After bathing on Sam Son beach, My Hanh’s family went to Pu Luong to fully experience the beauty “in the forest – under the sea” of Thanh Hoa.
Heard that “Whoever said Pu Luong is little Bali proves that he has not been to Bali”, Hoang My Hanh (32 years old, Hanoi), decided to come to Thanh Hoa to experience it. The friend told Hanh that the landscape and rice fields in Pu Luong are thousands of times more beautiful than in Bali (Indonesia).
The trip to Pu Luong is part of the journey to discover Thanh Hoa “on the forest – under the sea” 5 days 4 nights of Ms. Hanh with her mother and son in mid-August. Before that, the family had a break at Sam Son beach. .
Schedule and cost
The family booked a limousine to Sam Son, priced at VND 200,000 per person, departing from 7:30 a.m., arriving at 10:00 a.m. Hanh rents a room at Le Loi hotel. This place has two zones, including area B which is a newly built, spacious building, spacious and clean rooms, the double room price is 600,000 VND in low season. Area A is older, priced at 350,000 VND per night.
Experience in Sam Son is gentle, mainly swimming in the sea. The group swims twice a day, morning and afternoon. Hanh advises tourists not to bathe at noon, because in August, the sun is still very hot. Her family always eats at the hotel, the price is 150,000 VND per person, there are 5 dishes, but the seafood is not fresh. A place recommended by the locals to go in the afternoon is Halo Glamping with a new style, different from the traditional Sam Son beach.
Saying goodbye to Sam Son after 3 days, the group moved to Pu Luong, the main point of the journey. Hanh knows that September-October is the ripe rice season in Pu Luong, also the peak season, so go early to avoid crowds. Going at this time, even though you can’t see the golden rice, the whole family can experience true relaxation, relaxation, and rent a room in a place that has been noticed for a long time.
From Sam Son, Ms. Hanh hires a private car to pick up, the price of a 4-seat car is 1.3 million VND, 7 seats is 1.4 million VND. If taking a carpool, the price is 400,000 VND per person. This is the second time she has come to Pu Luong. “In 2015, I came once for work and did not stay, but I was impressed with the majestic, wild beauty and women’s costumes of the Thai ethnic group. That day there was no resort or homestay service, only there were no resorts or homestay services. You can ask to sleep at a homestay or go to a guesthouse in Canh Nang town, which is 20 km away. Now everything is different,” she said. Pu Luong has changed, but Hanh still loves this place because it is not over-concreted. The tourist facilities are rustic, and environmentally friendly. Resort staff or driver drivers all keep the family’s farming job, along with serving tourists.
Hanh’s house takes 3 hours to go to Pu Luong from Sam Son, along the way can admire the scenery of Thanh Hoa from the sea, to the big city and then to the mountainous districts. She rented a room at Pu Luong Treehouse in Don village, checked in is a beautiful small tree house, priced at 1.1 million VND a night with breakfast. Dinner at the property, cost 500,000 VND for 3 people, steamed hill chicken, pork braised in coconut water, banana flower salad…
In the morning of the second day in Pu Luong, the whole family got up to watch the sunrise, went for a walk, had breakfast, and visited Pho Doan market. After that, she rented a motorbike to explore, priced at 180,000 VND for half a day, full of gas, and visited Hieu village and Hieu waterfall. If you do not have a hard steering wheel, you should not rent a car because the road is winding and steep. Ms. Hanh is confident in her ability to drive on a mountain road, but many times “squeezing the brakes hurts her whole hand”, she has to go very slowly and watch carefully. Back to the hotel, the group checked out and moved to Pu Luong Natura right next to it, also has a tree house, priced at 1.5 million VND. In the afternoon, walk around Don village and admire the terraced fields. Both lunch and dinner are eaten at the hotel, priced at 600,000 VND for a 5-course rice tray.
On the third day, the whole family still woke up early, drank coffee to admire the scenery, went for a walk and took pictures at the infinity pool. Then, check-out hotel, 18h back to Hanoi. At the end of the trip, the estimated cost is 10 million VND for a group of 3 people, including a 4-year-old child. In which, moving out is 2.5 million dong, staying is 3.8 million dong, eating 3.2 million dong and other expenses incurred. Hanh considers such a reasonable cost when determining a vacation trip with the elderly and young children.
Feelings and experiences
About Sam Son, Ms. Hanh said that although the sea is beautiful, bathing is very pleasant, but the tourism service is not good. She and her family had a case where a tram driver and a motorbike taxi driver argued, almost rushing into a fight in front of the hotel to win guests. Some other experiences are that the electric car driver dishonestly charges money, or drinks watermelon juice at a beach cafe.
Returning to Pu Luong, she fell in love with the majestic scenery here. “This season, if there is no yellow rice, there is green rice, which is extremely beautiful, everywhere is the natural color full of vitality. Green rice is mixed with green forest”, she described. At the end of summer and early autumn, there were sudden showers but quickly stopped. They make the earth and sky brighter after the rain. You can rent bicycles from the resort, but walking is also gentle, relaxing, not tired, feeling more slowly about people’s life.
Experience is to bring bathing suits when going to Hieu waterfall, there are large and beautiful puddles, safe. Visitors should prepare anti-mosquito and insect repellant sprays and sprays because it is wild here, with many trees, so it is difficult to avoid. Gifts bought for relatives can choose lam rice, doi seeds, hand-woven brocade products at Pho Doan market or ask resort staff. She even bought a cage of 6 small chickens and brought them back to Hanoi just because people sold them cheaply and were witty and cute, only 50,000 VND a chicken.
The family’s memorable memory is that when the light is off to go to bed, the son asks Hanh: “Mom, what’s flashing?”. Then, the whole family broke down when they saw a swarm of fireflies flying through the ceiling. For Hanh and her mother, the scene was reminiscent of childhood days. For her son, it was an opportunity to know more about a unique species not found in the city.
Another small but not small impression is that during the trip, the whole family hardly saw plastic waste in Pu Luong. “Hopefully, although tourism will continue to develop stronger in the future, Pu Luong tourism people and tourists always have a sense of preserving the original beauty, harmonious landscape and clean environment here.” , she says. In the near future, she will go to Bali after going to Pu Luong to confirm her friend’s statement.