Adventures in the Dong Van Stone Plateau. Who would you go with?

Nga Do
Have you ever thought about living in a place where 80% of the area is limestone? Are human beings living, working and growing under such conditions? Followed our journey to explore the plateau of Dong Van stone in Ha Giang province, northeast of Vietnam.

The Dong Van stone plateau is at an average elevation of 1,000-1,600m above sea level, covering an area of nearly 2,356km², extending over four Quan Ba, Yen Minh, Meo Vac and Dong Van districts of Ha Giang province. This is one of the special limestone areas of the country, contains typical imprints on the history the crust of Earth. Dong Van accounts for 80% of the limestone road surface, which is made up of very different environmental conditions and periods of development spanning hundreds of millions of years.

Adventures in the Dong Van Stone Plateau. Who would you go with?
Photo by Quangpraha on pixabay
It is not just a place with special terrain, it gives more artistic value. Dong Van Karst Plateau with sheer rock surface and numerous high mountain peaks is certainly an ideal place for travelers who visit Vietnam on a photography tour.

For a photography traveler, the question is what can I expect from a trip to Ha Giang and Dong Van Rock Plateau then? The answer is you'll be surrounded by rock of black and gray colors; you'll look up and find numerous rocky mountain peaks around; you'll look down and find deep ravines with river looking like a thread through layers of mist; you'll look down and find that the very ground you are standing on is made of rock... 

Some interesting experiences in the Dong Van Plateau:

1.     Rock Gardens: Owing to weather changes and Dong Van's geo-diversity, the karst evolution has formed "rock gardens" and "rock forests" of diverse forms in the area. The Khau Vai rock garden (Meo Vac) is just stunning, tourists can contemplate the peaks of rocks in the shape of various kinds of flowers.  Lung Pu rock garden (Meo Vac) has animal-shaped rocks such as tiger and dragon; Van Chai rock garden (Dong Van) contains round flagstones arranged like thousands of black sea lions.

Adventures in the Dong Van Stone Plateau. Who would you go with? 1
Photo by Robert_z_Ziemi on pixabay
2.     Terraced rice fields: Tourists will find a common thing here which is the ranges of mountains running one after another to form pyramids heading up to skies. All of them are now dotted with green corn fields and golden rice fields as a result of hard work of ethnic minority groups. In addition, a large number of caves and grottos found in the Dong Van Plateau provide a proof of the evolution of karst. Rong Cave in Sang Tung (Dong Van), Kho My Cave in Tung Vai (Quan Ba), En Grotto in Van Chai (Dong Van) are all great destinations in the area.

3.     Ethnic groups: In addition to geological, geomorphology and scenic values, Dong Van Karst Plateau reflects traditional cultural richness of 17 ethnic minority groups who have lived with the rocks for thousands of years. These groups include H’mong, Dao, Lo Lo, Tay, Nung, etc. Moreover, Pho Bang, Dong Van, Lung Cu, Sa Phin markets which are coupled with time-honored ethnic festivals, rituals, customs and culture of local people all enhance the unique charm of this plateau.

Adventures in the Dong Van Stone Plateau. Who would you go with? 2
Photo by tranquanbtg on pixabay
4.     Amazing topography: Visiting Dong Van District, tourists will be amazed by the uniqueness of the stone plateau such as the Ma Pi Leng mountain pass that is 2,000 meters high than the sea level. It is the border area between Dong Van district and Meo Vac district. Standing on the pass, tourists can physically touch clouds flying over it. Down the valley, terraced fields spread out with colors of grass-green and citrine, like hugging each mountain. In the distance there are some houses with rock fence, cows grazing and roads like huge pythons linking villages together.

You may also like to visit our blog for more information on travel in Dong Van and in Ha Giang at: http://www.viettravelmagazine.com/

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