Mu Cang Chai - Return day

Last weekend, Mu Cang Chai district (Yen Bai) had an Ultra Trail Marathon with a distance of up to 85 km and a slope of up to 6000 meters. The road goes up and down, passing through famous tourist attractions such as Raspberry fields, Bamboo forests, Corn houses, Horseshoe fields... long steep slopes that attract the eye. The treks into muddy forests, cardamom patches, then Mong villages... are full of challenges.

Last weekend, Mu Cang Chai district (Yen Bai) had an Ultra Trail Marathon with a distance of up to 85 km and a slope of up to 6000 meters. The road goes up and down, passing through famous tourist attractions such as Raspberry fields, Bamboo forests, Corn houses, Horseshoe fields... long steep slopes that attract the eye. The treks into muddy forests, cardamom patches, then Mong villages... are full of challenges.

Early morning on Mam Xoi - photo by Dang Van Phuc

This time, from September to the end of October of the lunar calendar, is the Golden Season. There will be a Golden Season festival. The rice on the terraced fields ripens brightly in the Autumn sunshine. Perhaps the commune has asked the people to keep it. harvest, to attract tourists. And we, when we meet again, go up to the fields of Raspberry, Horseshoe, the attractive communes of La Pan Tan, Che Cu Nha and De Xu Phinh even though it may be a rainy day, a storm or a bright golden sun. chang.

Morning mist - photo by Dang Van Phuc

Mu Cang Chai, in the local language, means villages and land of dry trees, (Moc Khan Tho - Land of dry wood), it is unclear whether it was due to forest fires or what is the reason for this name? Located at an average altitude of 2000 meters, under the Hoang Lien Son mountain range, 91% of the people are Mong with 4 main groups: Black, White, Chinese and Red. 300 km from Hanoi, the current road takes about 8 hours by car, but in the past, it was a far away area, to the point of assimilating the word remote as "Mu Cang Chai." "Where is your son assigned to go?" During the Subsidy period, people asked each other questions. "Oh my god, I took so long to get into that office, now they let me go far away, "Mu Cang Chai."" They answered each other. Meaning, I was assigned somewhere very, very far away, maybe Central Highlands, Yen Bai or Quang Ninh, such as Mu Cang Chai, places they have never been to, but when they come, it is difficult to return often.

Mid-Autumn Festival with the children in the village - Photo Dang Van Phuc

However, in recent years, Mu Cang Chai is not only a familiar name but also a destination for many people. The backpacking group can go by car or motorbike. They like winding mountain roads covered in clouds. Groups of large displacement motorbikes in groups. Groups of paparazzi often stay up all night or bask in the sun all day. Groups of tourists wearing colorful clothes come to check out the brilliant golden season moments or the high-altitude Hmong villages. Then groups, even individuals of adventurous foreigners, ride bicycles or track on trails. And now, more groups are organizing mountain running races like what happened last week.

Raspberry field moment - Photo Dang Van Phuc

We, photographers, have been wandering around Mu Cang Chai every golden season for nearly ten years now. Going once is just a feeling that has passed, going twice feels more close, going 3 times feels familiar, going again, then again, the more I go, the more strange I feel, the more I want to explore and the more I want to go again, again. Every time I go up, I only do the same thing, but the difference in weather, the difference in time of day and month, always brings something new, plus the luck of the trip, no one feels bored. Because I have come here many times.

This time, my first surprise among the many innovations of the locality, the town's landscape, and the people, was the motorbike taxi. Truly impressive, motorbike taxis in Mu Cang Chai are probably no different from motorbike taxis in other mountainous areas, but the impressive thing is the quantity. "In La Pan Tan commune alone, last year the cooperative was established with 500 vehicles." H'Lu, a motorbike taxi driver in Nha Ngo village, Mang Mu village, told me. “If you include other communes, there are over 1,000 motorbike taxis!” he added. Can you imagine that 1.6% of the district's population (61 thousand people) are motorbike taxi drivers! In 2023, it is estimated that over 200 thousand tourists will come to Mu Cang Chai.

