Suoi Mo of Bac Giang

A stream runs through a valley of Huyền Đinh Mountain, on the western side of Yên Tử. It spills down in many steps of waterfall and fills natural bathing pools in the forest. Most streams are only streams. This one became a story.

It is called Suối Mỡ, and it lies in Nghĩa Phương commune. The commune is in Bắc Ninh province. The area was once part of Lục Nam, in the old Bắc Giang. From Hanoi it is about 80 kilometers. The stream flows through a protected landscape forest of more than 1,200 hectares.

What sets Suối Mỡ apart from the other streams of the region is the line of temples along the water. Three temples stand at three points along the stream. The Lower Temple sits low down, the Middle Temple halfway, and the Upper Temple high above. All three honor the Holy Mother Thượng Ngàn, who is also called Princess Quế Mỵ Nương. She belongs to the worship of the Mother Goddesses of Three Realms, a traditional Vietnamese belief.

Local legend says she opened the springs. Her gift made the land rich and let people farm it. In this telling, a divine figure stands for the bond between people and water. It is a layer of folk storytelling that has been kept beside this stream for generations.

The site has been recognized as a national historic monument since 1988. Its festival is held from the end of the third lunar month into the start of the fourth, every year. In 2015 it was listed as national intangible cultural heritage.

The path follows the stream itself. It begins at the Lower Temple, climbs to the Middle Temple, then to the Upper Temple. Along the way there is the sound of water, the rustle of leaves and the sight of wet stone steps. The management board describes the finest stretch as the one from the Upper Temple down to the Middle Temple. There, five mother-and-child falls step down in turn. The water pours from one step to the next, with a sound and a sight that stay with a visitor.

Farther along are the Suối Mỡ Falls and the Thùm Thùm Falls. There is also Suối Mỡ Lake, which covers more than 30 hectares. Grassy ground around the lake suits a picnic or a rest. The route goes on to a lookout called Vọng Ngắm Trăng. The route also reaches two peaks, Rông Khế and Thượng Ngàn, where the mountain forest spreads out on every side.

The forest around the stream keeps it cool through every season. That is why the water sounds so clear, and why the shade of the trees reaches the deepest stone steps.

Natural scenery, a cultural story and a spiritual air all meet at Suối Mỡ. Over all of it runs the sound of water.