Find out top 5 harshest lands in Vietnam

They are the areas with severe weather and soil conditions where it’s very hard for people survive and live.

Dong Van rock plateau

Dong Van rock plateau in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang has only arid and rocky mountains, hindering locals from agricultural activities. Ethnic people here have to carry soil from other places to ram into rock holes to grow crops on the slopes.

 

 

Hoang Lien Son mountain range

Hoang Lien Son mountain range is situated between the two provinces of Lao Cai and Lai Chau, extending to the west of Yen Bai province, where is the home to the 3,142m Fansipan peak, the roof of Indochina. This area has very few inhabitants because of the rugged terrain and cold climate in winter.

 

 

Mau Son Peak

Mau Son mountain area is around 800-1000 m high, located in the northeast of Lang Son province, in the districts of Cao Loc and Loc Binh, 30 km to the east Lang Son city, close to the Vietnam – China border. It is considered the coldest zone in Vietnam. In the winter, the temperature in various parts of Mau Son is always negative and it often has ice and snow here.

 

 

 

Quang Tri

As the most intense area in the Vietnam War, Quang Tri province was most severely affected and has the largest area of land contaminated with land mines and explosives after the war, accounting for 83.3 percent of natural land. Since 1975, Quang Tri has had more than 2,600 people killed and 7,000 others injured by mines, in which 31 percent were children. It will take decades to return peace to this land.

 

 

Truong Sa Archipelago

Truong Sa Archipelago (Spratly Islands) belongs to the central province of Khanh Hoa, with 7 islands and 14 shoals. There is no soil and very little fresh water on these islands, which also suffers from many storms. In addition to the supply from the mainland, soldiers and people on these islands have taken many measures to grow crops, raising fish, cattle and apply new technologies such as solar batteries, seawater filtering… to ensure living conditions on the islands.

 

 

Find out top 5 harshest lands in Vietnam

Peaceful Pho Bang amid Ha Giang Rock Plateau

 In this mountainous town, you will feel like time is drifting very slowly. An old man sits on the couch stroking the back of a lazy cat, some girls do embroidery at the threshold.

 

To get into the town, visitors have to travel nearly 5km more from the Dong Van Karst Plateau to the Vietnam-China border, where there are only rugger rock mountains rising up to the deep blue sky.

As a remote and isolated place, Pho Bang town is less well-known than other sites in the land of Ha Giang. The town is located deep in a valley in the rock plateau, where it is surrounded by rock mountains.

The road runs from mountains to mountains, the sun keeps dancing on the sky halfway and the deep valley is deserted until Pho Bang suddenly appears in a valley of roses.

Amid the barren plateau, gardens of roses in Pho Bang will surprise you. Roses hear are small but the color and the scent are special. Traders come here to buy roses to sell in other towns in Ha Giang.

The small town of Pho Bang has only a dozen houses, which are scattered on the main road and a few small branches. Going along the main road, you will see the trinh tuong houses of H’Mong and Chinese people, which are dyed by the color of time. These clay-made houses are over 100 years old, with old wooden doors and old parallel sentences in Chinese scripts, brown moss wall, yin-yang roof tiles. The simply life goes smoothly each day.

In Pho Bang, you will feel like the time drifting very slowly. An old man sits on the couch stroking the back of a lazy cat, some girls do embroidery at the threshold, kids play marbles on the front yard, corns and beans are dried on the road and hung in front of houses. The dark yellow color of corn stands on the brown walls.

There are only a few groceries in the town, selling essential things right behind the window frame. Clouds are always in the town. It gets colder in the afternoon. Some doors close quietly. The space is quickly engulfed in mist.

In Pho Bang, time passes slowly just like that. The quiet and silent life keeps continuing in this mountainous town. The whole town just awakes on the market day, when people bring all kinds of goods to the market.

The Pho Bang market is very close to the main road. It opens each six day and is one of the four unique fairs of Ha Giang. On market day, people from the neighboring areas bring everything they have to the market. The market is very crowded and busy in the morning and gradually becomes quiet at noon, leaving a quiet Pho Bang town as usual.

Today Pho Bang has an inn named “Hoa Hong” (Rose) for tourists who want to enjoy the quiet atmosphere of Pho Bang. There are only several restaurants in the town so if you arrive at Pho Bang in the afternoon, you should visit a restaurant immediately. You are advised to get up early for a walk in town in the early morning to feel better about the small, quiet town, a beautiful rose amid the rock plateau of Ha Giang.

Peaceful Pho Bang amid Ha Giang Rock Plateau

Dong Van Stone Plateau – historical beauty

Located over 1,000 meters above sea level, Dong Van Stone Plateau is formed by narrow valleys alternating with rocky mountain ranges in the north of Vietnam.

 

Dong Van Stone Platea. Ethnic minority women at Dong Van Market.

The plateau is a must-see destination for tourists in the northeastern province of Ha Giang. The plateau was recognized by UNESCO in October 2010 as one of just 77 geological parks in the world and second in Southeast Asia after the Langkawi Geological Park in Malaysia.

Over 80% of the surface is covered with limestone and it has a high concentration of rocky peaks sitting over 2,000m above sea level.

The rock of Dong Van is said to contain fossils from 400 million-600 million years ago.

The park spreads over the districts of Meo Vac, Dong Van, Yen Minh and Quan Ba, on a total area of 2,300 square kilometers. At the center of the Rock Plateau is Dong Van Town, located 150 kilometers from the center of Ha Giang Province.

The Vietnam Institute of Archaeology has collaborated with Ha Giang Provincial Museum to carry out an excavation on Quan Ba and Yen Minh districts on Dong Van Plateau and they have discovered many stone tools from the Son Vi Civilization, dating back 10,000 to 30,000 years.

This is important evidence proving that prehistoric men resided on the rock plateau. In October, the institute teamed up with the museum to excavate in Can Ty Commune, Quan Ba District and found nearly 200 farming tools of prehistoric men.

Therefore, the plateau is not only a fascinating landscape but also a real piece of history with its historical relics providing plenty of material for research and culture preservation enthusiasts.

From Noi Bai International Airport, those wishing to travel to Dong Van Stone Plateau should head onto National Road No.2 to the north for 320 kilometers to arrive at the very peaceful Ha Giang Town by the Mien River.

Dong Van Stone Plateau – historical beauty