Check in Golden Season - Photo Dang Van Phuc

Why is the number of motorbike taxis so large? Who are they? Mu Cang Chai is located on Highway 32 running through town parallel to the stream below. Nestled under two mountain slopes are beautiful small villages, Thai stilt houses, and now many people's houses have moved up and urbanized the beautiful town. Looming under the clouds on the two mountain slopes are famous terraced fields interspersed with patches of old forests, pine forests or bamboo forests as well as the cloudy roofs of the Mong villages. Besides Mu Cang Chai town, we have 13 communes that are tourist attractions: Cao Pha, Che Cu Nha, Che Tao, De Xu Phinh, Ho Bon, Khao Mang, Kim Noi, La Pan Tan, Lao Chai, Mo De , Nam Co, Nam Khat, Pung Luong. Each point is a Hmong village in the high mountains. From the national highway, if you want to go to the village, there will be a trail, the distance is about 7 - 15 km depending on the village, you have to go by motorbike taxi. And since then, the demand for motorbike taxi tourists has increased.

Horseshoe - Photo Dang Van Phuc

It's not like there are motorbike taxis now. There were many years ago. They were also managed by local authorities, but most were spontaneous. Now the commune organizes and establishes cooperatives, with uniformed vehicle fleets. There is management, tickets and general prices, ensuring order for both tourists and services. On average, for each destination, motorbike taxis both go there and back range from 100,000 to 200,000 VND/person. "Motorbike taxis have jobs and are only concentrated for about 2 months of the year. When the season ends, there are very few customers." H'Linh, a motorbike taxi driver, took me to the Raspberry fields to share. "The road has been concreted for the past two years, so it's easier for vehicles to travel and less dangerous." H'Linh answered the corner while I asked. Because the car had just gone up a steep slope and turned left downhill, the engine's sound was quieter so it could respond.

From town, drive on the highway for more than ten kilometers to reach the foot of the mountain to go to the Raspberry field. From the foot of the mountain to the mountain is only about 1.17 km but it is steep. 3 years ago, the dirt road had ruts for motorbikes, which was very dangerous. Now it is a concrete road. From the town, about 1 km away is the up and down point of Horseshoe field (Mo De), Bamboo forest, about 2.5 km up the vertical slope, there is also a concrete road big enough for 1 motorbike. . A little further, 7 km both going and returning is Kim Noi commune, passing Hang Dang De school.

Check in on Golden Season - Photo Dang Van Phuc

Most of the Mong villages are in high mountains, with altitudes from 800 to more than 1,700 meters, on both sides of the mountain sandwiched between Mu Cang Chai town. "After harvest, threshing, threshing and then the rice is carried down? ” I once curiously asked the women threshing rice and the children surrounding the wooden box that was both a grain container and a threshing table. “No, you have to carry the grain back home, back to the mountains.” A woman stopped beating, wiped her sweat with her hand and replied. Following the pointing arm, I looked up at the cloud-covered mountain. Looking at the sacks of rice, it's hard to imagine how to carry them up because we had to hire a motorbike taxi to climb to this point, which was already very high. We thought that carrying the rice down was already difficult, now they say we have to carry it up to go home...

Not only rice, corn, cardamom, hawthorn or loquat, the products of the mountains, forests and fields are harvested in the fields and fields below and brought to the house above, dozens of kilometers away from the house. number and climb several hundred meters steeply. H'Linh, a motorbike taxi driver, continued to take me from the national highway to two points of Bamboo forest and Horseshoe. “These two points go the same way, up one way and down one way.” H'Linh said as she changed the car number. The sound of the number 1 engine roaring to climb the uphill slope. Compared to a few years ago, the dirt road was slippery in grooves just for wheels, now it is concrete, which is a huge improvement, even though the road is only about 50 - 60 centimeters wide, enough for a motorbike to drive. Both sides of the road are gradually eroded by the rain. In many places, one side is a cliff, the other side is close to the bushes of the cliff. However, the Mong motorbike taxi drivers still calmly took passengers past.

