Endless yellow color of wild sunflowers in the Central Highlands

As always, when the monsoon winds in late October and early November signal the arrival of the dry season, it is also the time when the first wild sunflowers of the season begin to bloom.

Hoa dã quỳ Tây Nguyên đang vào mùa khoe sắc đưa hương rực rỡ...

Wild sunflowers in the Central Highlands are in full bloom and are sending out their brilliant fragrance... (Photo: Dang Duc)

Wild sunflowers also have many different names such as sunflowers, mountain sunflowers, wild sunflowers, Mexican sunflowers, Nitobe daisies..., are wild flowers originating from Mexico, first brought to Da Lat by the French, and then widely grown in plantations in Lam Dong province as well as provinces in the Central Highlands.

This plant was planted at that time for the purpose of green manure for coffee and rubber gardens, because the wild sunflower stem contains a lot of P, Ca, Mg, so it is quite good as organic fertilizer. Thanks to the seeds being easy to disperse, the plant is easy to grow through cuttings, so this plant gradually took over the wild places everywhere in the Central Highlands.

Nearly ten years ago, wild sunflowers were used as the main symbol for the Da Lat flower festival in December 2005. In Gia Lai, wild sunflowers grow and bloom all over Chu Dang Ya volcano. Every year, the province organizes a wild sunflower festival at the foot of this mountain, attracting many tourists...

Although we have been to the Central Highlands dozens of times to see wild sunflowers, my friends and I have never felt "bored", but on the contrary, we have fallen madly in love with this rustic, simple but extremely charming wild flower.

That's why in early November this year, when we heard that wild sunflowers were starting to bloom, our group of friends who often go on "backpacking" trips together immediately set off, lest we be late and miss the flower season!

Những vạt dã quỳ nở vàng chạy dài miên man đẹp đến nao lòng chạy dài bên các con suối, bờ kênh, sường núi...1

The endless stretches of blooming yellow wild sunflowers are so beautiful that they stretch along streams, canal banks, and mountain slopes... (Photo: Dang Duc)

Like many times before, our group departed from Ho Chi Minh City, arrived at Dau Giay Intersection, then headed straight along Highway 20 to dreamy Da Lat. Not far from Bao Loc city, entering Di Linh district, many bushes and patches of wild sunflowers with brilliant yellow color began to appear on both sides of the road, brightening up a corner of the sky.

Arriving in Duc Trong district, the frequency of wild sunflowers appearing is even greater, densely packed, making the scenery on both sides of the national highway look like a picture of a mixture of yellow and green, so beautiful it's heartbreaking.

Of course, our group, as well as many young people and domestic and foreign tourist groups traveling to Da Lat, would not easily miss the opportunity to stop and enjoy the wild sunflowers and record memories with a few "selfies".

After a few days and nights of walking, sightseeing, and exploring the famous places in the suburbs as well as the inner city of Da Lat, our group returned to Ho Chi Minh City early on Sunday morning. Like every other time, our group did not return by the old road (National Highway 20) as when we went up, but went back by Provincial Road DT 725 - a road with a length of 176.82 km, starting point in Da Lat, ending point connecting with Road DT 721 in Da Teh town, Da Teh district, Lam Dong province.

Talking about this DT 725 road, according to my feelings and the feelings of my group of friends, as well as many other young people who have passed through, this road is absolutely beautiful. The road is not only smooth and easy to travel, there are no vehicles, especially cars are very rare, but there are only motorbikes or farm vehicles of the local people used to transport fertilizers and agricultural products harvested from the fields to bring home.

ĐT 725 xuyên qua tỉnh Lâm Đồng là cung đường tuyệt đẹp để ngắm hoa dã quỳ...

Highway 725 through Lam Dong province is a beautiful route to see wild sunflowers... (Photo: Dang Duc)

What brought us the most excitement when exploring this route was that, in addition to conquering the extremely spectacular mountain passes such as Ta Nung Pass, Con O Pass... or immersing ourselves in the immense space of the coffee fields laden with ripe fruit that were starting to enter the harvest season, seeing and enjoying the brilliant yellow wild sunflowers blooming on both sides of the road was an unforgettable impression in life.

There are many areas in the Central Highlands where wild sunflowers appear, but this road seems to have more wild sunflowers, more beautiful, more brilliant than anywhere else. Almost everywhere we go, we encounter the endless yellow color of wild sunflowers, from vacant lots, boundary strips around fields, around families, or along streams, even up on the high hillsides..., wild sunflowers also appear, multiply and grow very strongly.

Mostly this flower grows wild naturally, but there are also a few families who plant a few bushes as hedges in front of their house to decorate the landscape space of their house to be more beautiful and lively. Maybe for the local people, the blooming and fading of wild sunflowers is just a "daily thing in the district", but for our group in particular, as well as tourists from far away who have never seen with their own eyes the wild flowers of the mountains and forests blooming so brilliantly, when encountering them, everyone will definitely be extremely excited, then take many pictures as souvenirs with wild sunflowers to mark the luggage of the trips...

Wild sunflowers are in full bloom, so if any young people are planning to go backpacking in the Central Highlands in general, or the dreamy Da Lat in particular, then pack your backpack and go, because if you delay for just a short while longer, when the wild sunflowers have withered, you will definitely regret missing out on a season of flowers...