Ha Giang in autumn is considered the most suitable time to explore the northernmost land of the Fatherland, when buckwheat flowers bloom under the deep blue sky...
The journey to explore the Ha Giang Loop starts from Km0 to Quan Ba, Dong Van, Meo Vac and vice versa. From Km0, visitors will pass through one of the most spectacular and majestic mountain passes in Vietnam.
Ha Giang is the northernmost province, bordering Tuyen Quang to the south, Cao Bang to the east, Yen Bai and Lao Cai to the west, and China to the north. Lung Cu flagpole is located in the northernmost part of the country.
Move
There are many options to get to Ha Giang. If you come from the southern provinces, you can rent a car in advance in Hanoi, pick up from Noi Bai airport and go straight to Ha Giang (applicable for early flights). From Noi Bai to Ha Giang takes about 6 hours, if you stop to rest and have lunch, it can take 8 hours. In case you depart from the center of Hanoi at 7 am, following National Highway 2C through Tuyen Quang, you can have lunch in Ha Giang city. Rent a car in Hanoi, if you go in a small group of 4 - 5 people, you can choose a 7-seat car with a driver who is experienced in running the Ha Giang route. If you travel by bus, you can depart from My Dinh, Luong Yen, Yen Nghia, Gia Lam bus stations with high-quality buses, ticket prices from 200,000 - 300,000 VND/person/trip. When you arrive in Ha Giang, you can rent a motorbike (from 150,000 VND/day) or hire someone to drive you the whole way. This is the option many Western tourists choose.
Ha Giang is in its beautiful season, when buckwheat flowers are blooming, the weather is cool, there is no rain and it is also the season that attracts many backpackers.
The Ha Giang route goes through many mountain passes and during the journey of more than 300 km (round trip), there are many sections under construction. Therefore, you must ensure to arrive before dark because the construction unit can block to destroy mountains, move rocks and soil, vehicles have to wait a long time, affecting the journey.
What is the best season to travel to Ha Giang?
I would like to say that all four seasons, spring, summer, autumn and winter, are suitable for traveling to Ha Giang. Each season has its own beauty. In spring, apricot and plum blossoms bloom along with colorful and bustling festivals. Late summer is the season of water pouring on terraced fields to prepare for the planting season. In autumn, the season of golden rice, buckwheat flowers spread across gardens, mountain foothills... Of which, buckwheat flower season attracts the most tourists, lasting from October to December. At this time, on weekends, tourists find it difficult to book accommodation at homestays with beautiful landscapes. Therefore, if you plan to come to Ha Giang in the fall, you need to book a room early. Every year, at the end of October, Ha Giang organizes a buckwheat flower festival in the central area of Dong Van town. At this place, the locality organizes a buckwheat flower road, tourists visit and shop at booths displaying local products...
Buckwheat flower fields in Sung La
When first blooming, buckwheat flowers are white and light pink. Later, the flowers will turn purple and dark pink. If standing alone, it may not attract viewers, but when forming a field, in the space of the dark brown cliff, buckwheat flowers become a special highlight, making it irresistible to visitors. In the past, buckwheat flowers were mainly grown for their seeds and food. Nowadays, buckwheat flowers also have another task: serving tourists. The vast flower fields have become check-in spots, buckwheat seeds are used to make baked cakes and sell them to tourists... The name buckwheat flowers simply comes from the triangular shape of the seeds. This is also an oriental medicine, clearing heat and detoxifying... Buckwheat seeds are exported to Japan by the Japan - Vietnam Culinary Culture Association to process soba noodles.
Buckwheat can be grown in gardens or fields, but there are also wild clumps growing on rocky shores.
Eat and drink
Ha Giang cuisine is characterized by the highlands, typical of ethnic minorities, and is becoming a specialty that any tourist wants to try, such as thang co, men men, five-color sticky rice, hung meat, armpit pig, au tau porridge, sticky rice, buckwheat cake, stream fish and corn wine. The most special of which is thang co. This is a traditional dish of the H'Mong people, cooked from horse meat with a unique flavor. On cold nights, gathering around a steaming pan of thang co is an unforgettable experience. Thang co can be eaten with men men. Men men is a typical dish of the H'Mong people made from corn flour. Or after a long journey, eating a bowl of au tau porridge in a night restaurant in Ha Giang City is said by tourists to be able to forget all the fatigue... A typical menu for a meal in Ha Giang will include: Boiled Cat cabbage (a type of cabbage that has a sweet taste, like green cabbage, best enjoyed in Ha Giang), fried stream fish, village duck meat (a type of duck raised in areas with lots of water), stream fish soup, local pork... Or dinner is black chicken hotpot - a famous specialty of the highland people, enjoyed with wild vegetables such as ivy.
