Check out the first episode about Ha Giang road trip - here ;)
As you may fall in love with Ha Giang – one of the most beautiful landscapes in the Northern Vietnam, why don’t we just pick up our backpacks and enjoy the ride there?!
What should you do in Ha Giang?
Here is the lists you can pick accordingly to your Ha Giang trip (blogger Tran Viet Anh):
• Stand on Lung Cu flagpole, North Pole of Vietnam
• Check-in Chieu Lau Thi Mountain Peak ( Ho Thau Commune )
• Conquer Ma Pi Leng Pass
• Drinking corn wine with an H'Mong friend
• Sleeping in an old house in Ha Giang
• Eat a "Mèn Mén" bowl
• Try a Thang Co bowl
• Try the special porridge
• Join a highland market
• Visiting Vuong family (King of the Cat) - Indochina boss of opium
• Come on a flower season
• Watching the sunset in Yen Minh
• Check-in the Quan Ba twin mountain
• Listen to the Tay's music
• Find the moss-covered village in Khuoi My
• Take a round of Hoang Su Phi - Xin Man
• Drinking buffalo horn wine in Phung village
• Visit the buffalo horns cemetery of La Chi
• Listen to the sound of Khèn Mông
Vietnam is considered as one of the food paradises in the world where you don’t be worry about your empty stomach. Each region in Vietnam has its own traditional dishes that could bring unforgettable experiences for travelers.
Here are some traditional dishes for your journey :
1/ Au Tau porridge: it's the special porridge which is made from Au Tau - a herb in the highland. Au Tau is known to be very toxic, but with its own way of eating, it is very good for health, namely bones and joints. There's a local experience sharing that you must not eat pears after having Au Tau within 24 hours! You can find this one in the city and the old town of Dong Van.
2/ Banh Cuon at Dong Van Ancient Street: the strange thing about Banh Cuon here is eaten with stewed sauce, without fish sauce. You can compare Banh Cuon Dong Van with other styles in Hanoi as mentioned in this post.
3/ Corn Wine: H'Mong people drink corn wine with Thang Co bowl and it is considered as a strong alcoholic liquor, even with Vietnamese & locals. If you are not really confident with your drinking capacity, you should try just a little to know about the traditional tastes!
4/ Com Lam (Sticky Rice in Bamboo tube)
It's the traditional food of almost highland regions in the North of Vietnam. The sweet taste, fragile can make you hungry any time!
5/ Rainbow stew rice: the colour of sticky rice is made from forest leaves, a wonderful dish in processing, you can try it in the old town of Dong Van.
6/ Thang Co bowl: is cooked from the small intestine of the horse but the original version of it includes almost every part (small cuts) of a horse. This dish is usually sold at the local market and it takes lots of courage to try it due to the uncomfortable smell and complexity in its flavor.
7/ Smoked Buffalo meat and Smoked Pork meat (Thit Gac Bep): this dish is specialty in the highlands. About 1 month before the Tet holiday, every house has the pork hung on a wood stove to eat gradually until the end of the first lunar month (begin from the Lunar November). You can buy smoked buffalo meat in the old town - Dong Van town and don't forget your cold beers ;)
8/ Tam Giac Mach cake: Dishes are made from Tam Giac Mach seeds - the ingredient only appears at the highland. It looks like Hanoi doughnuts.
9/ Highland noodle soup (Pho): homemade noodles soup, has a special taste with some herbs, some pieces of pork (or beef). It's so fragrant, warm the travelers on the winter days!
10/ The black Chung cake of Tay ethnics: This dish is quite hard to find in the city centre. If you are a big fan of Chung cake - the traditional one during Vietnamese Tet holiday, you should not miss it.
11/ Grilled Bong Fish: This dish is quite popular in Tay area in Khuoi My, Phuong Do.
Let’s plan your trip. Which seasons will you choose?
Spring (Festival season - after the Lunar Year)
Spring is the most beautiful season in Ha Giang when the freezing winter is over. It’s the time when H’Mong men start working with their buffaloes and cows in the middle of the rocky mountains. Spring is the season of corn cultivation, as someone called it the season of new life. Arriving in Ha Giang this season, you will see the joyful atmosphere in the field (terraces), see the meat hanging above wood stove around the kitchen, the wine full of cans. It's also the resting season and enjoying the fruits of labor and beginning to sow the seeds for the next season.
Just go around to see peach & pear blossoms blooming, you won't regret about it. Looking far away, some trees seem to be dead, but when coming closer, the young leaves, flower buds are still shy, patiently waiting for the time to reach out strongly, energizing, as the vitality life of the locals.
Summer (Khau Vai love market)
What is beautiful in April of Ha Giang? It is the time to go to Khau Vai Love Market. The market only take place in a day. On this day, local ethnic minorities (men, women and even elders) spill onto the love market to meet and chit-chat with each other, dressing colorful traditional costumes. The original festival often results in one-night stand for couples and today, Khau Vai Love Market becomes the dating fair and finding love of young couples.
There is still more attractive things in the summer. During the month of May and June, people here prepare for a new season. Go to Ha Giang at this time will admire the winding terraced fields with all the colors reflecting from nature, the beautiful submerged fields.
Autumn - the season of harvest (Sep-Oct).
When rice in Hoang Su Phi and Xin Man ripes, the tourists shall be amazed the most beautiful and wild terraced fields in the northern mountains, feeling the atmosphere of enthusiasm, joyful eyes and the "season" smile of the people here.
The Tam Giac Mach flower season (Nov-Dec) is also very beautiful! This flower is associated with the story of tourism development in Ha Giang. Everyone who had come to Ha Giang wants to see the flower at least once. It's become the icon of this highland.
Winter (Jan-Feb)
Sometimes snow falls in this place. Experience the cold winter in the high mountains in the North, trembling the hot cup of homemade coffee in your hands, eating a bowl of Au Tau porridge, sipping a little bit of corn wine, sitting next to the fireplace, seeing a wall full of soot inside the house... is it so chilled?
For me, Ha Giang is always beautiful despite any seasons! What season is that wild look, the wonder of the rock plateau is still there. Ha Giang people are still frequently rustic, so close!
Don't care about the season, come to there anytime! If you want to go, just go, with an open mind, no prejudice, no comparison, just look, observe, experience ... you will see how beautiful Ha Giang is.
