260km from Hanoi, only 100km from Ha Long city, Binh Lieu is not too far away but has been “overslept” for many years. Among the “beauty” and “beauty” of Quang Ninh’s other splendid, magical tourist, this border mountainous district is just like mountain, wild and rustic.
On the last day of autumn, Binh Lieu greeted us with a golden sunshine like pouring honey. Nestled at the foot of the vast mountains in the Northeast, nearly 1,500 meters high, adjacent to the streams flowing between the two countries Vietnam – China border, Binh Lieu owns a cool climate all year round and has “seasons”. very special. Mr. To Dinh Hieu, a friend of “local land” just met, boasted, “there is a golden season”, and then urged us to go to Luc Hon – the commune owns the most beautiful terraced fields in Binh Lieu.
From the town, the expansive paved road leads visitors through quiet villages, and rice fields are turning yellow. From Khe O village to Cao Thang, Ngan Pat, golden steps are laid out before your eyes. Located in the west of Cao Xiem mountain with an altitude of 300 – 600m, the terraced fields in Binh Lieu are narrow and steep, winding like waves rushing from the mountainside to the valley, the landscape is as magnificent as Mu Cang Chai. Hoang Su Phi … In the fields, the Dao woman’s colorful red hat, the San Chi girl’s green shirt, flickering in the golden sea, a hum calling to each other to carry rice home. Down the mountain, the villages with moss roof are blurred and misty in the afternoon smoke.
Different from every year, this year’s ripe rice season is more bustling with the presence of strangers. Tourists come here to immerse themselves in the immense space filled with the new aroma of rice. The young man passionately participates in playing spinning, throwing, tug of war, pushing sticks, … right on the rice field. The girl delightedly dressed in a native dress, taking photos in the midst of autumn forest.
In addition to the beauty of the ripe rice season, Binh Lieu also has a season of white reed grass, making this place a “must-go” destination for backpackers. On our journey, reed grass covered both sides of the road, spilling down the valley, one after another on the curvaceous hills like raspberries, reaching even the towering peaks. In the late autumn and early winter, the flowers bloomed at the same time, wearing a romantic white coat on the mountain forest, beautiful like a fairyland.
Following the girl Tày led the way, we came to “reed paradise” in the area around the border landmarks. The road up to landmark 1297 (in the territory of Dinh Lap district, adjacent Lang Son province) is a small road through the middle of the blooming reed grass hill. Conquering the high mountain, we stood in the midst of a thousand thousand flowers shimmering in the afternoon sun, watching the sunset fall on the border and listening to the elastic sound of the wild mountains.
By: Nguyen Duong.
“Binh Lieu has only 43 km of border with your country, but it is definitely the most beautiful patrol road in the whole northern border line”, a photographer asserted to us.
Testing his words, the whole group set out to explore the patrol border, roadside boundary markers bearing TTBG number. From Hoanh Mo border gate, the road goes up forever and then winds around the mountainside. Looking up from below the villages, only “thread” stretches across the mountain’s back, hanging on one side of the high wall, one side of the deep valley. Sometimes higher than 1,000 m, through a sea of white clouds like cotton, sometimes lean back through the forest of anise, green pine forest. Amidst the rolling mountains, the road kept running like never-ending, making the tourists excited.
But what excites us most are the frontier landmarks. Along this beautiful road are 41 landmarks, 68 landmarks, from landmark 1300 where the junction junction between the three provinces of Lang Son, Quang Ninh and Guangxi province of China to landmark 1327 on the top of Qing Long Linh mountain ( Penalty Only, Dong Van commune).
There is a landmark right by the side of the road, a few steps are coming. There was a landmark that had to walk through the forest, only the footprints of the border guard. Landmark 1327 stands tall on top of a high mountain, where giant rocks are laid out. Milestone 1326 is craggy, looking directly down to the village on either side of the border, a height that can make “heart beat and tremble”. Milestone 1302 measured by towering steps, still has a few sims at the end of the purple blooming season.
Journey to landmark 1305 – one of the two landmarks located at the highest point on the border in Quang Ninh territory will not be forgotten. The road up to the landmark is known as “dinosaur backbone of the Northeast” now covered with concrete instead of the previous trail, with a protective rail to ensure safety for visitors. Each of them crossed the road between the patch of grass, the colors of the forest flowers brilliantly under the feet. The hardest stage is the endless uphill slopes, crawling on top of the mountain together like “dinosaurs backbone”. Turning his head to look back, the mountains and forests in the borderlands are identical with the deep blue message that cannot see the horizon.
3 hours of climbing, milestone 1305 gradually appeared in the middle of the forest. The feeling of standing solemnly saluting the landmark, touching the stone that marks the national sovereignty is always a sacred feeling for each person. Great, overwhelming, but also very familiar when looking at the motherland, someone sang a song: “The grass is still green along the border / Patrol road today is so beautiful”.By: Nguyen Duong.
Despite the introduction of Trieu Hoang Nga, the local tour guide, we were still surprised. On the ground next to the cultural house of Huc Dong commune, a football tournament is taking place very strongly. Players, all women are San Chi. They all wear traditional skirts for competition.
The match was closed to the audience, the elderly, the children there, the men of the female players’ husbands. The girls had both led the ball through their bodies while smiling, cleverly drastically coordinating to score the opponent’s net in the cheers and rubs. This “one-of-a-kind” football movement has been maintained by San Chi women for a long time and organized quite often, creating a unique cultural beauty of this land.
Binh Lieu has many cultural features that make visitors curious. In January, the Tày people jubilantly exchange and sing at the altar in the Dinh Luc Na festival. March is associated with the Soong Co festival of the San Chi people. On the day of “Shifty,” listen to boys and girls looking for each other through a song to marry a couple. In April, people temporarily put off their work and went to the Dao Thanh Phan group of the Gongs. “Sèng hêyê dao”, in Dao language, means “going out to the market on April 4th”, a day for everyone to meet friends, brothers, to confide in dating, to get drunk together in the yeast love.
We do not forget to experience Binh Lieu cuisine. Vermicelli, famous for its delicious crunchy flavor, made from native galangal root; black swans, stream fish, wormwood cake, black banh chung, the Tày people’s curry cake … To mention the stir-fried pho at Dong Van market. Fresh pho is self-coated and cut by the seller, but sells pho only without selling side dishes. Indigenous people go to the market by themselves, buy meat and vegetables and bring the chef to stir-fry with pho. As for us, the shopkeeper is flexible … buys them, processes a soft, fragrant and fragrant stir-fried noodle dish. Not only has a unique taste, but how to enjoy it is equally interesting and memorable.
Although Binh Lieu is expanding accommodation facilities to meet all the needs of travelers, we are still impressed with the homestays with unique beauty. Not much in quantity, but each house is special from landscape to architecture. As Hoang San, a host and tour guide, shared: “The traditional homestay development like this will help us convey the cultural and culinary values of the ethnic minorities here. to tourists near and far “.
Saying goodbye to Binh Lieu to return to the city, we still have a promise to return this winter, when the flowers are covered in pristine white colors on the mountains and forests. The trip helped me realize a simple thing, what do we need to go far away, because there are still many, many beautiful lands within reach that cannot be fully explored./.
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