Trang Kim rice noodles that any tourist coming to Ha Giang should try at least once.
A breakfast dish that cannot be missed in Quan Ba is Trang Kim pho, a place located on the roadside from Quan Ba to Yen Minh. Trang Kim pho noodles are handmade, from grinding the flour to making the rice paper... After being made by hand on the spot, the pho noodles (like rice paper) are spread out to dry on bamboo trees right at the restaurant's door. When customers come in to eat, the owner will bring them down and cut them into strands. The taste of Trang Kim pho is light and refreshing, and when enjoyed with delicious local chicken from the highlands, it is impeccable. Prices in Ha Giang are quite cheap and there is no "ripping off" or overcharging...
Accommodation
Tourists have many options but the most suitable is staying at a homestay. In Quan Ba, you can stay in homestays in Nam Dam or Trang Kim villages. The H'Mong homestays are large and can accommodate groups of dozens of people. The homestay called Toong where we stayed in Nam Dam has separate bungalow-style houses. The interior is minimalist, without appliances such as refrigerators or televisions, but the surrounding scenery in the valley is stunning. In the morning, tourists often wake up early to welcome the dawn gradually appearing behind the misty mountain peaks, watching children starting to go to school...
Toong Homestay is located in the middle of the valley, in the early morning
In Dong Van, visitors can also stay at homestays far from the old town, but they can also choose hotels in the center. However, staying near the old town will be convenient for traveling and crowded with tourists at night. Here, you can explore many attractive Ha Giang cuisines such as thang den. This is a sweet dish similar to sweet rice balls, but the thang den balls are only as big as a finger. This hot dish is suitable for cold nights, sitting on the roadside and enjoying a cup of thang den while still steaming hot... In Dong Van, we stayed overnight at Dong Van Eco Stone homestay, just a few steps from Dong Van old town. This homestay located on the edge of the rice fields not only provides a place to sleep but also serves delicious meals. For example, black chicken hotpot or breakfast with a unique dish of banh cuon with water. This is a banh cuon with minced meat filling, served with an omelette, and served with broth and sausage.
Ma Pi Leng Pass crosses the mountainside, below the deep abyss is the Nho Que River.
Journey through the mountains
Ha Giang Loop tour goes through a long and deep pass, with a steep cliff on one side and a deep abyss on the other. The journey to Ha Giang Pass can take 3 days and 2 nights, but the most suitable is 4 days and 3 nights, which can be divided as follows: Day 1: Hanoi - Ha Giang (270 km) - Quan Ba (40 km) From Hanoi to the center of Ha Giang City is about 270 km, on the way, stop by National Highway 2C through Tuyen Quang. Arriving in Ha Giang City at lunch time, you can choose the Ethnic restaurant along the Lo River to enjoy Ha Giang specialties such as stream fish, Meo cabbage... Then, go to Km0 in the center of Ha Giang to take souvenir photos. The Km0 milestone is a destination not to be missed when visitors set foot in Ha Giang. From this Km0, visitors will spread out in different directions. There are two Km0 milestones, one for traffic direction, one for marking the territory, placed inside the park with a larger size, opposite 26.3 square.
From Km0, visitors will begin their journey through the most beautiful passes in the Northwest.
After checking in at the Km0 milestone, you can choose a nearby coffee shop to watch the Lo River and rest before heading to Quan Ba. From here, visitors begin their journey of a continuous steep pass. The first pass before entering Quan Ba has sections under repair, so you may have to stop and wait for quite a while for vehicles to pass one by one because there is only 1 lane. Before arriving in Quan Ba, visitors can check in at Quan Ba Heaven Gate, from the top of the pass you can see the pretty little town in the valley, next to the beautiful cone-shaped mountains, the most typical of which is Doi Mountain.
