Discover Pu Mat - Giang River

(Baonghean) - In just 2 days, we - adventure lovers, with a sense of adventure, coming from many rural areas across the country through Facebook connection had an extremely interesting trip to explore Pu Mat and Giang River.

Although it was established in 2002 and opened to tourists for more than ten years, until now, the tourism services in Pu Mat National Park are still too poor and simple. Therefore, to prepare for the journey of discovery, we had to prepare very carefully 1 week in advance.

The time was set, I contacted Mr. Nguyen Huy Chuong, Head of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Con Cuong and the Management Board of Pu Mat National Park to register for a visit and ask for support on some necessary issues. Mr. Le Thanh Do, Deputy Head of the Department of Environmental Education and Ecotourism of Pu Mat National Park said: “We are always ready to fully support everyone who comes to visit Pu Mat. Our main task is to propagate and educate about environmental protection, serving scientific research, so all visitors are given the most favorable conditions”.

Boat trip on the Giang River.

The program was only limited to 2 weekend days, so on Friday night, all 10 members from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City flew to Nghe An. From Vinh to Con Cuong is about 120km, and a 16-seat car takes just over 2 hours. We were quite surprised when the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Con Cuong district and the Management Board of Pu Mat National Park sent people to welcome and guide us enthusiastically.

Mr. Ngo Minh Hanh - a young official of Pu Mat National Park said: “There are very few tourists coming to Pu Mat. For a long time, it has been mainly domestic and foreign scientists who come to research animals and plants, and some schools organize tours and picnics for students. Occasionally, there are some groups of foreign tourists who like to explore nature coming here and they bring sleeping bags and food into the forest for a whole week. Your program of only 2 days is a bit short. However, you will have 2 days of interesting experiences.”

Lai - Giang River Ferry

After visiting the Museum of animal and plant specimens and the 3D map showing an overview of the primeval forest, we chose a few places to visit and the first place was Pha Lai dam in Mon Son - a border commune bordering Laos and the boat station welcoming visitors on a journey to explore the poetic Giang River.

The distance from Con Cuong town to Mon Son is about 20 km, the group arrived at around 11 o'clock. Pha Lai dam sparkles like a brilliant flower in the middle of the vast mountains and forests, perhaps that is why the locals named this place Pha Lai (Thai means Flower of Heaven). Taking advantage of lunch at a floating restaurant on Giang River with steamed shrimp, grilled fish... bearing the characteristic flavor of the river full of ephemera in the middle of the primeval forest, while admiring the beautiful scenery like in a watercolor painting, I understood why the Thai people here have the proverb: "Ke Qua rice, Giang river fish" and often proudly sing folk songs:

He traveled all over the mountains and thousands of people.

There is no place more beautiful than Da Ban - Giang River

I used to stay up all night under the moonlight

There is no place more beautiful than Giang River - Da Ban

After lunch, we took a motorboat up the Giang River to Khe Khang, where the Dan Lai people live. The motorboats passed through the vast forest, the cool breeze seemed to lull us to sleep, but before the majestic beauty of the mountains and forests, everyone wanted to enjoy and record images and moments that are not easy to have a second time in life, so no one took a nap.

It took us about 2 hours and 30 minutes by boat to reach Co Phat village in the late afternoon. Guided by the border guards, we visited the families and gave gifts to the Dan Lai children. Compared to 10 years ago when I had the opportunity to come here, this ancient remote village has changed a lot. There are no longer scenes of children with no clothes on standing around chewing boiled cassava, timidly and fearfully looking at the group of strange visitors; there are no more dilapidated houses looking up at the sky and there are no more scenes of teachers having to go to each house every day to persuade students to go to school... Now the Dan Lai people can watch TV every day, the classes are more crowded. However, it seems that the Dan Lai people have only overcome the hunger threshold but have not been able to escape poverty... From the houses, clothes to their lifestyle, they are still very primitive.

Ms. To Vi La, an officer of the Con Cuong District Cultural and Sports Center, shared: “In the past, due to their almost isolated lives from the outside world, Dan Lai people mostly married within the same clan. Now, Dan Lai people live in harmony with Thai and Kinh people in the area. Dan Lai girls have confidently married Kinh and Thai people, and many Dan Lai men have married Thai and Kinh girls. Many Dan Lai people have graduated from university and college and become officials and teachers.”

After more than 1 hour of sightseeing, learning about the culture and interacting with the people of Co Phat village, we returned to the boat and went down the Giang River to Mon Son when the sun had just set behind the mountains, creating a brilliant golden glow. The beautiful sunset scene at Pha Lai wharf captivated visitors, making them not want to leave. However, according to the schedule, we had to continue on the bus to Nua village in Yen Khe commune.

