When the cotton flowers bloom

BHG - March has come, in the chilly days of late spring, Dong Van Stone Plateau has entered a season of brilliant cotton flowers. On the winding roads, amidst the rocky mountains, the old cotton trees glow red, like burning torches against the deep blue sky.

When setting foot on this land, people are easily captivated by the wild, majestic beauty of nature and the rustic, sincere nature of the people here. The Stone Plateau - the name that inherently evokes aridity and thorns contains many wonders. Each season has its own food, each moment of the year has its own nuances, its own nostalgia. But perhaps, when the Kapok flowers bloom, this place truly shifts from Spring to Summer, taking on a special appearance that is both wild and romantic, mixed with a bit of nostalgia.

Kapok flowers are in full bloom on the route to four mountainous districts of Ha Giang. Photo: Vien Su

Following the Happiness Road leading to Quan Ba, Yen Minh and then up to Dong Van, Meo Vac this season, there are always faint scenes of "fire spots" waving in the wind in the endless mountains and forests. Following the poetic Nho Que River winding at the foot of Ma Pi Leng Pass, we will encounter ancient Cotton trees growing among small villages. No one knows when they appeared, but we only know that year after year, around the end of March, Cotton flowers quietly bloom, dyeing the entire forest red, reflecting on the clear, blue water!

The old men and women of the Mong, Tay, Dao ethnic groups in the Stone Plateau often tell their children and grandchildren stories about this tree. For them, the Kapok flower is not only a sign of the change of seasons, but also associated with ancient memories of nomadic life, of the hard days in the mountains and forests. People believe that each Kapok flower that falls is a soul of a deceased person returning, a reminder of the origin, of the predecessors who were attached to this land. That is why, during the Kapok flower season, the atmosphere here seems to slow down. The highland markets are more bustling, people visit each other more, the red fires in the rammed earth houses are warmer than ever. Children eagerly pick up the red petals that have fallen all over the path, the elderly sit by the door, silently looking at the flowers and remembering their distant youth.

Standing in front of an ancient Cotton tree blooming “fire flowers” ​​in the vast sky and majestic mountains and forests, we can feel more clearly the heartbeat of nature, of the land and the people here. Cotton flowers quietly bloom to light up a brilliant summer, lighting up dreams of a bright future.

March, the season of Kapok flowers returns to the Stone Plateau, bringing with it stories, memories and emotions that cannot be named. Anyone who has ever visited the Dong Van Stone Plateau during the Kapok flower season will surely never forget that red color - the red color of time, of the years of perseverance that nature has bestowed upon this land.

Sua Giang Tower

Source: https://baohagiang.vn/van-hoa/202504/khi-hoa-gao-no-5d632b6/