No one dares fish from the legendary Ngoc Stream where the fish thrive for unapparent reasons and more legend than fish swirl around in its intriguing waters.

Located in Luong Ngoc Village of Cam Thuy District in Thanh Hoa Province, those who want to see the mysterious stream for themselves, quite luckily, will have to first pass through the Ho Dynasty Fort, hills blanketed in clouds and corn fields along the Ma River. The best way to go about it is to start in Thanh Hoa City, some 80km from the village.

Legend has it that in the 11th century, a married couple from the Muong ethnic minority village left their home in the northern mountain city of Hoa Binh to settle in the unpopulated Luong Ngoc area. Enchanted by the surrounding mountains, rivers and streams, the couple made it their new home. Other settles slowly joined them, and a village was eventually created.

The village’s two greatest celebrations fall on the New Year and during harvest. When the beats of the gongs and drums start pounding, all the fish in the stream will gather in the cave except for one. This maverick is caught and offered as a sacrifice to the river king. Villagers then catch the rest of the fish and offer them as sacrifices as well.

You’re probably thinking nothing about that seems too out of the ordinary. It’s because it’s not. The strange part is that the stream’s fish never ride the fast-flowing current all the way to the ma River. Without exception, they always stop at the mouth of the stream and swim back...in descending size order!

Wait, it gets even better. Villagers claim that they have never seen a dead fish and that they have no way of knowing how many fish inhabit the waters inside the cave. Overwhelmed by curiosity, some villagers once tried to knock down the cave front to find out. However, their efforts were hindered by sudden heavy rains and falling boulders.

It is a widely held belief that the Ngoc Stream is home to divine fish. People dare not catch them, especially after an accident that killed a young man on his way home from fishing at the stream in 2001. Though police confirmed that drunk driving was the cause of the traffic accident, villagers still say that he was being punished by the divine fish.

Before the villagers became well-known, different varieties of fish used to come out of the cave; however they are rarely seen now. There was one particular type whose eyes were said to look like sparkling gold rings and who appeared to be wearing earrings. These bejeweled beauties could weigh up to 20kg each.

Just as the stream continues to flow with unexplainable phenomena and lots of fish, tourists continue to flow through the area to not only pay the fish a visit, but also to take in the natural beauty of the surrounding area. The May and Song Na valleys, as well as the stalactite-filled Doi and Cay Dang caves, are themselves phenomena, though quite explainable ones.

(Source: Chao)