Community tourism site

The Nua Cultural Village is mainly inhabited by Thai ethnic people, this is one of the earliest recognized cultural villages in Con Cuong district. Currently, the people of Nua village still preserve their long-standing traditional cultural features. In particular, there is a Thai Folk Song Club here that preserves many traditional musical instruments and ancient folk songs. Therefore, at this community tourism spot, in addition to having fun, bathing in the stream with the boys and girls of the village in Khe Nuoc Moc; after dinner with many specialties of bamboo rice, grilled chicken, meatballs, wild vegetables, red sticky rice... the members of the group were extremely excited and impressed with the cultural and artistic exchange night, bamboo dancing and drinking wine with the local people.

The fragrant jar of wine makes the Lam Vong melodies even more captivating. Under the flickering fire, the faces of the Thai village girls are even more rosy behind their Pieu scarves, the folk songs, sometimes passionate, sometimes lively, help the fun last longer. Late at night, everyone's face is red, tipsy from the smell of alcohol. The familiar music and lyrics of the Con Cuong people begin to resonate instead of the ancient folk melodies: "The jar of wine, our village, whoever is not drunk is not happy. The stilt house is tilted. Dizzy in people's eyes. The stream at the beginning of the village also sings. The mountain outside the gate is also drunk. The jar of strong wine yearns, our joy is full, full, full...".

When the fire gradually died down and the jars of wine began to run out, the couples quietly made dates and left the party to find private places. We went up to the second floor of the communal house to rest so we could continue our journey the next morning. There were enough clean beds, TV, refrigerator and bathroom, as comfortable as a hotel, enough to serve about 20 people. However, many people liked the feeling of lying on the wooden floor of the house to listen to the echoing sounds of the mountains and forests in the middle of the quiet night.

Khe Kem Waterfall

The final destination of our group's short exploration was Khe Kem Waterfall. Located about 20km from Con Cuong town, this waterfall is over 150m high and belongs to the core area of ​​Pu Mat. In the middle of the deserted forest, it is early summer so there is only one restaurant here specializing in food and drink, with many dishes such as catfish, cool fish, bitter bamboo shoots, sticky rice, boiled or grilled chicken and free-range duck, etc. and there are also drinks brought from the lowlands such as beer and soft drinks. Although there is no second restaurant competing, the prices here are still very cheap, even cheaper than many other restaurants outside of town.

Tourists enjoy the natural beauty of Khe Kem waterfall

While waiting for lunch, we were free to stroll around and admire the beautiful scenery of the waterfall pouring down from the high mountain like a soft silk ribbon. The crystal clear water made many members of the group unable to resist the attraction, immediately jumping into the clear lake to bathe, even though the weather that day was a bit chilly and rainy.

Taking advantage of the time when everyone was enjoying the majestic beauty of the primeval forest, Ngo Minh Hanh introduced: Pu Mat National Park was established in 2002, with a natural area of ​​194,000 hectares, of which the conservation area is 94,000 hectares and the buffer zone is 100,000 hectares. The highest mountain here is Pu Mat peak (1,841m above sea level) which is considered the master mountain of the whole region, so this nature reserve is named Pu Mat.

Pu Mat National Park has a very rich flora and fauna. There are 2,494 species of plants, of which 37 are listed in the Vietnam Red Book and 20 are listed in the World Red Book. Rare plant species here include po mu, sa mu, agarwood, ebony, cho chi, sao... There are 241 species of animals, many of which are rare such as elephants, tigers, clouded leopards, mountain goats, langurs, black gibbons, sun bears... especially the saola, a very rare animal in the world.

In November 2007, Pu Mat National Park was recognized by UNESCO as a World Biosphere Reserve. In addition to Pha Lai Dam, Giang River, Nuoc Moc Stream, Khe Kem Waterfall, there are many other relics and scenic spots such as Tra Lan Citadel, Ma Nhai Stele, Oc Cave, etc. In particular, there is a destination that foreign tourists love to explore: the dwarf forest on the top of Pu Mat and the thousand-year-old sa-mu forest, with giant trees measuring 23.7m in circumference, up to 5.5m in trunk diameter and about 70m in height...

At the end of the exciting journey, all members felt regretful because of the short time they could not explore all the majestic natural beauty and unique cultural features of the people here. In the following days, the members still shared pictures of the trip on Facebook and emotional lines expressing their nostalgia for the Western region of Nghe An...

Hoang Hao