Flowers are blooming on the banks. Canopies of leaves lowered on the crystal clear water are rustling pleasantly. Baby birds with their delicate wings are chirping in their nests hanging on the cascade; all are blended together, breathing life into a place with quite a peculiar name: Phuon Waterfall.
A romantic and picturesque scenery
As serendipity has it, Nam Dong, a land of mighty mountains and forests, is home to many famous waterfalls. Underground streams, buried kilometers deep in the earth surface, join together to give birth to mesmerizing waterfalls
Mo Waterfall, Truot Waterfall, Kazan Waterfall, Phuon Waterfall, etc., each one is a vibrant bouquet of wildflowers, vigorously blossoming in the vast and infinite landscape.
Located in Huong Phu Commune (Nam Dong District), Phuon Waterfall is an accessible sightseeing location for Google Map followers. However, the journey to Phuon Waterfall requires more than following a well defined route; you need to be a brave traveler, a skilled rider as well as a resilient trekker.
The first 50 kilometers on National Highway 1A from Hue City to La Son T-junction is an easy ride. The route to the breezy and shady hills of Xuan Loc Commune (Phu Loc) is nothing, but the last 4 kilometers is enough for you to have an unprecedented experience when approaching this waterfall.
Close to the People’s Committee of Huong Phu Commune, the path to Phuon Waterfall is curvy and sinuous, stretching along endless hills covered with acacia, melaleuca, and rubber trees. After travelling for 15 minutes through the forest with the steep mountain slope and the clattering sound of pebbles, where there are times you have to get off your bike and push it along the road, you will arrive at the destination. Now that all of the sweats under the sizzling hot sun, the exhaustion and the worry seem to vanish in the air.
Right at the foot of the mountain where bikes covered in red dirt are parked, Phuon waterfall comes into view in its extravagant and yet wild beauty among the lush green forests. The lakes are of jade color. The foliage with its long leaves is fluttering in the breeze. The waterfall is strenuously plunging over the rocks, bursting out dazzling white foam. All the scenes, the sounds, and the atmosphere seem to be full of joy in welcoming you here.
There are many entertaining activities to do at Phuon Waterfall. For couples who long for a romantic scene, the bank of the waterfall (where it is quite shady) is a brilliant place for having beautiful photos.
For thrill-seekers, the bases of the two parts of the waterfall are interesting and fascinating places to conquer. Under the same stream, but with a terrain full of obstacles and difficult of access, the bases are only of a couple of arm’s length away; however, they make the view of Phuon Waterfall change spectacularly.
While the upper part of the waterfall may look gothic with its upright rocky ledge and its sparkling white mist from above, by contrast, the lower one looks mysterious, glistening, and twinkling under the sunlight.
At noon, the sun shines through the layers of the waterfall, brightly reflecting the boundless sky and the verdant mountains. To be able to mingle with the mystifying surroundings and enjoy the cool limpid water of the falls, all your sorrow and worries will soon be blown away.
As pristine, as charming, and as appealing as the waterfall can be, nevertheless, as the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has become complicated; should we not visit this place for the time being, but instead, let us take this chance to take care of our health and refresh our swimming knowledge as Phuon Waterfall is there waiting for us to explore and enjoy once we resume our normal lives.
By Mai Hue