Tourists next to the lonely tree in Can Ty
Day 2: Quan Ba - Yen Minh - Lung Cu (130 km) - Dong Van (20 km) The road is full of interesting things, taking visitors from one surprise to another. After leaving the homestay, we stopped at Trang Kim to eat chicken pho with special handmade pho noodles and the first sightseeing spot was at the lonely tree. The lonely tree is a nghien tree about 40m high, over 250 years old, the tree trunk is wide enough for 5 people to hug, lying alone on National Highway 4C, below is a deep abyss where there are houses of people in Can Ty commune, Quan Ba district. From the lonely tree, visitors can see part of the Dong Van Stone Plateau landscape... The car takes visitors to Dong Van, but before visiting Sung La valley, the Meo King's residence, you have to pass Tham Ma slope. The slope (actually a pass) has winding curves. From the top of the slope, where visitors stop to admire the scenery, take pictures, they can listen to the heart-warming H'Mong flute melodies of the children. This place also has many children carrying flowers, holding the most colorful bouquets, wearing the most beautiful clothes to take pictures with visitors. In addition, visitors can also buy sweet pineapples, supplementing nutrients for the next long journey.
Tham Ma slope is located on the way to Dong Van ancient town.
Sung La Valley appears enchanting with old rammed earth houses, among which Pao's house is famous. Here, visitors can take pictures with H'Mong children, visit Pao's house, admire the buckwheat flower fields in their most beautiful season and enjoy unique highland cakes... Sa Phin "Moon Stone Field" is a place that seems to take visitors into another world, that is the world of stone. The dry and cold climate at an altitude of over 1,500m with little rainfall, high evaporation; the large difference between day and night temperatures, especially in summer; frost, frost in winter... are factors that accelerate the physical (mechanical) weathering process, causing limestone to quickly crack and collapse, creating unique valleys and deserts. The stone desert in the lunar terrain can only be found in Dong Van Stone Plateau. However, the rocky desert is still brilliant with the colors of corn and buckwheat grown by the hard-working people...
On the Dong Van stone desert
Another destination on the journey is to visit the Vuong family mansion, also known as the Meo King's house in Sa Phin commune, completed in 1903. The northernmost point of Vietnam is currently in Lung Cu commune, Dong Van district, Ha Giang, with the symbol of Lung Cu flagpole. From the Vuong family mansion, visitors must go through a steep pass of more than 30 km to get there and then have to turn back to return to Ha Giang. Visitors can not only visit Lung Cu flagpole but also ride a motorbike to the place where the northernmost landmark of the Fatherland is located.
Lung Cu flagpole is built in an octagonal shape, 33.15m high, around the body of the pole are attached the 8 faces of Dong Son bronze drums, at the foot of the flagpole are 8 relief panels illustrating the historical periods of the country.
Dong Van welcomes visitors with a different look. This highland town is bustling like a small city in the lowlands, where shops play loud music, people come and go crowdedly... At night, in the old quarter, groups of local youth gather to dance to the most modern music by the red fire. In the morning, visitors can wake up early to explore the trading scene at Dong Van market... Day 3: Dong Van - Meo Vac (nearly 50 km) Located in the far north of Vietnam, including all 4 districts of Quan Ba, Yen Minh, Dong Van and Meo Vac on an area of about 2,345 km2, Dong Van Stone Plateau was honored to be recognized by UNESCO as the first Global Geopark of Vietnam since 2010.
Tourists sing with children in Sung La
With over 60% of its area being limestone at an average altitude of over 1,000m above sea level, Dong Van Stone Plateau is famous for its deep ravines, steep cliffs, sharp mountain peaks, rocky forests - rugged rocky deserts, steep roads hidden in the clouds... Famous as a "thirsty land", the Stone Plateau is home to 17 ethnic minorities such as H'Mong, Dao, Tay, Nung, Giay, La Chi, Lo Lo, Pu Peo... The stop on this leg is the Youth Volunteer Monument on Ma Pi Leng Pass, viewing the Nho Que River from the top of the pass and taking a boat ride on the Nho Que River.
Nho Que River seen from Ma Pi Leng Pass
After admiring the Nho Que River, visitors can have lunch at a riverside restaurant and begin the long journey back to Ha Giang City. You can choose to stay one night in the capital city of Ha Giang Province, explore this place at night and return to Hanoi on the last day. Day 4: Ha Giang - Hanoi (270 km) On the journey, visitors can visit Vi Xuyen Martyrs Cemetery, then have lunch in Tuyen Quang City. Ha Giang has many products that visitors can bring back as gifts for relatives such as smoked buffalo meat, smoked sausage, mint honey and many agricultural products such as sticky rice, black beans, red beans, mustard seeds, etc.
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