Cool climate, warm welcome: Bach Ma Eco-tourism Park gets up and running. — VNS Photo Minh Tu

by Minh Tu

THUA THIEN-HUE — The central province of Thua Thien-Hue has opened a new eco-tourism project on the peak of Mt. Bach Ma, in a bid to lure more tourists to the region.

The VND41.5 billion (US$2.9 million) eco-tourist park, located in Phu Loc District some 40km south of Hue, was officially opened last Saturday.

The project encompasses the verdant forests of the 22,000ha Bach Ma National Park, and an old French hill station.

Local tourism authorities hope the site will help take some of the pressure off the bustling tourist hub of Hue.

Seven villas, with a combined total of 75 guest rooms, have been restored and opened to the public.

The Bach Ma National Park Management has spent nearly VND38.8 billion ($2.7 million) on facilities at the tourist site.

This includes investment of VND29 billion on a road linking National Highway 1A with the peak of Mt. Bach Ma, and VND9.3 billion spent on renovating four villas with 27 bedrooms.

Private companies in the province also chipped in VND2.8 billion to restore three other villas in the eco-tourism zone.

Other facilities at the site include an orchid garden, a camping area and look-out spots.

All these facilities were built and restored on the ruins of 139 villas built by the French in the 1930s.

Seventy years of wear and tear, including damage during the American War, have seriously damaged Bach Ma Resort.

In the 1960s the US forces built a helicopter landing pad on Mt. Bach Ma, and several fierce battles were fought there.

In the late 1970s and 1980s, lax management allowed iron scrap dealers to plunder the resort.

It was not until the Bach Ma National Park was established in 1991 that damage to the site was finally brought to an end.

The park protects a vast area of green forest in the Truong Son Mountain Range, which runs from the East Sea to the Viet Nam-Laos border.

It is now home to 1,150 flora species and 134 fauna species, including those listed in the Red Book of endangered animals.

The numbers of visitors to the national park has been on the rise in the past few year. In 1998, 2,000 people called in, rising to 5,200 in 1999 and 6,624 (including 500 foreign visitors) last year.

The eco-tourism zone is part of a much bigger tourism project, the Lang Co-Bach Ma-Canh Duong Tourism Triangle.

The Government recently approved an investment package to develop infrastructure in this area, according to officials from the Thua Thien-Hue Tourism Department.

Thua Thien-Hue provincial authorities are calling for investment to restore more French-style villas and develop other eco-tourism projects on Mt. Bach Ma.

Five other villas are expected to be renovated and opened for public use by the end of next year. — VNS

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