About Tien Waterfall / Angel Waterfall (Thác Tiên)
The Tien Waterfall (Thác Tiên) was an impressively tall plunging double-barreled waterfall near the Deo Gio Pass in mountainous Ha Giang Province in Vietnam’s far north.
Said to never go dry, it’s where the Ta Ngan Stream plunged a reportedly 70m (though that might be a generous figure unless there’s more hidden tiers) in a satisfyingly thick, side-by-side manner.
I’d argue that this kind of satisfying waterfall with plenty of “air time” seemed to be quite rare in Vietnam, which were primarily of the travertine cascade type given its limestone-dominant landscapes.
According to the local Nung people, this waterfall can also be called Vang Tang Tinh Waterfall or “Wind Waterfall”, but the Vietnamese translation of tiên means “fairy”.
So this is aptly named the “Fairy Waterfall” probably because it seemingly falls gracefully from the heavens.
Experiencing the Thac Tien Waterfall
As far as accessing this waterfall, after Mom and I each paid 10k VND, we then had to go on an upside-down hike primarily composed of concrete steps going through what looked like a pine forest.
The numerous steps, upside-down hike, and slippery nature of the concrete kind of reminded my Mom and I of a shorter version of our hike down to the Nungnung Waterfall in Bali.
By the way, the Balinese waterfall’s name and the name of the Nung ethnicity were purely coincidental.
Anyways after getting down the steps with one sharp bend, we eventually got to the bottom, where we were greeted by a bridge spanning the Ta Ngan Stream right in front of the Thac Tien Waterfall.
I swore from down at the bridge level, the waterfall looked more like 40m tall than 70m tall, but the upper tiers above do get harder to see the closer to the falls we got.
I also noticed there were a couple of statues (one on the bridge and one beneath the bridge) that looked more European than Vietnamese, which seemed to be an odd choice.
Anyways, we didn’t go much further downstream even though the trail kept going in that direction so we can’t really say more about how much further you can extend this hike.
When all was said and done, we went back up the sweat-inducing steps (even though it was far less humid here than the rest of Vietnam it seemed), and we ultimately spent about 45 minutes away from the car.
Super Typhoon Yagi Damage
Our mid-April 2025 visit to the Thac Tien Waterfall happened roughly 6 months after the impact of Super Typhoon Yagi.
That singular storm caused widespread damage and killed hundreds of people primarily from landslides.
We actually had to endure quite an adventurous drive that was under construction to even get to the Tien Waterfall, especially on the south side of the Deo Gio Pass.
There, we saw seemingly whole mountainsides move, and the local villages were working tirelessly to keep this supply route going between Yen Bin and Coc Pai.
Practically every bridge had been washed out, and some of the sketchy unpaved driving seemed to more suitable for high clearance 4wd vehicles, especially in the muddiest parts of the road repair work.
While it seemed like much of Vietnam had largely moved on from Super Typhoon Yagi and are almost back to normal, it seemed like this part of Ha Giang didn’t quite get the investment and donations as say Sapa did.
Even the building at the entrance of the Thac Tien Waterfall was being rebuilt (as it too might have also been affected by the storm).
Nevertheless, we were fortunate to have visited this waterfall, and I think it’s a testament to the will of the people in the area to keep working as a community to keep their livelihoods afloat in the aftermath of the disaster.
Authorities
The Tien Waterfall resides in the forest of Deo Gio in the Nam Dan Commune within the Xin Man District of the Ha Giang Province, Vietnam. It appeared to be privately owned (or at least that was the case at the trailhead). I didn’t find an authoritative government website for this local government agency (doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist), but you can try the Vietnam Tourism website to inquire about current conditions.
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