Alone in the Northeast

Quan Ba ​​- Heaven's Gate and Twin Mountains

The first distance from the city to Quan Ba ​​was quite short, just over 40 km, so I rewarded myself with a full afternoon nap before setting off. It was still winding mountain passes where the wind and sun would blend together when reaching hairpin bends.

During Tet, the people of the highlands all look for the most beautiful "clothes" they can, and of course, what could be more beautiful than the colorful traditional costumes. The girls dress up in flared skirts, the boys add on their pretty berets, some walk, some ride bicycles, all meet at the market or visit each other's houses to wish each other a happy new year, drink corn wine around the simple meal, drink a little wine and laugh brightly, and sometimes flirt with the young girls with rosy cheeks at the meal.

Quan Ba ​​Heaven Gate is located at an altitude of 1500 m above sea level, this place was once considered the boundary of the "autonomous region of the Hmong people". From the Heaven Gate, you can see the twin mountains nestled between white rocky mountains and beautiful terraced fields, golden rice fields like brocade covering the twin mountains.

The first Hmong house I asked to sleep at was on the pass from Quan Ba ​​town to Dong Van. The houses were clearly divided, the wooden house belonged to the father, his name was Phu, 54 years old. Next to it was the house of the mother and her two daughters - a level 4 house built with partial support from the government. I stayed at the house of the mother and her two daughters, they were enthusiastic and thoughtful, perhaps because it was Tet so the meal was quite decent, especially the meat marinated since the 28th of Tet, a bit salty but the meal of protection made me feel extremely delicious. At night, everyone gave me a small bed to sleep on, while the mother and her three children slept on the floor on a rather thick mattress, because only that way was there enough room for all three of them. At night, the grandchild cried violently because of a sickness that had lasted for several days, causing the whole family to lose sleep, only the sound of coughing lingered all night.

The next morning, after packing my things, not forgetting to pay for the scarf I bought from the landlady last night and give the kids a brand new year's wish, thanking them for letting me stay last night, I packed my bags and hit the road again...

Dong Van - where rocks grow

The new day's journey was full of hairpin bends, my car leisurely and gently slid through those joys, occasionally shouting loudly and hearing the echoes of the mountains and forests, or humming a few familiar songs to ease the feeling of loneliness. The next destination of the journey was Dong Van.

It is not unusual for the saying “live in stone, die in stone” to be born, Dong Van is beautiful, incredibly beautiful in the harshness that nature has created. The houses on the roadside or halfway up the mountain, the rocks are arranged like a fence, feeling exactly like a solid wall to protect the house, but also extremely romantic. That image attracted me from the first time I saw it behind thick glasses.

Building houses in the middle of the rocky plateau is a very elaborate process. First, blasting rocks to break them into pieces to make a flat surface, blasting all the rocks above, then stuffing explosives under the feet to make the foundation, then building. Some houses are made of woven wooden planks, some are made entirely of earth, also known as rammed earth houses - a typical roof of the H'Mong people and one of the cultural features that are gradually disappearing here. These houses are carefully built by skilled craftsmen and the main advantage is that they retain heat very well, even when it is cold outside, the inside of the house is still very warm and vice versa, when it is hot outside, the inside is still very cool. And building a house is also an opportunity for relatives and neighbors to work together to help each other, and to eat and drink wine after completing the work as a thank you.

I chose to stay at a local house located next to a cliff overlooking a valley full of rocks, a winding road crawling up the mountainside, plunging into the valley and then disappearing in the distance. The owners were a young couple born in 1992, petite and resourceful with more than a dozen mint beehives in the backyard. Pointing to the peach and plum trees in the garden, the young owner smiled and told me that in just over ten days, each treetop would be blooming pink and white. Imagining the scene of the garden filled with spring flowers, I felt an indescribable regret, if only I had gone ten days later...

Sitting around the Tet meal with the host couple, besides me, there were a few relatives and friends of theirs, all of whom were Hmong. Their stories were mixed with Hmong and Kinh languages, which I did not fully understand, but joy filled every cup of wine, and each pair of eyes lit up with a smile.

As the night mist fell, I was placed on a small bed, quite cramped for my “not so bulky” body. Before that, when asking about the health of the couple’s little child (because since I arrived, the cough has not stopped), the host nodded and said “I guess it will heal on its own”, I kept wondering. In the middle of the windy, cloudy, cold mountain area, the cold air seeping through each layer of clothes, how long will it “heal on its own” last…

I took out my phone to check Facebook but the signal was unstable, and then the child's heartbreaking cough, after a tiring journey, I fell asleep, lulled by the rustling leaves around the house.

