a dragon's head sleeping for thousands of years. In the middle of the rainy season, the lake water becomes violently rumbling and pouring into the cave, hitting the stalactites, creating a melodious sound like an orchestra with drums, gongs, trumpets, and rattles, according to folklore, that is the time. the lake god opened the festival. 

The picturesque beauty of Thang Hen Lake evokes a feeling of excitement, wanting to be immersed there forever. The charming scenery of green and blue water is like a fairyland. The appearance of clouds floating around the mountain makes this place even more mysterious and fanciful. 

The lake area has a steep rocky cliff that allows visitors to easily observe hundreds of years old trees and many varieties of wild orchids. The wonderful natural environment also becomes an ideal place for wild animals to live such as crows, partridges, golden monkeys. 

Ho Thang Hen is also bestowed by nature as a landscape painting. 

During your tour, don't forget to experience the boat ride, drifting along the blue lake water. Delight to capture all the beautiful nature in sight. Or simply walking around the lake, enjoying the spacious, fresh air is enough to see the peace. 

Coming to Cao Bang, visiting Thang Hen lake, tourists stay one night in the stilt houses of ethnic minorities by the ancient forest with interesting experiences. By the flickering firelight, the smell of grilled glutinous corn mixed with a cup of strong wine makes people's hearts more warm. 

Tay women with vast space, charming paintings of Cao Bang mountains (photo: Truong Giang). 

Especially,   enjoy the ethnic dishes made from lake products such as braised green mackerel, sauteed anh Vu fish with chili, braised mountain shrimp with tamarind... or delicious hill chicken, roasted pork, and beef veggie. famous... with the warm taste of wine distilled from corn and yeast leaves according to the traditional method of the Tay people. 

Amid the vast space, the charming painting of the mountains of Cao Bang, the Then dances, the hooks sung by the young women captivated many tourists from all over the world. 

Ho Thang Hen was recognized as a national scenic spot under Decision No. 53/2001/QD-BVHTTDL dated December 28, 2001 of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The place of Thang Hen lake is mentioned as one of the outstanding and attractive eco-tourism addresses in Cao Bang. Coming to Thang Hen Lake is coming to the complex of lakes - caves - rivers - underground caves in this area, with many poetic, charming and mysterious landscapes that attract domestic and foreign tourists to visit. 

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Update day : 20/03/2023