Love Waterfall and Golden Stream

The road climbs from the center of Sa Pa toward Ô Quy Hồ Pass, more than 10 kilometers of winding mountain bends. Before anything comes into view, the sound arrives. The steady fall of water comes from somewhere inside the wall of forest. When the wind pushes back toward the road, it flings cool spray into your face. That is the sign that the Love Waterfall is close.

The Love Waterfall lies in the Trạm Tôn area, near the top of Ô Quy Hồ Pass. It stands in the primeval forest of Hoàng Liên National Park. Trạm Tôn is the gateway to the forest. It is also where a short walking trail into the falls begins.

Hoàng Liên National Park was founded in 2002 and covers 28,509 hectares. On April 15, 2006, it was recognized as an ASEAN Heritage Park. Its highest peak is Fansipan, at 3,143 meters. The walking route from Trạm Tôn up to Fansipan is one of the best-known among Vietnamese mountain climbers, and the Love Waterfall sits right on that route.

The Golden Stream, Suối Vàng, rises deep in the primeval forest. It winds for about 1,600 meters and then drops over a rock wall to make the waterfall. The fall is about 100 meters high, and its water falls white between tall trees. When sunlight slips through the canopy and lands on the rocks, the surface of the water takes on a soft golden glow. That is why people there call it the Golden Stream.

The name Love Waterfall comes from a legend. People of Sa Pa tell how, long ago, the seventh fairy often came down to bathe in the stream with her sisters. A woodcutter named Ô Quy Hồ liked to rest there. The two fell in love beside the falls, but by heaven's law the fairy had to go back. This is a folk legend, not a historical event. Still, it has been told through many generations, and it is tied to how the community named the falls and the pass.

The forest around the falls is the primeval forest that marks Hoàng Liên, with rhododendrons, maples, trâm and many other mountain trees. In spring, red rhododendrons and yellow wildflowers bloom along the path. A walker at dawn, with dew still on the leaves, clearly feels the climate near the peaks.

The path to the falls has steep stretches, crosses small streams and wooden bridges, and then opens onto the waterfall itself. A white fall tumbles from high above onto a rock wall covered in moss. In the rainy season, from about June to September, the waterfall turns fierce, and the sound of the water can be heard from far away. In the dry season, from October to April, the water is clearer and the golden shine on the stream is easier to see.

A ranking by the Global Environment Facility places Hoàng Liên in class A, the highest level for biodiversity value. The forest holds wild orchids, heritage trees and many rare species, and few places in Southeast Asia have kept a forest like this so intact.

Standing before the Love Waterfall, it is easy to see why it carries that name. Water falls down the wall of green moss, cool spray drifts out on every side, and on the rocks below the falls the gold of the stream glitters as if it had never gone out.