It started like any other trip, when my group of friends and I found out what there was to eat, play and explore around Hua Tat village. But it was nothing but a pine hill that sounded quite simple. There is no check-in point of thousands of likes, no advertisements, no praise to the blue clouds, I am a little "bored" because "what the hell will there be in the pine forest?".
Take a nap and go to Hua Tat
Hua Tat village is located in Van Ho district, Moc Chau, Son La province. Passing through Lang Luong area, you will see two turns: one continues on the new National Highway 6 to continue to Son La and the second exits to the old National Highway 6. Hua Tat village is located on the old National Highway 6.
Hua Tat Pass stretches for about 8 kilometers. This is a small pass, on the side is a ravine, on the side is a hill. The twists and turns are quite complicated, they are only friendly to solid and experienced riders. The pass is full of trees but there are no people. There are green sections of pine forests, then the white color of certain wild trees, hiding the bushes of dogwood flowers - growing rampantly on the hillside.
For backpackers who love challenges, not afraid of stones and stones to get in the way, Hua Tat is a new joy. If you want to move more safely, you can take a bus, every day there is a trip between Moc Chau and Hanoi. The car can't go too fast due to the dangerous pass, but you only need to take a nap to meet the green hills.
Lie back and rest in the ageless pine forest
Hua Tat pine hill is located right opposite the village, just walk across the national highway to come. Me and my group of friends with shoes ready to get dirty, after all, our shoes were covered with mud, dust and soil from yesterday's rain. Going to the jungle is like that, you can't be clean. My most interesting trips to the forest are still graded based on how much mud sticks to my body. I think, no one wants to touch nature and prevent nature from touching them again.
Hundreds of thousands of pine trees soared, and the deeper they went, the bigger they became
It may sound strange, but Hua Tat pine forest surprises because there are many pine trees here. I still have an aversion to walking in the pine forest of Ang village, where you have to pay 100,000 VND to see the forest without many pine trees and the view of the lake is sad like an afternoon market.
The place we chose to stay was not far from the trail up the hill. I can still see Hua Tat village peeking out among the thick tree trunks. It kept getting colder, the surroundings were wet and dry, causing me confusion, perhaps at the pine terraces falling under the ground, stepping on it to hear the sound of leaves breaking openly, but when I bent down to look closely, I saw drops of dew on it.
In the forest, I almost lost my sense of space and time. The trees in front of and behind, left and right, soared high, and from above you could see thousands of layers of thick knitting leaves, only a few rays of light shining on the ground. The language we spoke was the only sound that echoed in the middle of the forest. For a long time, I heard more sounds of buses running under the national highway, the voices of people in the village calling each other, those sounds tried to penetrate the thick pine layer but failed, leaving an unclear broken chord.
The sun rises and covers the calm pine hills
Near noon, there was more golden sunshine, and the pine hills also changed to warm and poetic. The clear blue sky was clear and the clouds drifted in a hurry. The wind blows gently shaking the branches and leaves, not sucking violently. The air is less dense, perhaps they retreat to make room for the sun's rays to penetrate through the tall pines. A very carefree silence enveloped the pine hills. Hua Tat's romance makes me remember forever.
I think I just need one day in Hua Tat to be enough. But when I took off my coat, spread out the ground and dry branches to lie on my back, I saw that the day passed quickly. The sun here disappears very quickly. The forest lacks sunlight and becomes frighteningly gloomy. Of course, the trail had no guide to the entrance, and none of us dared to think about getting lost in it. It was only a short distance away, but the feeling of being in the forest was very different. The forest is like a separate living entity, not interacting with roads and villages, not letting artificial sounds mix into it.
In the middle of the morning, entering the thick pine forest was also dark
So we left the pine forest. When I turned my head and looked back, I wasn't sure if I had taken the initiative to go into nature or if nature had given me permission to visit. The pine forest stood there, illustrious and majestic.
Under the gloomy evening light, I thought about the feeling of soundless headphones, my eyes saw the sky mixed with a thick pine canopy, my back lying unstraight because of the mixed branches and leaves, as if that moment had passed far away. Perhaps tonight gathering around the fire, eating whole pieces of wild boar and grilled fish and chatting with the Hmong people who are used to living in the mountains and forests, I will understand more about that feeling.
The fragrance of the tangerine pine wrapped around me, and during my sleep in the village, the sound of pine chirped back. I fell asleep in a peaceful dream.
Photo: Ha Mi
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