Rafting across Nho Que River

Saying goodbye to the small house perched precariously between the layers of rocks, I had the chance to welcome the sunrise mixed with the morning mist on the Happiness Road. The journey up to Ma Pi Leng was as cold as the journey down the mountain to Meo Vac and To Du was just as hot.

At noon, I stopped at a small restaurant on the road, behind me was the blue Nhiem River - the river that borders Ha Giang and Cao Bang. I was lucky to be invited by two Giay sisters to stay for dinner, and from here I had two options to continue my journey: continue 130 km back to Ha Giang city or follow the road through Que Sang hamlet to Na Pinh and then follow the bamboo raft across the Nho Que River, which was in its charming season. And of course, for an eager solo traveler like me, the second option was the best.

The road to Na Pinh village is only about 7 km from the national highway, but in the scorching sun and the bumpy red dirt road, it was no different from "torture". When I arrived at the village, I was drenched in sweat. I was shocked to know that the river was running low, and it was impossible to cross the river by raft at this section. I had to continue for another 20 km before I could find a raft to go down to Cao Bang. Looking at the dusty road ahead, I was really worried. 7 km had taken most of my energy, what would happen in the next 20 km? I had to continue, I couldn't find any reason to go back the old way.

Then, when my body was almost resisting the idea of ​​moving forward, my eyes were sunken, my vision was blurred by dust and smoke, my hands were numb on the steering wheel, the road was getting narrower, the trees were bare... the emerald green river appeared before my eyes. Unable to contain my joy, I could only exclaim, "Wonderful! Wonderful!..." All the fatigue suddenly disappeared, replaced by the ultimate sublimation of emotions because the "torture" journey of the whole day had been worthily rewarded.

The raft was controlled by a Nung father and son with decades of experience. The raft made of thirteen bamboo trees moved gently and gracefully on the river surface like a floating leaf. The excitement and joy when my dream came true was indescribable. At that time, I thought that when I returned, I would definitely recount my time on the raft with many words, but in the end, when I sat down to type these lines, I could not have a specific image, all that remained was a feeling. Excitement and pride.

Leaving the raft and going ashore, I wandered around for a few dozen kilometers. Looking up, I saw the sun gradually setting, darkness was spreading across the trails. I suddenly realized that if I didn't find a place to stay for the night, I would most likely have to return the same way. This was especially dangerous when both the vehicle and the person were starving.

But then luck came again. This time, the family that let me stay was a family whose father was a teacher at a nearby school. The last night was also the happiest night of the trip, we all gathered around a simple dinner table and bottomless glasses of wine. The wine seeped into every breath, every muscle that was exhausted after a long day of struggling with the winding roads of the mountainous region. Sleep came peacefully…

The way back to Gam river bank

On the last morning of the journey, I woke up when the sun had just shone its first rays through the old house wall, received a small portion of rice from the host family to eat on the road, did not forget to thank and make a date to return, I said goodbye to continue the last kilometers of the journey. Bao Lac, Bao Lam, Cao Bang, then Bac Me, the feeling of driving alone on the winding and challenging road with a cliff on one side, the green Gam River on the other, I took a deep breath of the cold, humid air of the mountains, forests, rivers, trying to gather in the sweetness of the clear morning rays. Then when the sun rose high, I looked up through the forest canopy, I smiled to myself with satisfaction. So my decision to set off was not wrong, the joy of the past days was simple but wonderful.

Someone once said, traveling is not just traveling, traveling is to grow up...

More information

- To get to Ha Giang, visitors can choose buses that start running from 9pm - 10pm every day at My Dinh and Giap Bat bus stations..., ticket prices range from 300,000 - 500,000 VND/person. Then rent a motorbike from Ha Giang city to go to other places in the province such as Lung Cu, Dong Van, Xin Man, Hoang Su Phi..., motorbike rental prices range from 200,000 - 300,000 VND/day.

- What tourists fear most and also love most in Ha Giang are the small, winding roads with many steep passes, so tourists need to be careful and prepare helmets and suitable shoes when traveling.

- Temperatures in mountainous areas can drop very low in winter and be very hot in summer, so visitors should remember to bring warm clothes and sunscreen.

Doan Manh