Storm No. 11 accelerates, tourists should consider when going to Sa Pa, Mu Cang Chai, Moc Chau

(Dan Tri) - Tourists who intend to travel to the northern mountainous provinces at this time should constantly update the weather situation to ensure the safety of their lives and property.

After storm No. 10, the northern mountainous provinces were heavily affected by floods, landslides, and production, transportation, and tourism activities were disrupted. Meanwhile, storm Matmo (storm No. 11) formed and is forecast to accelerate and intensify when entering the East Sea.

The National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said that storm No. 11 is likely to cause strong winds and large waves across the entire East Sea from October 2. The coastal provinces in the central and northern regions of our country need to prepare scenarios to deal with heavy rain and the risk of flash floods in mountainous areas.

Amidst the unusual weather conditions, what makes tourists wonder is whether they should continue to make trips to attractive tourist destinations such as Mu Cang Chai, Sa Pa, Moc Chau... this time or not?

The road to Mu Cang Chai through Khau Pha pass is temporarily cut off.

Mu Cang Chai is an attractive destination for tourists every September and October (Photo: Hoang Lan).

On the morning of October 2, the weather in Mu Cang Chai ( Lao Cai ) was quite nice. The strong sunlight shone down on the terraced fields that were changing color, winding like silk strips.

However, at the beautiful golden rice viewing spots such as Mam Xoi and Mong Ngua, there were few tourists. The scene was completely different from the time about a week ago when tourists flocked to check-in, causing congestion on both the way up and down these spots.

Nguyen Hung, a tourism worker in Mu Cang Chai commune, said that there are only a few individual tourists or tourists traveling from Sa Pa to visit Mu Cang Chai these days. However, the number is not large. Most of the tourists have postponed their trips to next week.

Hung said that he was already booked with tour guides and photographers for the end of September and beginning of October. However, due to the impact of storm No. 10, Khau Pha Pass suffered serious landslides, causing the traditional route along Highway 32 through Phu Tho - Nghia Lo - Khau Pha to Tu Le, Mu Cang Chai to be interrupted.

“I have been on break since September 30th. All customers have postponed their appointments to next week,” said Mr. Hung.

Mr. Hoang Trong Nghia, Chairman of the People's Committee of Tu Le commune (Lao Cai province), said that currently, traffic in the Khau Pha pass area, Tu Le commune is still cut off and cannot be cleared.

The large landslide at 4am on October 1st swept away about 30m of road surface, cutting off traffic from Nghia Lo to Mu Cang Chai and Than Uyen (Lai Chau). There were about 30-40 landslides along the entire route in the Khau Pha Pass area, of which the largest landslide was at km269. When the excavator started leveling, rocks and water poured down from above, making repairs very difficult.

Traffic disruption after storm No. 10 affected tours to Mu Cang Chai.

Moc Chau (Son La) still has individual customers, traffic is not too serious

Meanwhile, in Moc Chau (Son La), according to the reporter's investigation, tourism activities and services can now take place normally. The roads to Moc Chau are running well. The weather is still occasionally scattered with rain. On October 2, there were still individual tourists traveling from Hanoi to Moc Chau to visit the destinations.

Mr. Tran Xuan Viet, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism (VH-TT&DL) of Son La province, said that storms No. 9 and No. 10 caused local flooding and landslides in some places, but did not affect key tourist areas and spots such as Moc Chau, Van Ho, Quynh Nhai or Muong La.

Before the forecast that storm No. 11 could directly affect the North, Mr. Viet said that the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Son La province still regularly monitors the situation to discuss with communes and wards, ensuring that tourism activities are safe, closely monitoring the storm and flood situation to warn and promptly inform tourists.

“There are consecutive storms during this time, so tourists are also considering and choosing suitable destinations and times to go to Moc Chau,” said Mr. Viet.

Also according to the representative of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Son La province, this unit is coordinating with the agriculture and environment sectors to build a smart tourism digital platform to update warnings about security, safety, storms, floods, and traffic so that tourists to Moc Chau can grasp information as quickly as possible.

Cat Cat village in Sa Pa (Lao Cai) was swept away by flood (Photo cut from clip).

Landslides still occur in Ha Giang, Nho Que River cruise tour temporarily suspended

Planning to go to Ha Giang (old), now part of Tuyen Quang province on October 3, but when checking the weather forecast and seeing that some areas were still experiencing flooding and landslides, Ms. Dinh Mai Thanh (28 years old) was worried and considering.

Previously, the road down to Nho Que River was also eroded, and the boat tour to Tu San Alley was temporarily suspended from September 30. This is also one of the most famous destinations for tourists coming to Tuyen Quang.

Ms. Nguyen Thu Hoai, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Tuyen Quang province, said that the unit has issued a notice to tourism service companies to closely monitor weather forecasts and develop response plans to ensure the safety of tourists and property.

In addition, tour programs to areas at risk of landslides need to be reviewed and adjusted to ensure absolute safety and not take visitors to dangerous warning areas.

The road from the center of Mau Due commune to Yen Minh (Tuyen Quang) was seriously eroded, making it difficult for vehicles to travel (Photo: Minh Quang).

The provincial tourism industry also encourages tour guides to change their schedules and prepare safe accommodation conditions during storm-affected days.

Develop response plans to ensure safety for tourists

From September onwards, the northern mountainous provinces often enter the most beautiful season of the year because the autumn weather is cool, favorable for exploration and trekking activities (walking, mountain climbing).

This is the time when the terraced fields in Mu Cang Chai (Lao Cai), Hoang Su Phi (Ha Giang), Sa Pa (Lao Cai) are golden, creating spectacular scenes, attracting both domestic and international tourists. However, when storm No. 10 made landfall, many tours were affected.

A representative of Vietravel said that the company is monitoring the weather situation and will reopen tours as soon as local authorities announce that service and accommodation destinations return to normal operations.

A representative of the 5-star Garrya Mu Cang Chai resort said that almost all bookings were postponed, only a few guests who went around Sa Pa could go to the resort and carry out their trip as planned.

“For guests who arrived before storm No. 10 and are staying and choose to continue staying, we support them by reducing room rates by 50% or providing some relaxing experiences to make them feel comfortable when their stay is longer than expected,” the representative said.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/du-lich/bao-so-11-tang-toc-du-khach-can-nhac-khi-di-sa-pa-mu-cang-chai-moc-chau-20251002190312445.htm