Field under Khau Pha pass - Photo by Dang Van Phuc

"Bend", perhaps you've heard this word familiar, try bending your arm, looking from the shoulder down and then from the elbow to the wrist, you see, the road here is exactly the same, from the foot of the mountain climbing Up each mountain, hundreds of years of trails have been created with very sharp turns, with only enough room to drive up for those brave enough, with a slope of over 45 degrees and the car's gear always being in 1st gear, making it famous. The engine roared throughout the mountains and forests. "This is a trail that Mong people have traveled for many generations, carrying goods by horse or person." H'Linh shared that when the car goes down, it makes less noise. “Who paid for this concrete road?” I ask. “Some parts are done by the state, some parts are done by the people themselves.” H'Linh replied.

Mong children - Photo Dang Van Phuc

Many single-track roads connect villages and inter-communal roads, roads connect high cloud-covered mountains. The other thing is, even from the bottom of the mountain to the top of the mountain, each road has dozens of bends and folds, but from below or from afar, the road is almost invisible. We hardly see any photos of these roads, and imagine, it would be very grand and impressive if we saw them. This is something to be happy about, because the roads run under the canopy of forest trees, protective forests, natural forests, pine forests or even home gardens of the villages, which are lush green covering the mountains.

The car climbed up and up until it got close to the top of the mountain before reaching the Bamboo forest, a very beautiful green patch, as impressive as in the movie "Thap Dien Ambush" by Truong Yimou. Because it was only Friday, there were no customers, alone. I went into the forest to explore. “You looked at it so quickly?” H'Linh was surprised to see me come back. “If regular customers go down there, we have to wait for an hour.” H'Linh gave me the helmet and added. That's right, if I follow a few more girls along with a camera, I'll probably end up staying at this one place for the rest of the day.

Bamboo forest - Photo by Dang Van Phuc

The car went completely down, still with curves, but on this side of the mountain to go to Horseshoe field. “Last week, the race was here, did they run this route?” I asked H'Linh. “Yes, they go up and down the slopes we just passed.” H'Linh replied. “Do you get tired watching them run?” I asked again, "This is ridiculous, everyone looks drenched in sweat. They just left, how can they run?" H'Linh said and shared more, "We also go this way carrying goods, before it was slippery, but now it's easier, especially since we have a motorbike, so we take it to the district market or take it home faster."

The horseshoe field is very deep below, the carts go down and through many mountain slopes to reach it, which means that when they finish harvesting, they have to carry the product back up a long distance. There are quite a few photographers here standing on their feet. They climb straight from the road so they are faster, climbing just over 2 km high. There are also quite a number of tourists coming to the stilt houses and photo spots. Everyone is waiting for sunset, when the sun slowly disappears from the mountains in the distance. Many people come from the south so they are very excited about the landscape and the rice fields ripening under the afternoon sun. Foreign tourists travel in a different way, so they rarely collide with crowds of Vietnamese tourists. Including trail running events, since the Covid epidemic, foreign runners have participated in large numbers. For example, at VMM Sapa recently, at a distance of 21 km, there were nearly 1,000 people, 70% of whom were foreigners! In Mu Cang Chai, foreigners go deep into the Mong villages, discovering the cultural features and daily life scenes of the people. Most Vietnamese people follow the crowd, checking in to places on newspapers and social networks that produce beautiful photos.

Horseshoe Field - Photo by Dang Van Phuc

I asked H'Lu, a motorbike taxi took us to Kim Noi village, on the mountain opposite Mu Cang Chai, crossed the bridge on the other side of the stream, and climbed back up like going to Ngo's house. “Last week they didn't run this side, but last year they ran.” H'Lu answered me when talking about the race route on Sunday. The vehicle had to wait for a buffalo group to pass by. I asked H'Lu, "What are the buffaloes raised here for?" H'Lu replied, "We only do breeding and meat, now we do it by machine." According to H'Lu, horses are usually used to transport agricultural products, but since he grew up, no one has raised horses for decades. The horse is a friend, a relative, but raising a horse is very hard. "On rainy, sunny, cold days, you still have to go get grass and food for the horse, you still have to take care of it, now the motorbike is much better." H'Lu added.

Cattle raised in Mong villages are cold-resistant breeds, unlike other places. They raised and cloned on the spot, "Project 135 gave each family a buffalo, after one year, it all died." H'Lu told. In the cold season, they have to cover and cover their livestock, but many years later, many still die. Varieties that can withstand the cold must come from the local area. If they are brought from another place, if they cannot withstand the cold, they will all go upstairs to the kitchen.

