The first waterfall in the Central Highlands

The travel website “The Local Vietnam” ranked K50 waterfall (Kbang district, Gia Lai province) in the second position (after Ban Gioc waterfall, Cao Bang) in the Top 10 most beautiful waterfalls in Vietnam. The road to the waterfall has become more convenient, so visitors can admire the beauty of the “princess” hidden in the Central Highlands.

Choosing the first day of July, we planned to go upstream to visit K50 waterfall - a masterpiece of nature in the core area of Kon Chu Rang Nature Reserve (Kbang district), where the waterfall flows from Kon Ha Nung plateau down to the South Central Coastal Plain, then joins the Con River and finally flows into the East Sea. Where there is a harmony between tall rocks dating back millions of years and rugged terrain, surrounded by many towering ancient trees, creating the majestic K50 waterfall, towering in the middle of the forest and where there is a swallow cave that is likened to the eyes of K50.

From the center of Pleiku City to Kbang district town, the journey is 93km with a travel time of nearly 2 hours. Then from Kbang town, continue to go north, along the Truong Son Dong road for about 70km to the Kon Chu Rang Nature Reserve Management Board. From here, we decided to approach the waterfall by sitting behind a motorbike on 16km of forest road of the skilled drivers who often travel every day on two-wheeled vehicles with 10-tooth sprockets, even 8-tooth sprockets to overcome the steep slopes. This choice will help us avoid having to walk "through the forest, through the mountains" and can go back the same day.

The waterfall is named K50 because the height of the waterfall is about 50m from the top to the bottom. It is also called Hang En waterfall because right behind the waterfall there is a large cave where many swallows live and nest, their chirping echoes throughout the area. Throughout the four seasons, the waterfall reflects the clouds in the sky, pouring straight down the cliff side vertically, creating mist. In the deep blue sky, each thread of white foam is scattered, the water vapor flies hazily and shimmering, covering a vast, majestic space. The feeling of approaching the magical world of nature is gradually opening up before your eyes, hidden under the silent forest canopy that is still in its original state.

The beauty of K50 waterfall. Photo: ANH CHIEM

To get to the waterfall, you need to be physically, mentally, determined and have good survival skills. The most suitable outfit is to prepare shoes for walking in the forest, shoes that can climb mountains, go underwater and must be anti-slip. Because to set foot on the waterfall, visitors must overcome many slopes made of small concrete slabs with steep, winding, curving slopes that make visitors feel like their hearts are about to jump out of their chests. The slippery dirt road has some parts that you can hold on to ropes, other parts you have to walk down in foggy weather. Our phones started to lose signal, sometimes hidden, sometimes visible, sometimes not. A wise decision at this time was to turn off the phone because the jungle requires complete presence, complete concentration and all senses. We disconnected everything outside and immersed ourselves in nature. It felt like everyone was returning to the primitive times, the beginning of the world when the earth was still wild.

All the fatigue and difficulties of the journey of discovery seem to disappear, because clearly before the eyes is the magnificent beauty that is harmonized and interwoven between geological layers, rocks, water, trees and the smallness of humans. The waterfall gradually opens, the water flies up like smoke rising from the morning, then suddenly changes strongly, pouring down, arching up and winding, weaving through the rocks, drawing a poetic scene. Here, the water and the air mass split into two directions. The water flows freely while the air rushes back, creating a strong mist that spreads out, so the surrounding vegetation is always green and lush in every season. Under the sunlight, the waterfall shimmers with silver, bright and sparkling. On sunny days, it will create 7-color rainbows, making the scene even more magical, as if participating in a festival of light with brilliant fireworks. A whole stream of water, day and night, playing and dancing without even thinking about how crowded, noisy, bustling and resounding the world outside was. Everyone in the group was stunned, surprised and then overwhelmed by the charm and complete persuasion of the majestic nature. The feeling of being close to the magical world of mountains and forests, enjoying the magnificent mountains was truly worth a thousand times the hardships they had gone through.

I love every corner of this place with its dense forest path, vines, and green ferns playing with the sun and wind. People often say that trips to the forest to visit waterfalls like this help them overcome their own limits. But I think that we cannot overcome the power or limits of nature. If anything, we just remove the limits in our thinking and find a way to connect with nature. If anything, we get out of our comfort zone, that's all!

The attraction of K50 waterfall is also in the will to conquer when it is the rainy season, the fierce and violent water flows rapidly, pouring down foam. When the sound of the wind chasing each other whistling, the sound of footsteps following each other, clinging to the rope to climb down the cave to visit "the eyes of K50". There are times when you are too tired, lie down next to the dense ferns, look up at the clouds and sky through the endless green banana leaves, then doze off, tilt your head back, take a deep breath, the refreshing smell of the deep forest and listen to the sound of water pouring down in the cave.

Starting from the stream at the foot of K50 waterfall, passing the entrance to the cave of the grass swallows, cutting across the old forest, going through the rapids and clinging to the big rock. Or another way is to go through the slippery slope located halfway up the waterfall - right behind the giant white silver strip. The silence and mystery of the deep cave gives way to the noisy calls of flocks of swallows flying around the cave entrance, flapping their wings and chirping in unison.

Looking from the top of the waterfall upstream, we can see a vast canyon with undulating rocky rapids, deep, broken abysses appearing and disappearing in the mist like morning mist and smoke with the looming rocky rapids and deep abysses in the dance of water, shimmering, spreading and floating far away. With the sound of the pristine, pure mountains and forests, standing in the middle of the waterfall, we feel even more clearly the feeling of being lost and small in a vast, majestic space. The randomly arranged rocks from nature become a place to sit and admire the scenery, or let our feet play in the cool water. Our dream is strangely hidden and haunting, shining through every step of the great forest, shining through the endless K50 waterfall that sings day and night.

Like a majestic and splendid stage, "the eyes of the K50 girl" really shine with the title "The first waterfall in the Central Highlands" and many interesting stories. In the distance, a path is clearly visible, wishing to be gentle forever and lie leisurely beside the waterfall. When leaving this place, I brought with me the lovely image of an old Gia Rai man singing on a dugout canoe upstream on a warm and windy morning. Knowing for sure, I will have many more predestined relationships for the times I return to this place to listen to the waterfalls tell stories of a thousand years.

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