Que Phong - potential waiting to be exploited

(Baonghean) -As the last point of the Northwest of Nghe An, Que Phong possesses all the characteristics of a charming mountainous region. The gentle yet majestic scenery, the simple and friendly people, the unique cuisine full of identity... All contain tourism potential waiting to be discovered.

Buffalo bathing ritual in Nine-chamber Temple Festival.

From the center of Vinh City, take any bus running Vinh - Que Phong, just a few hours for more than 200 km, we arrived at Kim Son Town (Que Phong). Like many other highland towns, Kim Son Town attracts visitors with its rusticity, honesty and friendliness with traditional stilt houses of the Thai ethnic group. It is the bitter bamboo shoot season, on both sides of the road from the town market, women sit next to tall bamboo shoot stalls, enthusiastically inviting customers. This bitter but sweet mountain specialty has become an indispensable gift on the journey to the lowlands for many people.

Hidden in a rough shell, growing only in deep forest clumps, few people would have thought that the food that once saved thousands of ethnic minorities in the district from starvation is now a trendy dish on many banquet tables of urban people. My friend - a true backpacker who has traveled all over the country, from the North to the South, calmly commented on Que Phong on the first day he landed: "Que Phong is a place worth visiting! There are many things that satisfy all the senses of tourists: beautiful scenery, fresh air, delicious food, friendly people." That comment from a professional tourist must have warmed the hearts of those who love this land at the headland of Nghe An, with mountains and rivers that are the origin of many sparkling legends in the minds of ethnic minorities in the area.

Although Que Phong is still listed as one of the poorest districts in the province, its landscape and people do not become barren and dry. On the contrary, nature has bestowed upon this land a magical beauty of majesty, enchantment from primeval forests, poetic rivers and the peaceful life of many ethnic groups such as Thai, Tho, Kinh, Kho Mu, H'Mong along the banks of the gentle Chu River.

By motorbike, we wandered through the windy mountain passes, each time we passed a sharp bend, instead of feeling scared or overwhelmed, we felt excited. Each majestic, wild, magnificent natural scene appeared one after another like a slow-motion film: right from the outskirts of Que Phong district, a large and fertile Chau Kim valley, a shiny rice granary in the new sunny season, typical water wheels on the banks of the fields carrying alluvium into the fields... My friend suddenly exclaimed: "I didn't expect that in the northernmost part of Nghe An, there would be such a wonderful scene! Not inferior to Moc Chau, Son La, Sapa... Same terraced fields, same heavy rice fields, same majestic mountains, even with its own "Nghe" quality, very impressive!"

The “quality” of Nghe An that makes such a strong impression is the warm and sincere people that we were lucky enough to meet and talk to during our journey of discovery. With over 80% of the population being Thai ethnic people, the peaceful stilt houses seem to contain all the friendliest, closest and most hospitable qualities of the people. If you are absorbed in sightseeing and miss a meal along the way, you will surely find a house with a wide door, willing to welcome strangers from far away, with all the most delicious products of the owner. The Thai ethnic people are extremely hospitable, the fire in the stilt house seems to never go out, perhaps as a way to suggest a warm and friendly place for strangers who are lost on the road, like the light of the love of fellow countrymen? For some reason, in Que Phong, people easily find peace and closeness, that unique “quality” is the tourism potential, not far away.

Coming to Que without visiting one of the four famous waterfalls: Ta Pang waterfall, Xao Va waterfall, 9-storey waterfall and Huu Van waterfall, you certainly have not fully appreciated the wonders of nature. Among them, Xao Va waterfall is famous far and wide for its majesty and wildness. The road to the waterfalls is no longer as far and difficult as it was a decade ago. Now, the smooth asphalt road and the solid concrete road stretch to the foot of the waterfall, and cars carry passengers right to the place. Xao Va waterfall, also known as the "twenty-span" waterfall, can defy comparison with other famous waterfalls such as Camly waterfall (Da Lat), Ban Gioc waterfall (Cao Bang)... Xao Va itself has its own beauty, containing the legend of fairies - the children of the Water King who often bathed when they descended to earth. The Thai ethnic group believes that young boys cannot bathe in the Xao Va fairy stream, because that would be taboo.

That legend, like many other legends, contains the magical, illusory colors of history and folklore. Whether it is true or not, the only thing that is certain is that in the summer, Xao Va waterfall flows and stretches white like fairy hair, soft as a lyrical silk strip. At the foot of the waterfall is a lake of nearly 800 square meters, the depth of which is difficult to calculate. Folklore says that the lake is about 30 meters deep, meaning about twenty arm spans, which is the explanation for the popular name - "twenty arm spans" waterfall. At the time of changing seasons, the sparkling sunlight slant down on the silver water, the incessant murmur of the waterfall and the fresh, quiet space of the surrounding mountains and forests converge all the spiritual energy of the land, sky, rivers and mountains, easily stirring the hearts of visitors from afar.

From Xao Va waterfall, you can take a tour across Que land, up to the sacred Pu Pom mountain, visit the legendary Chin Gian temple - the origin of legends in the minds of the Thai ethnic people in the Western Nghe An region. The number 9 symbolizes the 9 villages and 10 Muongs united, sticking together to fight against nature, fight foreign invaders, and protect the border of the Fatherland. Under the ancient stilt house roof, the temple keeper told us the legend of Chin Gian temple: built in the 14th century, Chin Gian temple is a spiritual place with Then Pha (God), Nang Xi Da (God's daughter) and Tao Lo Y - the person who opened the land and opened the Muong. The temple is also called the buffalo offering temple, because every year in early spring, the Thai ethnic people from all 9 villages and 10 Muongs gather under the roof of Chin Gian temple, holding a solemn buffalo offering ceremony, praying for national peace, people's peace, and bountiful crops. In recent years, the district government has been interested in re-establishing the Nine-Room Temple Festival on a grand scale, meeting the spiritual needs of the people, while also bringing an attractive feature to the journey of discovery of tourists from all over the world.

The backpacking expert revealed that many famous travel websites and many columns sharing interesting destinations on the internet have mentioned the place Que Phong with all their love and respect. The majestic and pristine scenery of the mountains and forests of Que land is truly a great tourism potential. Having the "capital", the remaining essential thing is for planners: how to awaken those potentials, so that they do not fall into oblivion, do not suffer the same miserable fate as countless other scenic spots across the country? Tourism must be developed in depth, which means finding attractive tourism products. Those who love tourism in Nghe An must remember Resolution 05-NQ/TU of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee (Term XVII) on developing tourism in Nghe An in the period of 2011-2020 and the tourism development program in the period of 2011-2015 of the Nghe An Provincial People's Committee, which determined that by 2015, Nghe An will become a tourism center of the North Central region. With the motto "using cultural values ​​to create differences, using ecological environment for sustainable development", hopefully one day in the near future, the "sleeping princesses in the forest" of Que Phong will be awakened by the experiences and polite discoveries of tourists from all over the world.

Phuong Chi