Children on Ngo House - Photo Dang Van Phuc

Nhà H’Lú ở bản có nhà Ngô, phía núi bên kia, Kim Nọi ở phía núi bên này “Cách nhau khoảng 15 cây số, nhưng lên và xuống hai ngọn núi, trước đây sang nhau phải đi bộ hết một đêm đấy.” Anh ta kể về chuyện lứa đôi, phải đi hẹn hò như vậy. “Còn cướp vợ không?” tôi cười và hỏi. “Không, giờ phải ưng nhau rồi lên xe đi thôi, không cướp nữa.” Theo H’Lú, trẻ học lớp chín, khoảng 14 – 15 tuỏi là đã lấy nhau, sinh con đẻ cái. “Chúng nó cứ ở với nhau thôi, chờ đủ tuổi mới làm lễ cưới.” H’Lú giải thích, chưa đủ tuổi nhưng cha mẹ cho chúng ở với nhau và thực tế là một gia đình mới, có vợ, chồng, rồi con cái. Nhưng để có chứng nhận kết hôn, phải đủ tuổi theo pháp luật mới đi đăng ký và có thể làm đám cưới nếu muốn.

Road to Kim Noi - Photo by Dang Van Phuc

“Do people from the lowlands come here to buy land?” I asked H'Lu, he said, "Yes, if they buy land to trade or live, they buy it in the district, but there are people who buy it for farming to grow medlar, hawthorn, or cardamom, and they also hire Mong people." I do it.” I continued asking, "Do Mong people sell land?" Why do you need to sell? Another long story, H'Lu shared, those terraced fields are inherited by the entire clan and family. Many generations have discovered, "There are very few new fields, even though there is land, it is not easy to bring water." H'Lu emphasized. The number of terraced fields represents the wealth and position of the family. But if there is an addict in the family, it must be sold. If you have a family with many children, you will have to share with them. “Each family now only has cloth and a piece of field.” H'Lu spoke in a lower voice.

Baby on Ngo House - Photo Dang Van Phuc

Not every family has money to buy a motorbike, and driving a motorbike taxi is only possible for about 2 months of the golden season. During the flood season, the demand is less, most people only take pictures, and tourists rarely come during the flood season. “If there are motorbikes, why do so many people still have to carry goods to the village on the road?” I asked curiously. “Many old people don't know how to ride motorbikes, they still have to bring goods home.” H'Lú said and added, "Old people work more than young people." Older people don't ride motorbikes, so they get up earlier, sometimes at 3 or 4 a.m. to go down the mountain, work, and then return home until late at night after packing. For them, the concrete road is only less slippery, but the slope is still the same, their life is still the same.

At the end of the golden season, the Mong people return to work, returning to the cardamom fields, apple orchards, loquat trees or working for projects and works in the district. Many families' children also escaped to work as workers elsewhere. "There are 3 children in our family, the daughter went to work at an auto factory in Hoa Binh." H'Lu boasted. With a large number of motorbike taxis of thousands of people, each point up the mountain has hundreds of motorbike taxis, so every time a tourist bus comes, they rush to look for passengers, not unlike the My Dinh bus in the past. That's why motorbike taxi cooperatives were established and numbered. Each person can get a few trips per weekend, enough to earn 300 - 500 thousand, which is quite high compared to their other jobs. The cooperative will also collect 20% on the trip.

Horseshoe motorbike taxi - Photo Dang Van Phuc

“Is there a team that can repair mountain climbing passenger motorbikes like this?” I asked H'Lu, "No, everyone fixes their car at their own expense." H'Lu replied as he returned me to the dock. With heavy mountain climbing activities, the vehicle breaks down very quickly, and is dangerous if climbing steep hills. Repairing it and being ready to operate well for each trip is also a concern not only for the driver but also for ensuring safety for the driver. Tourists are also the responsibility of local authorities.

