Ham Ho

Hầm Hô carries half its story in its name.

Two explanations of the name are on record. The first comes from the national tourism authority. It says the name is tied to a rain-calling ceremony, with a rite called hô phong hoán vũ, which people of old held in this area. The second comes from the writer Quách Tấn, in his book Nước non Bình Định. In his account the name comes from the sound of fast water rushing over rocks and falling into a hollow in the stone. There it rings like a shout in the middle of the forest and mountains. Both are legend and popular explanation. They are worth hearing for the way people here put a soul into the land, not to settle on a single meaning.

Hầm Hô is an ecological tourist area on the Kút River. Today its address is Phú Lâm hamlet, in Bình Phú commune. That is in Gia Lai province. Before the 2025 administrative reorganization, it belonged to Tây Phú commune. That commune was in the Tây Sơn area of Bình Định province. So older writings and many travel sources still tie the place to Tây Sơn, in Bình Định. The place is the same under both names. It lies about 50 to 55 kilometers from Quy Nhơn.

What sets Hầm Hô apart is the meeting of stone, water and forest. The tourist area sits in a valley ringed by mountains, along a stretch of river about 3 kilometers long. The riverbed holds many huge granite boulders in strange shapes. Where the water slips gently past the stone, it runs perfectly clear. Where the ground bends sharply, the current grows strong, forming falls and a sound that echoes inside the rock.

Right by the entrance stands Dinh Tiền Hiền, a shrine to two brothers. They were Lê Kim Bôi and Lê Kim Bảng. According to the national tourism authority, they studied the lay of the land. In the late 19th century they helped the people cut through the hillside, dam the river and lead the water to their fields. On the 20th day of the first lunar month each year, people of the area hold a memorial rite in their honor. The story ties the water of Hầm Hô to the livelihood of the farming families downstream, and not only to a pretty view.

Deeper along the stream is Bảy Cử Cave. It is linked to Mai Xuân Thưởng, a leader of the Cần Vương movement against the French in the late 19th century. Cần Vương means "aid the king", and the edict called on the people to resist the French. He is said to have often come here to fish, to rest and to discuss military matters. The cave's name points to two facts about him: he was the seventh child in his family, and he earned the degree of cử nhân.

The rocks in the stream have been given names for visitors, such as Hòn Chuông and Bàn Cờ Tiên. These names come from the shapes of the stones and from the imagination of the people who work in tourism. Look at the stones and make up your own mind. If you see a different shape from the name, that is fine, because nature does not write its stories in advance.

The Kút River here is not as gentle as it looks. The water has run over granite for ages. In one place it is smooth and clear, and in another it is so fast that its roar rises inside the hollow of the rock. That force is the soul of Hầm Hô, a wild beauty that remains whole and has never been tamed.

On a great boulder in the middle of the stream, the water runs below and the forested mountains close in all around. It is easy to see why people of old believed that shouts rising from this rock hollow could call down the rain.