At its peak heat, we invited each other to "escape" to a cool forest more than 100km from Hanoi.

June 4, 2022 17:40

Khe Ro is a natural primeval forest that very few people know about, located in Tay Yen Tu Nature Reserve with an area of over 7,100 hectares, in An Lac commune, Son Dong district, Bac Giang province.

Summer comes, when the weather gradually becomes hot, Hoang Trung Nguyen (Bac Giang) decided to invite his friends to "escape" from the cramped, stuffy walls, the noise and dust of everyday life, to go to the cool Khe Ro primeval forest.

From the center of Bac Giang, follow Highway 31, pass Luc Ngan and pass the center of An Chau town about 10km, visitors will see Van Son market. Go another 1km to the right turn to Khe Ro. The road is very convenient, family cars can easily go all the way there.

The Trung Nguyen group consisted of 5 members. The group's journey to explore Khe Ro was quite smooth because of the nice, sunny weather. Because it is a primeval forest, Khe Ro is not suitable to visit on rainy days with high humidity. The terrain here is characterized by deep ravines, high mountains and old forests. Every time the weather changes, Khe Ro echoes with echoing sounds like a waterfall. That is why the locals named this area "Khuoi Lo", in Kinh language it is Khe Ro.

The landscape of Khe Ro is very wild with dense forest canopy, cool streams interspersed with waterfalls and rocky rapids. Most special are the small clear lakes in the middle of the forest, where visitors can swim and bathe.

Trung Nguyen shared that in Khe Ro there are two very beautiful large streams. The first is the Golden stream with colorful stones floating up, shimmering in the water. The second is the long Khe Din with waterfalls up to 3, 4 levels high, each level is about 30-40m. The waterfalls pour down to form clear pools of water that can see the bottom such as Vung Tron, Vung Soong...

The climate in Khe Ro is fresh and cool, making anyone who comes here feel comfortable, refreshed and relaxed, completely separate from everyday life. Due to its large area, the ecosystem here is also very rich and diverse with more than 700 species of plants and nearly 300 species of wild animals. Including rare species on the list that need to be preserved and conserved such as: bamboo pine, agarwood, po mu, ba tich, bear, and goat. In the forest, there are also many large trees over 500 years old. As a primeval forest that still retains its wildness, Khe Ro is also very suitable for tourists who love adventure and want to explore the wonders of wild nature. However, visitors should not go deep into the forest area on their own but should go with forest rangers.

Due to the variety of terrains, at Khe Ro, visitors can organize many activities: camping, swimming in lakes, wading in streams, exploring primeval forests, organizing group activities...

The ethnic people living in Khe Ro are mainly Tay, in addition to Dao, Chinese and Kinh people. Every day, the local people often go into the forest to exploit medicinal plants and medicinal resources. In addition, due to the increasing demand for tourism here, many households also provide additional services to serve tourists.

When traveling to Khe Ro forest, visitors can rest at the accommodation in the village in Na O hamlet. At the homestays, tourists can experience the life and culture of ethnic minorities. Currently, there are about 6 families in the village ready to accommodate visitors with a capacity of about 30 people.

In addition, visitors to Khe Ro can stay overnight at the ranger's stilt house, the forest guards here are very friendly and hospitable. Or if you like to experience the feeling of sleeping overnight in the middle of the forest, you can camp at the intersection of Khe O and Khe Ro, experiencing night tourism activities such as campfire or fishing, which are also very interesting.

In Khe Ro, there are specialties that cannot be missed such as: red-eyed carp, stream snails, and wild honey. All are exploited from nature, so they have extremely delicious and attractive flavors. If you want to cook for yourself, visitors can go to the village to buy chicken, vegetables, and go fishing in the stream. That is enough for a hearty picnic.

For Trung Nguyen, Khe Ro was a very interesting trip with many happy memories. The most memorable was when Nguyen was so focused on grilling chicken that he lost his slippers and had to go home barefoot. However, the spoils were the time spent relaxing, drifting in the cool water and beautiful nature. Nguyen will definitely return to Khe Ro many more times to "cool off" for the upcoming summer days.