Terraced fields when the sticky rice is ripe and shiny golden spread across the hillsides. Visitors to Mu Cang Chai witness with their own eyes green and yellow raspberries appearing among the vast hills and mountains. Stopping at the three communes of La Pan Tan, Che Cu Nha and De Su Phinh, everywhere visitors can see terraced fields spread across the hills.

Fields on Kim Noi - Photo Dang Van Phuc

Mu Cang Chai is still known as "the land of clouds, high mountains and deep ravines". The stream and stream system of Mu Cang Chai is quite dense, running along Highway 32, Nam Kim is the largest and only stream in the district flowing in the Southeast - Northwest direction. Nam Kim water flows murmuring all year round, dividing Mu Cang Chai into left and right banks, bringing rare poetic beauty to the Mu Cang Chai highland. In addition, Mu Cang Chai has many small stream systems such as: Nam Hu, Nam Mu, Nam Muoi, Nam Co, Nam Pang, Nam Khat, Nam Khot... contributing to bringing a cool, fresh climate. Along with the system of streams and streams are a series of famous, multi-layered waterfalls such as Nam Mo Waterfall (Mo De), De Thang Waterfall (Che Cu Nha). Visitors will be immersed in white water streams.

The road is concreted - Photo Dang Van Phuc

Along both sides of Nam Kim stream, the banks are built with embankments as well as a rather poetic road between two bridges. After 8 o'clock in the evening, I enjoyed jogging along the stream, about 1 km each way. On the shore there are rafters like seats for visitors to watch. Each pair of boys and girls were teenagers still wearing school uniforms, each couple had a section, probably all Mong people, I guess.

Pu Nhu Waterfall is located 10 km west of Pu Nhu village, La Pan Tan commune. Originating from streams in the forests upstream from Than Uyen district - Lai Chau, the waterfall has a high slope with a water column of about 20 m divided into many steps. Thac Mo, Mu Cang Chai district, is located between two hills of Na Hang A and Na Hang B, in Mo De commune. During the journey to conquer Thac Mo, there are 7 impressive points for visitors to stop and enjoy. From the district center, it takes about 30 minutes to walk to Thac Mo. From here, visitors will reach the point of a one-story waterfall where the water flows in a spiral shape. To reach the 4-storey waterfall, visitors must continue to walk upstream. This is also the most impressive place for visitors to save beautiful images of Thac Mo. In addition, visitors can also visit the caves of Nam Khat commune, conquer the mountain peaks of Pung Luong commune and Lao Chai ancient rock field.

Early morning in the Raspberry field - Photo Dang Van Phuc

Leaving town, on the way back we stopped at Khau Pha Pass, the "Horn of Heaven" pass is one of the "Four Great Passes" including the 4 highest passes in Vietnam: Ma Pi Leng Pass, O Qui Ho Pass , Khau Pha Pass and Pha Din Pass. On Friday night, there was a landslide in the mountains, so many vehicles from groups taking photos and tourists had to turn back to Tu Le to rest and wait until noon on Saturday for the landslide to open to traffic to continue. There is a very beautiful paragliding spot here, flying over the golden season in the valley. This is also the place we often visit to take photos of the ripe rice fields below, but this time, the entire rice field has been harvested. Maybe this year the rice here ripens earlier than usual?

Family pounding green rice - Photo Dang Van Phuc

Back to Tu Le, a famous place for sticky rice nuggets, white Thai families manually pound green rice flakes for tourists. For every visitor who visits, before leaving Mu Cang Chai, everyone wants a gift. , at least the sweet green grains from the rice fields in the cloud-covered mountains, filled with the sun, wind, and rain of heaven and earth. When mentioning a place with charming beauty from beautiful terraced fields, a space filled with the scent of sticky rice, and the clarity of morning dew, we are talking about Tu Le. This town is a valley of nearly 3,000 hectares located under three mountain ranges Khau Pha, Khau Song and Khau Than.

Com Tu Le - Photo by Dang Van Phuc

Leaving Mu Cang Chai, we promised to return next year, during the flood season to have new, different moments compared to the golden season. The more times I discover things, the more strange it becomes.

Terraced fields on every hill - Photo Dang Van Phuc

The author and H'Lu on the way to Kim Noi

Yen Bai 1827 view

Update day : 03/10/2023