Hang, a tour guide, and two children roamed Ha Giang with experiences she describes as “overwhelming”.
Hang Bui, 43 years old, Hanoi, self-identifies as a strong personality and likes to move. She is always curious about the world around her and wants to explore the roads. When she had children, she also naturally took her children on trips.
At the end of July, Ms. Hang went to Ha Giang for 5 days. The trip was memorable for her because it was her first time traveling by motorbike. Accompanying her is a 7-year-old daughter, a 14-year-old son and a tour guide. The trip was described by her as “overwhelming”.
To prepare for the journey, it took her two weeks of planning. Before leaving, she only informed her two children about the location, time and way of travel to let them know. Hang often does not read too much travel sharing and does not describe the destination too specifically to avoid any prejudice for herself and her children. I want the kids to feel it on their own. Since childhood, Hang’s two children have traveled to many places, so they did not have to be persuaded or “forced”, although before that both of them just went to relax and explore gently.
Her parents and children took a sleeper bus from My Dinh bus station at 9pm. Around 3 am the next morning, the car arrives at Giang Son homestay (Ha Giang city), a familiar place for backpackers, just resting before the trip, and where you can rent a motorbike. From here, Hang and her two children began a 5-day journey to discover Ha Giang by motorbike.
The first day is 90 km from Ha Giang to Du Gia. The whole family got up at 6 a.m. to prepare their belongings carefully and load them on the motorbike. Due to the familiarity with the trips and Ms. Hang likes to climb mountains, her belongings are all ready, only adding the necessary items such as raincoats, sunscreen… Accompanying her is a tour guide.
“The specialty of Ha Giang is the mountain, so the road from Ha Giang city – Thuan Hoa – Thai An – Thuong street has a lot of left and right turns. Every quick count from 1 to 5, you will meet a bend again. sometimes it’s a sleeve turn up a towering slope, sometimes down a deep abyss. Before going, I used to worry whether I would fall asleep after driving for so long. But in reality, even though the wind is cool. Hiu huu, I can’t fall asleep because my eyes are wide open and my brain is working at full capacity to drive safely,” said Hang.
But that difficult journey in return is the feeling of being overwhelmed by clouds and mountains. She was mesmerized by the sound of wind, waterfall, sunshine, clouds…. “Even for a blink of an eye, I feel sorry for fear of missing out on the majestic beauty of nature”, she added.
After coming to Du Gia homestay, in the afternoon, she and her children experienced waterfall bathing. The whole family walked more than 1 km from the guesthouse to the waterfall, through the Mong and Tay villages. After a rough and rocky road, uphill and downhill, the parents finally saw a large waterfall rushing down from above to form a clear, mirror-like natural swimming pool. The first day of Hang and her two children ended with peaceful sleep.
On the second day, Hang and her children conquered the journey from Du Gia to Meo Vac, 90 km long. After the sleeves, the whole family stopped to rest on the second cliff in Ha Giang – Nam Lang alley. In the afternoon, Ms. Hang and her children reached the village of H’Mong Pa Vi in Meo Vac, where there is a room overlooking the cornfield and in the distance is the uphill point of Ma Pi Leng. On the second day, the most memorable experience of Ms. Hang was the beautiful straight bamboo forest, where the whole house rested under the sunlight through the sparkling bamboo leaves. The scenery was so beautiful and peaceful that she didn’t want to leave.
Late at night is a 2 km hike to the highest peak of Lung Pu commune to hunt fireflies. But the top of the mountain is high, the wind is strong and cold, so the fireflies do not come up much. In return, the two children can experience and admire the majestic alpine space before falling asleep after a long day on the road.
Hang and her children spent the third day roaming in Tu San Canyon, known as the deepest canyon in Southeast Asia. Tu San Alley is located at the foot of Ma Pi Leng Pass, with a cliff height of nearly 1,000 m and a length of nearly 2 km. At the foot of the cliff is the green Nho Que river winding around the cliffs. From the main road, Ms. Hang and the tour guide drove two young children to the motorbike parking spot after the narrow and steep road. From here, the whole family has to walk hundreds of steps to reach the marina. The experience of swimming on the Nho Que river is also a memorable memory for her. Ms. Hang compares swimming in cool water in the hot sun to the feeling of “jumping into a cold ice lake in Russia” that she has experienced. The whole family “snored” after being massaged and bathed in tobacco leaves.
The fourth day is the 120 km Dong Van – Quan Ba leg, the most tiring but also the day when her two children experienced many “firsts”. It was the first time the two children saw the flagpole on Lung Cu peak at an altitude of 1,500 m, the first time they visited the houses with yin and yang tile roofs of the Lo Lo people, and watched the remaining buckwheat flowers or flowers. Palace “King Cat”…
Ms. Hang was proud that she and her children had successfully reached the finish line after the fifth day, returning safely to Ha Giang city with the last 55 km of driving. Sharing about the trip, Ms. Hang said that she did not intend to teach her children, because according to her, what parents want to teach is not necessarily what children want to learn.
She just confided: “I just want to open the door for my children to see how beautiful my country is, so that in the future, wherever they go, they will return. I also want them to see friends of the same age… Me I want them to realize that we can always overcome any threshold, overcome all fatigue, complaints and irritations to experience and have unforgettable memories.”
Hang likens her children to a “piece of meat” and the experience is like sweet honey, just spread them layer by layer, and one day, when they reach adulthood, they will be “soft and delicious”. After the trip, the two little friends were tired but happy. At home, when listening to the children tell their grandparents and three things that they have seen and heard, the “first time” impressions on the trip, Hang finds that she has successfully “spread” a new layer of honey on her children’s souls. .
Photo: internet