Ha Giang with Dong Van stone plateau has become a destination for anyone who loves to "travel" across the country. Coming here, visitors are not only amazed by the majestic scenery of layers of rocky mountains on a large area, recognized as a Global Geopark, but also experience the life of ethnic minorities in the homeland's northernmost land. That image brings us a beautiful moment of silence in the middle of the Stone Plateau...
Passing the dangerous mountain pass, with its heart-stopping twists and turns, the Dong Van stone plateau appears with so many emotions. Overwhelmed by the wild landscape painted by rocky mountains, dotted with clouds hanging lazily like soft silk ribbons.
I am moved by what the people here have resiliently created, from the terraced fields stretching along the mountain slopes or the houses made of earth, the stone fences and especially the farming practices on the rocky fields of the ethnic minorities.
Covering a large area of approximately 2,356 square kilometers, Dong Van Karst Plateau is a rocky mountain area over 1,000 meters high. According to the assessment of the Global Geoparks Network Advisory Council (UNESCO), Dong Van Karst Plateau is one of the special limestone mountain areas, a historical treasure trove of complex and long-term geological development of the earth's crust. Dong Van Karst Plateau has hundreds of geological, topographical, geomorphological heritages... which are assessed to be diverse and well preserved in the natural conditions of the area.
Not only does it have great scientific value, the geopark also has a special attraction for the tourism industry because of its landscape. It is like being lost in a rocky land, except for the road in front, turning left and right are all ranges of sharp cat-ear rocks, majestic vertical cliffs and deep abysses. In the midst of the immense rocky mountains, humans seem to become incredibly small.
People here live with rocks, together with rocks they build a resilient life when fighting against the harshness of nature. The gray color of the mountain rocks is no longer gloomy because from the rock holes, trees still grow green into fields of cabbage, corn, beans, and rice. The knowledge of rock hole farming of the residents of the Ha Giang stone plateau has been recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage. For the ethnic minorities here, the knowledge of rock hole farming is simply the experience and skills of farming adapted to natural conditions that they have been passed down and summarized through many generations to serve their lives.
But over time, built up through many generations, cultural values formed along with these farming practices such as agricultural beliefs and customs in life have become unique identities. Images of lush green corn fields, fields of yellow mustard flowers, and the occasional stooped figures on the fields or women diligently carrying soil will be humane evidence of the spirit of human beings rising up in the face of hardship.
The more you travel, the more you admire. No one who comes to the stone plateau does not admire the will and determination of the people when building a road connecting 4 districts located entirely within the scope of Dong Van Stone Plateau Geopark: Quan Ba, Yen Minh, Dong Van, Meo Vac. The Happiness Road, more than 180km long, was built over 6 years with the efforts and blood of tens of thousands of young volunteers, including many children of ethnic minorities in the northern mountainous region.
The road named Happiness, more than 180km long, will take visitors through towering passes, where it seems like you can reach out and touch the clouds. And especially through one of the "four great mountain passes" in the North, Ma Pi Leng Pass. At the top of the pass, many visitors stop to admire the scenery, a whole region of mountains and mountains appears before their eyes, with majestic mountains and magical clouds. In the distance, the green Nho Que River flows peacefully as if the wild nature here has been there for thousands of years. The scenery at this location is considered the most beautiful on the entire journey to the Dong Van stone plateau.
Heritage Magazine
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