Cao Bang is about to enter the most beautiful time of the year when the rice begins to ripen on the terraced fields... attracting tourists to check-in and explore.
Ripe rice season in Phong Nam valley, Cao Bang. Photo: Cao Ky Nhan
Cao Bang is a mountainous province located in the Northeast of Vietnam. It has a rugged terrain, beautiful nature, lakes, mountains and a unique cave system, creating a picturesque landscape.
Below is a suggested 3-day, 2-night itinerary to explore Cao Bang:
Move
Cao Bang is about 285km from Hanoi, travel time is about 6 - 7 hours. Tourists can choose to take a sleeper bus, drive their own car or travel by motorbike to this land.
If you choose to travel by sleeper bus from Hanoi to Cao Bang, get on the bus at 9:30 pm the night before, and you will arrive at 5:30 am the next morning. At this time, you can rent a motorbike to easily go to the tourist attractions, the rental price is 200,000 VND/bike/day.
Day 1: Hanoi - Cao Bang city - Lenin stream, Pac Bo cave - 14-storey pass
Arriving in Cao Bang city early in the morning, visitors move to the homestay to check in, make a motorbike rental contract, then go to breakfast. Choosing to stay in Cao Bang city will be convenient for traveling to tourist attractions.
First, visitors can go to Pac Bo historical site in Truong Ha commune, Ha Quang district, about 52 km from Cao Bang city center.
Uncle Ho's bed where he rested and worked in Coc Bo cave.
Here, you will visit the place where Uncle Ho lived and worked when he returned to Vietnam in 1941, after more than 30 years of wandering abroad. Coc Bo Cave, the "unsteady" stone table of the Party's history, Khuoi Nam hut, the rock where he used to sit and fish after work, the guava tree whose leaves he used to boil water for drinking, the bamboo garden he planted... are almost still preserved intact.
Lenin Stream has emerald green water.
Lenin Stream is nestled at the foot of Karl Marx Mountain. The stream water is always cool, clear, and has a beautiful blue color. Some places are green, blue, some are emerald green, dark blue...
The walking distance at Pac Bo relic site is quite long, with many slippery sections. You should wear sneakers to help you move more easily and avoid falling.
At noon, visitors stop to rest and eat. In the early afternoon, visitors depart for the 14-storey Me Pia pass, also known as Khau Coc Cha . This winding, twisting, and tortuous pass with a total length of 2.5km is one of the 10 most dangerous passes in Vietnam.
Visitors can sit at a local's hut to rest, drink water, pay 20,000 VND for parking, then climb about 3km to a beautiful location to see the whole view of the pass from afar.
From now until the end of December 2023, people and tourists will temporarily not be able to travel through the pass due to repairs and upgrades. The investment cost is about 39 billion VND, with items such as expanding the view, paving the entire road with asphalt concrete, adding a traffic safety system...
In the evening, visitors return to Cao Bang city to rest and explore mountain specialties.
Day 2: Ban Gioc Waterfall - Nguom Ngao Cave - Thung Mountain - Cao Bang City
From the center of Cao Bang city, about 84km away, you will reach Ban Gioc waterfall, in Dam Thuy commune, Trung Khanh district. The road passes through Ma Phuc pass, Khau Lieu pass with many hairpin bends.
Ban Gioc Waterfall is the largest and most beautiful natural waterfall in Southeast Asia, located between the Vietnam - China border. From afar, Ban Gioc Waterfall stands majestically in the middle of the mountains and forests. Only by seeing it with your own eyes can you truly appreciate the majestic and magnificent beauty of this waterfall. Each stream of water pours down on the rocks, creating white foam, as beautiful as a watercolor painting.
Visitors can rent a wooden raft to go near the foot of the waterfall, priced at 50,000 VND/trip. Under the rushing waterfall is a calm, peaceful lake with a jade green color.
Ban Gioc Waterfall is the 4th largest waterfall in the world among waterfalls located on a border between countries.
Besides the main Ban Gioc waterfall system, there are also small waterfalls nearby.
