SON LA – The white color of apricot blossoms has “changed clothes” for flower hill 77 in Moc Chau town, signaling that apricot blossom season has arrived.
Moc Chau district, Son La province, is entering the most beautiful season of the year when the apricot and plum trees in people’s gardens begin to shed their leaves and bloom. These flowers are pure white, blooming in clusters on spindly branches like frozen snowflakes.
“Local land of Moc Chau” Vu Quang Kien, 29 years old, said his group found apricot hill 77, the first apricot forest to bloom this year in Moc Chau, and visited on January 4. This is a new place that not many tourists know about.
People in this area have not yet exploited tourism, so visitors can visit and take photos of plum blossoms for free. The hill is located about 3 km from Moc Chau town center. However, the road is quite steep, similar to the road to Hang Tau, so visitors should ride a manual car with a strong engine to ensure safety, Mr. Kien said.
Moc Chau apricot flowers usually bloom from January to March. It is expected that after about a week, other apricot flower gardens will also bloom. Tourists can refer to additional locations: apricot forest in Thai Hung village, apricot forest at Km82 on Highway 6, apricot garden in Mu Nau, Chieng Son commune, Muong Sang, Moc Chau town.
Moc Chau people often call apricot flowers wild apricot because they have the same shape as apricot blossoms. This flower is also believed by many to possess a “pure, gentle beauty like a muse in the Northwest mountains and forests”.
Apricot flowers have round, thin, pure white petals, blooming in clusters on rough branches that have lost all their leaves.
They are both white in color, but compared to plum blossoms, apricot blossoms often bloom earlier. Apricot flower pistils are reddish, petals are round and even, not elongated like plum flowers. Seen from a distance, the white flower clusters dotted with green are plum blossoms, while the tiny red flower clusters are apricot flowers.
Apricot blossoms bloom for about 2 – 3 weeks and bloom most beautifully in the second week after blooming. According to Kien’s observations, this year the flower density is thicker so the flowers will bloom more beautifully than last year. But due to warm weather, flowers may fade faster than expected.
Currently, the temperature in Moc Chau fluctuates around 12 – 22 degrees Celsius, with warm sunshine during the day and chilly nights and early mornings. This is the ideal weather condition for tourists to explore Moc Chau. Tourists should ask local people, learn and update information about blooming apricot gardens.
Coming to flower hill 77, visitors should ask the garden owners in advance if they intend to camp in the garden. You should bring warm clothes when going to the hill in the afternoon or staying overnight because the evening temperature will drop.
($1~24,000 VND)
Photo,Video: Internet (Vinlove.net)