Developing community ecotourism in Ben En National Park

(Baothanhhoa.vn) - Ben En National Park is considered as the "Ha Long on land" of Thanh Hoa. This place possesses charming natural beauty, with wild and majestic natural landscapes of hills, rivers, streams, and lakes, creating a diverse and rich ecosystem. Not only that, but the Thai and Muong ethnic groups living around the area also preserve many traditional cultural values. This is the potential and advantage for developing diverse tourism products in Ben En, especially community ecotourism.

Tourists visit Muc River Lake at Ben En National Park.

Coming to Ben En National Park, visitors will participate in trekking activities through the forest trails to admire the wild beauty of nature, and explore the rich flora and fauna. There are lim trees, ancient pine trees with canopies covering the entire forest along with many precious woods, precious medicinal herbs such as cardamom, agarwood... In addition, visitors can also learn about some rare animals living in the forests such as bears, black gibbons, phoenixes, golden chickens... On the discovery routes, the forest always has the sound of birds chirping, flocks of butterflies flying, making the atmosphere more bustling and pleasant. When going to streams and waterfalls, visitors can also soak and bathe in the cool water to soothe the intense heat of summer.

Next, visitors will board a boat to visit and explore the Muc River Lake. Sitting on the boat, drifting along the water through the green islands and admiring the cool natural scenery, visitors will feel peaceful and relaxed. Muc River Lake has an area of up to 3,000 hectares, with an average depth of about 30m. In the lake, there are 21 large and small islands, called by very romantic names such as Love Island, Couple Island, Lung Tung Island, Bong Lai Island, Hy Vong Island... On some islands, the Ben En National Park Management Board has invested in building a number of works such as huts, motels along with walking paths, sightseeing in the forest. This is a very suitable place for tourist groups who want to relax, camp, enjoy the natural scenery, and breathe the fresh air.

One of the destinations that stimulates curiosity and exploration that any visitor to Ben En National Park cannot miss is Ngoc Cave. The cave possesses a wild and mysterious appearance with a length of 80m, a width of 8m and a height of 2.5m. Entering the cave, visitors feel like they are lost in another world, under the shimmering lights, the stalactites appear sparkling and splendid, creating a scene that is both magical and a bit mysterious. Deep inside the cave, there is also a stream of clear, cool water, the water flows throughout the four seasons.

After visiting Ngoc Cave, the boatman will take visitors to some community tourism spots located in the vicinity of Ben En National Park. A typical example is the Le Nien Glamping community tourism spot in Cay Nghia village (Xuan Thai commune). This place possesses a wild, rustic beauty, along with the peace and slow pace of life of the villages nestled among the lush primeval forests. Mr. Le Van Nien, the builder of the Le Nien Glamping community tourism spot, said: Recently, there have been quite a number of visitors coming to visit and experience community tourism here, including many foreign visitors. There are many Thai and Muong people here, so the traditional cultural identity is still preserved and promoted by the people. Coming here, visitors will experience the daily life of local people or visit traditional stilt houses, learn about gong culture, bamboo rafting, bamboo dancing... and then enjoy dishes such as hill chicken, river shrimp, grilled fish...

The diversity in tourism product development has contributed to creating attractiveness, attracting more and more tourists to visit and explore Ben En National Park. However, looking at it objectively, tourism development in Ben En National Park still faces many difficulties, especially infrastructure investment, along with tourism services that have not met the needs of tourists. In addition, the team of tour guides here has not been professionally trained. Therefore, the Ben En National Park Management Board is actively implementing joint projects to attract more tourists to visit and experience. At the same time, continue to expand tours and tourist routes, coordinate with localities around the vicinity of the National Park to develop community ecotourism. Promote and introduce the potential and strengths of tourism development of Ben En to a large number of domestic and foreign tourists...

Article and photos: Nguyen Dat

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/phat-trien-du-lich-sinh-thai-cong-dong-nbsp-o-vuon-quoc-gia-ben-en-255251.htm