Vietnam Waterfalls- Pongour Waterfall
Waterfalls might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about Vietnam. In fact you might not associate the two at all. I know I didn’t….until I came across one of the most beautiful photos I had seen: 4 monks in their red robes walking over a waterfall!!! And photographed with a long exposure….I fell in love instantly.
Looking at this photo every day on my wall (of course I had to buy it!), I knew my Vietnam itinerary will be designed with that in mind. In fact I might have taken the decision the moment I saw the pic in the photography shop.
The waterfall I am talking about is Pongour waterfall, situated about 50km from Dalat city, in central Vietnam. Pongour is not the most famous nor the biggest waterfall around Dalat but it was my favourite. Being a bit further from the city, there were hardly any tourists, which is a big advantage compared to the other waterfalls. Pongour is rather a place for locals, who love to come here for picnics.
The only thing that you need to be aware of (and I wasn’t) is that during dry season the volume of water is diminished substantiallu. You can actually walk through it…. Therefore, imagine me sitting there, waiting for my monks to come so I can take my own amazing picture and hang on my wall. And waiting…and waiting….and waiting… but they didn’t come :-(. Instead a small group of very cheery school girls arrived and started playing in the water while I was trying to get a photo. Good enough for me! And for the million time I wished I had a tripod!
The waterfall is layered and it is not to difficult to climb all 7 layers, although not sure in wet season. I think there might even be signs warning you not to climb.
The Dalat region is known for its many waterfalls (about 12 from what I understood) and the most popular are: Elephant, Prenn, Datanla. It is certainly worth to take a day tour and visit as many as possible.
I also reached the waterfall as part of a full day tour (other waterfalls included) with one of the founders of Easy Riders motorbikes trips (be careful at the fake ones!). Well in fact the whole tour and my whole stop for a few days in Dalat was with the ultimate goal of seeing this waterfall.