Chongqing, Cao Bang districts are more than 300 km from Hanoi. To move here, buses are the easiest means of transportation. After the night bus ride from My Dinh bus station, when I woke up, in front of me was a picturesque and poetic mountain scenery like a picture of the Northeast of Vietnam.
The blue mountains are a gift from nature to Chongqing, making the land beautiful like a watercolor painting in the frontier. This place is famous for Ban Gioc waterfall, the gentle Quy Son river winding at the foot of the limestone mountains, and the golden season Phong Nam valley attracts many visitors.
From Hanoi to Cao Bang, you can choose to visit Cao Bang city or Chongqing town first. And I chose to go straight to Ban Gioc Waterfall. Ban Gioc Waterfall is located in Dam Thuy commune, Chongqing district and is considered one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Vietnam. Seen from a distance, the white Ban Gioc erased like a fairy's hair falling down. Autumn 2020 is the 2nd time I have stood in front of Ban Gioc waterfall, but I still feel overwhelmed by the majesty of the waterfall. Right next to the foot of Ban Gioc waterfall is a ripe rice field, creating a poetic scene that is difficult to describe in words.
25km from Ban Gioc waterfall is Phong Nam valley, in Ngoc Con commune, a small, remote commune of Chongqing district. The entrance road is quite bad and deserted. However, the scenery here, with the rice fields nestled at the foot of the mountain, has fascinated many paparazzi.
To see the Phong Nam valley from above, I was guided by a Tay uncle in the village to climb the mountain for about 30 minutes to reach a high enough and open position. Here, just by zooming out into the distance, the whole view of the mountains and fields is in sight: the mountains are overlapping, layer after layer, the yellow, green, and brown patches of rice are intertwined, the Quay Son river winds like a silk strip squeezed between the enamel fields at the foot of the mountain, bamboo groves, the house of the Tay people.
I have seen that scene through videos recorded by drones, but only when I see it with the naked eye after climbing the mountain can I see all the beauty. A worthy reward for a few tens of minutes of climbing disintegrate. Just sitting and resting, admiring the breathtaking scenery, catching the mountain breezes to dry your sweat is luck.
When I arrived, it was early October, and the rice had been harvested quite a lot. The harvest season here is also bustling like many other rural areas with many idyllic colors and sounds: the sound of people going down to the field to call for help, the sound of dogs barking, the sound of plucking rice, ducks chirping crows...
Cao Bang in autumn is like a love song echoing the wind, of the sound of waterfalls, the bustling yellow color of rice and the blue of the sky, of the water that keeps stirring me forever.
Photo: Tran Thuong/Shutterstock
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