Simple, Tough but Beautiful Ha Giang
If someone asked what the most beautiful part of Vietnam is, Ha Giang would have to be it.
Located at Vietnam’s northernmost province and bordering on China, Ha Giang is known as Vietnam’s Final Frontier. Moreover, it is recognized by UNESCO as an official Global Geopark because of its 400 million year old landscape and towering limestone karsts that seem to go on forever.
The stones and rocks at Ha Giang prove to be very beneficial to them. These are made into stoves, fences and stables, simple but unique, even to the country’s own delta residents.
Unlike most other communities today, life in Ha Giang is very simple, almost backward. The children are a perfect picture of innocence as their concept of happiness is rushing out of their homes when they hear an engine running and greeting, waving to strangers with all the smile they could muster.
The ethnic, minority people are very hardworking. Almost all they do the whole day, everyday is work. Each community is unique from each other, yet they all wear bright and colorful clothes that seem to represent the beauty of their culture.
Touring the area is best done by riding on a motorcycle. You can see the beauty of the place as you go and you just can’t help but take many stops along the way to take in the spectacular scenery. Staircase rice terraces, steep mountainsides, rice paddies, colorful rock cliffs and lush riverbeds are just some of the awe-inspiring images you will see around Ha Giang. And everywhere you go, everything is a colorful, rich mix of stone and greenery. Keep the breathtaking sights embedded in your memory since taking pictures are restricted.
Ha Giang’s roads seem like “a silk thread stretched across a valley or woven through a mountain top.” This means that the roads are narrow and dangerous. There are even smaller roads running through the forest and mountainside which are sometimes covered with mud, but these are only dared by the truly adventurous ones.
The markets at Ha Giang are considered its “cultural specialty.” Weekend market sessions at Meo Vac, Dong Van, Hoang Su Phi, Xin Man and Quan Ba are particularly famous. There’s even a “love market,” at Phong Luu Khau Vai, that meets just one a year wherein people are given the chance to find love, or even their future partners. This is one of the most anticipated events that happens only in the evening of 26 to the afternoon of the 27th of the third lunar month annually.
The market occasions are really simple gatherings wherein people look around, listen and meet up with old or meet new friends. It’s also a rare chance for families to come together, relax and enjoy after a week of almost nothing but work. This is also a time when different socio-economic groups or communities come together and forget all the differences but just have a relaxing, nice time. People either come in their local, ethnic costumes or everyday, ordinary clothes.
For a foreign visitor, this is a new and exciting sight. Everything is cheap and simple yet for the residents of Ha Giang, this is their life and all they know, all their happiness in the world. It makes one realize how lucky he/ she is and how we should learn to appreciate what we have.