Dong Van karst Plateau is a majestic land located in the north of Ha Giang province, Vietnam, with a large area of about 2,356 km² and an average altitude of 1,400 m to 1,600 m. This place contains many limestone mountain areas, located close to the Tropic of Cancer, with quite steep slopes. Valleys, rivers, and streams are greatly divided.
Dong Van district has two towns: Dong Van and Pho Bang, and 17 communes such as Ta Phin, Xa Phin, Pho Cao, Sung La, Van Chai, Lung Phin, Ma Le. This northernmost point of Vietnam is often a stopping place for tourists when coming to Ha Giang, because typical local destinations are concentrated here. Dong Van’s terrain is quite complex, mostly divided rocky mountains, creating many deep abysses, with an average altitude of 1,500 m above sea level.
Climate
Dong Van is located in a monsoon climate zone with quite distinct continental characteristics. The average rainfall is large, about 1,750 mm-2,000 mm, concentrated from May to October. The dry season is from November to April of the following year. The average annual temperature is about 20 degrees Celsius, the coldest time can be down to 1-2 degrees, the hottest time is nearly 40 degrees Celsius. Air humidity is about 84%. In Dong Van, there is also frost and occasional snowfall in the winter.
Transport
Dong Van is 150 km north of Ha Giang city. From the city, tourists travel along Highway 4C and can use many means of transport, the most popular of which are motorbikes, self-driving cars, rented cars or passenger cars… Travel time is about 3-5 language, depending on the medium.
In Dong Van town, visitors can rent motorbikes for about 100,000 VND ($4) a day.
Accommodation
Dong Van has many places to stay, from motels, homestays to large hotels. Among these, homestays have the largest number, scattered from the town center to communes, such as Hagiang Holic, Plum Homestay, Dong Van Cliffside House, Dong Van H’Mong Homestay, Dong Van B&B, Khoi Home… Prices per night range from 400,000 VND to 1 million VND ($18 – $40) per room or 100,000 VND to 250,000 VND ($4 – $10) per mattress in a dorm or stilt house in a homestay.
Hotels include Hoa Cuong Hotel, Hoang Van, Hoang Ngoc, Ma Pi Leng Hotel… with an average price of 400,000 to 1 million VND ($18 – $40) per night.
Where to play?
Dong Van ancient town
Located in the core area of the Dong Van Karst Plateau Global Geopark, Dong Van Old Town is a destination tourists cannot miss. The old town is located in the center of town, formed more than 100 years ago. Previously, this area was just a wild, sparsely populated valley. At the end of the 19th century, the neighborhood was gradually formed. Looking down from above, Dong Van old town is three rows of houses arranged in a U shape, roofed with yin and yang tiles, including houses and commercial areas that are not large in scale but have their own unique features bearing the identity of the rocky plateau. .
Coming here, visitors should not miss the Pho Co cafe located at the corner of Dong Van central market, in a house more than 100 years old, leaning against the mountain.
Tham Ma Slope
Doc Tham Ma is a pass located on Highway 4C, adjacent to Yen Minh and Dong Van districts. The slope is known as one of the most dangerous roads in the North, 5 km long with 9 winding turns. It is also for this reason that many people like to conquer Tham Ma slope. Stopping here, where there is a very beautiful photography angle, you will have the opportunity to hear many legends about this slope.
The King’s mansion
The Vuong Dynasty mansion in Sa Phin commune, built in the early 20th century, imitated the architecture of the Qing Dynasty (China), according to the Ha Giang Province Electronic Information Portal. The house took 8 years to complete, located on a land area of 1,120 m2. The mansion has a tortoise shell shape with rows of tall sapwood trees. The two surrounding walls are built of rough stone, with battlements and guard posts. The palace has three stilt houses. The main house faces the gate, two outbuildings are parallel and perpendicular to the main house. All three houses, including columns, trusses, floors, walls, and roofs, are made of precious wood.
Vuong’s house is located next to Highway 4C on the way from Ha Giang city to Dong Van, 13 km from Dong Van town center. In 1993, the Vuong mansion was recognized as a national architectural and artistic relic.
Nho Que River
Nho Que River originates from Yunnan, China, flows northwest – southeast, through Dong Van and Meo Vac districts in Ha Giang province to join the Gam River in Cao Bang. The Nho Que River flowing into Vietnam is 46 km long, from Lung Cu through Tu San canyon and then runs along Ma Pi Leng pass. A unique feature of the river is that most of the year, the water is turquoise. In recent years, local travel companies have provided sightseeing boat or kayaking services for tourists. Rental prices range from 50,000 VND to 150,000 VND per boat, depending on the type.
Note: To get to the boat dock, visitors will have to go through a zigzag road. You should hire a local person who has a good handle and is familiar with the road to drive.
Lung Cu national flagpole
The flagpole is located at Lung Cu peak, also known as Dragon mountain peak, 1,470 m above sea level, in Lung Cu commune. The flagpole is about 3.3 km from the northernmost point of Vietnam as the crow flies. The flagpole has a long history, has undergone many restorations and embellishments, and currently has an octagonal shape, over 30 meters high, inaugurated on September 25, 2010. At the top is a 9 m high flagpole holding the Vietnamese national flag with an area of 54 m2. Looking down from the top of the flagpole, there are two ponds on both sides of the mountain, non-drying all year round, called dragon eye ponds. The flagpole is 24 km from Dong Van town.
