Suoi Chieu Lake, located in Chieu village, Muong Coi commune, Son La province, is becoming an attractive destination for many tourists. Pristine scenery, cool climate and experiences associated with local life create the attraction of this place.
From the center of Muong Coi commune, overcoming a distance of more than 15 km, Suoi Chieu Lake appears with clear blue water, surrounded by mountain ranges covered in green.
The irrigation project is more than 50 hectares wide, with a capacity of over 4 million m3 of water, not only providing irrigation water for the downstream area but also has the potential to develop ecotourism.
Visitors here can take a boat ride around the lake, paddle SUP, fish, bathe in hot springs, camp by the lake and enjoy specialties such as stream fish, grilled chicken, and wild vegetables. The peaceful space and stilt houses of the Muong people create a unique feature of the destination.
Mr. Ha Van Hoang, Vice Chairman of Muong Coi Commune People's Committee, said that Suoi Chieu Lake has many advantages for developing ecotourism and community tourism thanks to its beautiful landscape, hot springs and preserved Muong cultural identity.
The locality is encouraging people to develop experiential services, build unique tourism products associated with environmental protection and cultural preservation," Mr. Hoang said.
In recent years, the people of Ban Chieu have proactively developed community tourism with lake viewing services, cuisine and local cultural experiences.
Mr. Mui Van Lam, Secretary of the Party Cell, Head of Chieu village, said that the village is building guesthouses in the upstream waterfall area, combining boats to pick up and drop off guests, bathing in streams, grilling chicken, picnics and enjoying local specialties.
We want to diversify products to retain tourists, create more jobs and increase income for people," Mr. Lam said.
According to Mr. Lam, in addition to doing tourism, many households still maintain cage fish farming and seafood exploitation on the lakebed. The combination of production with tourism helps increase the value of local products, while bringing more experiences to tourists.
Since 2020, Ban Mai Retreat resort has been operating with accommodation services, hot mineral baths and outdoor experiences, contributing to diversifying tourism products at Suoi Chieu Lake.
On weekends, the family of Mr. Nguyen Duc Thanh, a tourist from Bac Yen commune, chose Suoi Chieu Lake as a resting place after working days.
My family learned about the lake through friends' introductions. The space here is fresh and quiet, children can take a boat, admire the lake and play in nature. The people are friendly, the dishes are imbued with local flavors. This is a suitable destination for the whole family to rest on the weekend" - Mr. Thanh shared.
With the advantages of pristine nature, Muong cultural identity and the proactiveness of the people, Suoi Chieu Lake is gradually affirming its attractiveness on the experiential tourism map of Son La, contributing to creating livelihoods and promoting local economic development.