Next October, the Ban Gioc waterfall landscape area (Vietnam) and Detian (China) will pilot a combination to welcome tourists. The pilot ticket price is 70,000 VND/person, applied from China to Vietnam. Tickets are free for tourists from Vietnam to China.
The pilot scope in Vietnam includes checkpoints at the scenic area, the waterfall foot area, Saigon Ban Gioc Hotel, Truc Lam Ban Gioc Buddhist Temple, service and culinary areas. On the Chinese side, there will be checkpoints at Duc Thien waterfall, shopping streets, tourist vehicle roads, and riverside walkways in the scenic area.
Nguom Ngao Cave has a wild, magnificent beauty.
Continue moving about 5 km, you will reach Nguom Ngao cave located in the heart of a mountain in Gun village. In Tay language, Nguom means cave, Ngao means Tiger.
This cave has a total length of more than 2000m with 3 main entrances in different directions: Nguom Ngao, Nguom Lom, Nguom Ban Thuon. Inside the cave there are countless stalactites dating back hundreds of millions of years, in all kinds of sparkling shapes.
There are 2 ticket prices when visiting Nguom Ngao Cave. The ticket price of 45,000 VND is chosen by many people, visitors will be able to visit about 1/10 of the cave. If you have a lot of time, you can choose the experience tour ticket of 195,000 VND/person to explore all the new cave systems that have been put into operation since December 2021, fully equipped with reflective vests, flashlights, shoes, and a tour guide.
The cave path has been made into steps but is still quite slippery, so be careful when moving to avoid slipping.
In the early afternoon, visitors travel about 60 km to Thung Mountain, located in the Thang Hen Lake complex, part of the Non Nuoc Cao Bang UNESCO Global Geopark. Thung Mountain also has many other names such as Mat Than Nuoc Mountain, Mat Than Mountain, Mat Rong Mountain.
Thung Mountain has a peaceful beauty.
According to scientists, Thung Mountain is a fossilized dry cave formed 300 million years ago. Halfway up the mountain, there is a large hole through the mountain, with a diameter of nearly 35m at its widest point.
Next to Thung Mountain is Nam Tra Lake. The lake is surrounded by overlapping mountain peaks, creating a charming natural landscape. At the foot of the mountain is a large valley.
In the dry season from September to March of the lunar calendar, the entire valley is covered with a green carpet of grass with winding streams all around. Visitors can camp and have fun here. In the rainy season from April to August of the lunar calendar, the entire valley turns into a clear blue lake of up to 15 hectares.
If you want to see the sunset, go to the front of Thung Mountain, and if you want to see the sunrise, go to the back. Note, visitors should ask the locals for the right way to avoid getting lost.
In the evening, tourists get on the bus back to Cao Bang city, about 50km away, to rest.
Day 3: Cao Bang City - Nghieu Son Linh - Hanoi
Before getting on the bus back to Hanoi, you can visit Nghieu Son Linh, about 2km from Cao Bang city center. This is a mountainous area located on the right bank of the Bang River, associated with the history of this land.
Nghieu Son Linh has two mountain peaks, Khau Thuoc and Khau Khieu. Between the two mountains is Na Lu citadel, which in ancient times was a military base to fight against the Northern invaders. Today, only a 15m wide section of the citadel remains, running along the foot of the mountain.
Eat and drink
When traveling to Cao Bang, you cannot miss the famous specialties here such as sticky rice with canarium fruit, khau sli (popped sticky rice cake), ant egg cake (a specialty available from April to May), rice rolls, khau nhuc, fried fish, banh khao, dried beef, bamboo rice, sour pho...
Expense
The total cost for the 3-day, 2-night trip is about 2 million VND/person. Of which, round-trip sleeper bus ticket is 600,000 - 700,000 VND/person, motorbike rental is 200,000 VND/day, Ban Gioc waterfall entrance ticket is 45,000 VND/person, rafting ticket at Ban Gioc waterfall is 50,000 VND/person, Nguom Ngao cave ticket is 45,000 VND/person... In addition, there is the cost for food and drink depending on your needs.
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