Silence in the Stone Plateau…

Ha Giang with the Dong Van stone plateau has become a destination for anyone who loves to "travel" across the country. Coming here, visitors are not only amazed by the majestic scenery of layers of rocky mountains on a large area, recognized as a Global Geopark, but also experience the life of ethnic minorities in the homeland's first land. That image brings us a beautiful moment of silence in the middle of the Stone Plateau...

Passing the dangerous mountain pass, the heart-stopping twists and turns of the mountain pass, the Dong Van stone plateau appears with many emotions. Overwhelmed by the wild landscape painted by the rocky mountains, dotted with clouds hanging lazily like soft silk strips.

I am moved by what the people here have resiliently created, from the terraced fields stretching along the mountain slopes or the houses made of earthen walls, the stone fences and especially the farming practices on the rocky fields of the ethnic minorities.

Covering a large area of ​​approximately 2,356 square kilometers, Dong Van Karst Plateau is a rocky mountain area over 1,000 meters high. According to the assessment of the Global Geoparks Network Advisory Council (UNESCO), Dong Van Karst Plateau is one of the special limestone mountain areas, a historical treasure trove of complex and long-term geological development of the Earth's crust. Dong Van Karst Plateau has hundreds of geological, topographical, geomorphological heritages... which are assessed to be diverse and well preserved in the natural conditions of the area.

Not only does it have great scientific value, the geopark also has a special attraction for the tourism industry because of its landscape. It is like being lost in a rocky world, except for the road in front, turning left and right are all ranges of sharp cat-ear rocks, majestic vertical cliffs and deep abysses. In the midst of the immense rocky mountains, humans seem to become unusually small.

People here live with rocks, and with rocks they build a resilient life when fighting against the harshness of nature. The gray color of the mountain rocks is no longer gloomy because from the rock holes, trees still grow green into fields of cabbage, corn, beans, and rice. The knowledge of rock hole cultivation of the residents of the Ha Giang stone plateau has been recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage. For the ethnic minorities here, the knowledge of rock hole cultivation is simply the experience and skills of agriculture adapted to natural conditions that they have been passed down and summarized through many generations to serve their lives.

But over time, built up through many generations, cultural values ​​formed along with this farming practice such as agricultural beliefs, customs in life have become a unique identity. The images of lush green corn fields, fields of yellow mustard flowers, and the occasional stooped figures on the fields or women diligently carrying soil will be humanistic evidence for the spirit of human beings rising up in the face of hardship.

The more you go, the more you admire. No one who comes to the stone plateau does not admire the will and determination of the people when building the road connecting 4 districts located entirely within the scope of Dong Van Stone Plateau Geopark: Quan Ba, Yen Minh, Dong Van, Meo Vac. The Happiness Road, more than 180km long, was built over 6 years with the efforts and blood of tens of thousands of youth volunteers, including many children of ethnic minorities in the northern mountainous region.

The road named Happiness, more than 180km long, will take visitors through towering passes, where they seem to be able to reach the clouds and sky. And especially through one of the "four great mountain passes" in the North, Ma Pi Leng Pass. At the top of the pass, many visitors stop to admire the scenery, a whole region appears before their eyes with overlapping mountains and magical clouds and sky. In the distance, the green Nho Que River flows peacefully as if the wild nature here has remained the same for thousands of years. The scenery at this location is considered the most beautiful on the entire journey to the Dong Van stone plateau.

Heritage Magazine