Sung La buckwheat flower field
Nearly 20 km from Dong Van town, Sung La commune has a fairy-tale scene, located under cat-ear rocky cliffs. The Mong ethnic people in Sung La often grow buckwheat on high hillsides, so this place is considered one of the most beautiful flower viewing spots in Ha Giang. The best time is from October to November.
Pao’s house
Also located in Sung La commune, “Pao’s House” is actually a people’s house, built in 1947, used as the setting for the movie “Pao’s Story”. The house has the architectural features of the Mong people in the rocky plateau, closed in four directions, in the middle is the sky yard. The front yard is paved with stone, surrounded by plums, apricots, peaches… typical tree species of the region. The house has beautiful architecture and the surrounding landscape is even more beautiful during the flowering season, so this place always attracts many tourists.
This destination charges a fee of 10,000 VND for each tourist.
Pho Bang town
Not as noisy as other places, in Pho Bang visitors will have the feeling that time passes slowly. This is where the Chinese and Mong communities live with more than 500 people. The town stands out because it still retains its simple, idyllic and ancient appearance. Because the road is more remote than other places, Pho Bang is somewhat isolated and less known. To enter the town, you have to go nearly 5 km from the national highway, close to the Vietnam-China border, where there are only cat-eared rocky mountains.
Pho Cao commune market
Located 25 km from Dong Van town center, Pho Cao market meets every 6 days, usually lasting from dawn to noon. Pho Cao Market is not only a place to buy and sell local goods and products, but also a place for cultural exchanges between 17 ethnic groups in the area. The markets are very crowded and fun. People wear their most beautiful dresses, bringing to the market from chickens to pigs, dresses, scarves, sharpened knives, and fresh vegetables picked from the garden.
What to eat?
The dishes in Dong Van are also typical dishes in Ha Giang, which can be found everywhere in the province. However, in Dong Van, visitors will have many famous addresses to choose from.
Au Tau porridge
Au Tau porridge is a typical dish in Ha Giang. Ingredients for making porridge include au tau root, rice, pork, pork sausage, eggs, vegetables and some other things. Au Tau is a familiar tree to local people, also known as Au Tau, Thu O… grown a lot in the highlands of Ha Giang. Fresh au tau tubers are poisonous, but through the hands of the people, they have become a delicious dish. Au tau is also a precious medicinal herb that has the effect of relieving colds, relaxing tendons and bones, reducing fatigue, and helping to sleep well. To make porridge, au tau tubers must be soaked in concentrated rice water for about 10 hours, then simmered for many more hours until the tubers soften and the toxins disappear.
Reference address: Moc Mien porridge, porridge shop in Dong Van market.
Rolls
Ingredients for this dish include rice flour, meat, wood ear mushrooms, bones, sausage and spices. The flour is soaked overnight to soften and then mixed with spices. When guests come to eat, the maker pours the dough onto the mold on the spot to heat it. After about 3 minutes, when the cake is cooked, roll it up with prepared meat and wood ear fungus, cut it short and put it on a plate, sprinkle with fried onions and coriander. Unlike banh cuon dipped in fish sauce in many regions, banh cuon in Ha Giang is eaten with broth. The broth is simmered with pork bones so it has a sweet taste. According to local people, because the mountain climate is very cold in the morning, people eat rice rolls with soup to warm their bodies.
Reference addresses: Ms. Ha’s rice rolls, Ms. Lieu’s rice rolls.
Buckwheat cake
The cake is made from buckwheat flower seeds with high nutritional value. To make cakes, after each harvest season, people will dry the seeds, part of which is used to ferment to create yeast, and the rest to make buckwheat cakes. The seeds are ground, then kneaded into dough and shaped into flat, round cakes, more than one hand in diameter. After being shaped, the cake will be steamed and grilled on a charcoal stove. It is best eaten when hot and has a mildly sweet taste.
Cakes are sold in markets, roadside shops, and near tourist areas.
Thang den
Among the snacks of Ha Giang, it is impossible not to mention thang den. Sold a lot in Dong Van old town or at markets, although it is just a “fun dish”, it has quite a special appeal. A bowl of Thang Amaranth includes boiled round balls of glutinous rice flour and ginger sugar water, when eaten, add black sesame or crushed roasted peanuts.
Men men
Men men is a rustic dish associated with indigenous people’s life. The rocky plateau cannot cultivate rice, so corn rice (or men men) is the main food of the Mong people. Initially, men men was just a daily dish of the people, gradually being sold in many markets to introduce culinary culture. To make mene, corn is dried thoroughly and processed through many steps such as pounding, removing residue, and steaming. Men men has the fragrant taste of corn, you can add soup to eat together.
Northern Pole Coffee
Cuc Bac Coffee Shop is located in Lo Lo Chai village, a small village right at the foot of the Lung Cu flagpole, less than 1 km from the Vietnam-China border, in Lung Cu commune. The shop was built by Mr. Ogura Yasushy, a Japanese who has lived in Vietnam for many years and especially loves Ha Giang. The restaurant has a walled house architecture bearing the cultural identity of the Lo Lo people, rustic and old with stone fences, yin-yang tiled roofs, earthen walls and wooden gates. The special thing is that the shop not only has traditional Vietnamese filter coffee but also Japanese matcha green tea.
