About Bac Waterfall / Silver Waterfall (Thác Bạc)
The Bac Waterfall or Silver Waterfall (Thác Bac) was another one of the popular waterfalls situated near Sapa City.
Said to be about 200m in cumulative height, it’s certainly one of the taller waterfalls we’ve encountered in Vietnam, and it was even visible from the road as well as various other spots in and around Sapa.
However, we were only able to see parts of it when we got up close, and it was only when we were far away from it when we could really get a better sense of its scale.
I’m sure a drone (something I’m not really a big fan of) might help with getting a contextual birdseye view of the Thac Bac Waterfall.
Anyways, as far as experiencing the Silver Waterfall, after being dropped off in front of the ticket kiosk and paying 20k VND per person, we then got to the bottom of the steps leading higher up the waterfall’s drops.
At that point, it became apparent that we were dealing with a loop walk, where the signs here encouraged us to do this ascent in a counterclockwise manner.
In other words, they wanted us to go up the right side of the stream and come down the left.
So in following the signs, we went up the initial flight of steep steps leading to a spur going to a small pavilion (the views of the falls from here were not great though).
Continuing up more steps, we then got to a pretty satisfying lookout area with a local tout looking to sell some ethnic handmade wares.
From this vantage point, we got a cleaner look at the upper tiers of the falls and the intermediate ones flowing next to this viewing area, but the twisting trajectory of the stream always ensured we couldn’t see everything.
Continuing up past this spot, we then got up to the footbridge going across part of the waterfall where touts off both sides of the bridge also looked to sell local goods.
This bridge was the high point of the roughly 500m loop walk, and after going across the bridge, we then had to make a steep descent.
As we went down this side of the stream, I couldn’t help but notice that the views seemed to be a little better on this side than the side we went up on.
So I had to remind myself to look over my shoulder so as to not miss a good look at the Thac Bac Waterfall’s upper and middle tiers.
There was another pavilion on the way down that also yielded a pretty nice view of the waterfall before getting all the way back down to the bottom.
If I had to do this excursion all over again, I would have preferred to do this in a clockwise manner (i.e. going up the left and down the right) despite what the signs say.
That’s because I then wouldn’t have to look over my shoulder for the better views, and then go down on the side that didn’t have quite the quantity or quality of photo ops.
Nevertheless, we spent around 45 minutes to take in this experience at a very leisurely pace (so you could spend even less time here if you were so inclined).
Authorities
The Silver Waterfall or Bac Waterfall resides near the city of Sapa in the San Sa Ho commune of the Sapa District in the Lao Cai Province, Vietnam. It is governed by the Sapa District Government. To inquire about current conditions, you may want to try the Sapa Tourism website.
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