Golden season of the past
One of the most beautiful ripe rice roads in the Northern mountainous region is Highway 32C running through the rice fields of Nghia Lo - Tu Le - Mu Cang Chai in Yen Bai. In September 10 years ago, this was the first road that we, new friends, took on our motorbikes to "hunt for the golden season".
Tu Le is a peaceful little town with fragrant po mu wood roofs. Tu Le valley has a winding stream flowing through it and is embraced by three mountain ranges of Khau Pha, Khau Song and Khau Than. Anyone who has come to Tu Le must choose the ripe rice season to fully appreciate the beauty of the terraced fields. The peaceful, simple beauty like a mountain girl is the three-storey slope soaring to the sky on the precarious cliff, the isolated rice fields on the rocky mountainside, the small wooden roofs precariously perched and hidden on the hillside.
Mu Cang Chai is separated from Tu Le by a 60km winding road, with golden ripe rice fields on one side and the Nam Kim River flowing gently and loudly on the other. Mu Cang Chai rice fields are immense, stretching from the foot of the mountain to the top of the sky, everywhere are seas of rice fields like rolling waves. In September, the ripe rice fields start to turn from green to yellow and then to a brilliant gold, dyeing every piece of land in the highlands.
Having fallen in love with that beauty, I still try to spend a few days every year to "visit the rice fields", going close by to Mu Cang Chai, passing through Bac Son (Lang Son), far away to Y Ty (Lao Cai), Hoang Su Phi (Ha Giang)... In addition to backpacking trips with friends, I was lucky to have a business trip to Nam Cang valley, Lien Minh commune right at the beginning of the rice season.
Nam Cang is located about 35km from the center of Sa Pa town, hidden among the rolling hills of Hoang Lien Son range. Late August and early September is the time when the rice is most beautiful, witnessing the moment of "changing new clothes" of the endless terraced fields is truly awe-inspiring. The peaceful and secluded life here is so ideal that after my business trip I stayed for a night, during the day I went to see the rice, trekking in the old forest along the big stream, and at night I sipped and chatted by the fire without getting bored.
Remember the roads
Like every year from September until the end of the year, the North is bustling with tours to experience the fall season, see the terraced fields of ripe rice in Sa Pa (Lao Cai), skydive in Mu Cang Chai (Yen Bai), see buckwheat flowers in Ha Giang, climb mountains and hunt clouds on peaks of 2,000 - 3,000m... But who would have thought that this year, super typhoon Yagi would make landfall right after the September 2nd holiday. Heavy rain, flash floods, and landslides occurred continuously on the roads of the Northwest, causing a series of tour cancellations. Local people braced themselves to fight the floods, tourism businesses joined hands to support people in flooded areas, accepting losses to prioritize safety. Visitors from far away were anxious and regretful for a ripe rice season that was devastated.
The circulation of storm Yagi brought torrential rains to the entire Northwest region, the main roads from Hanoi to Sa Pa, Yen Bai, Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Cao Bang... were all interrupted. Worse, some remote villages, where I used to roam every autumn, are now isolated in the floodwaters, people are without electricity, water, phone signal, and the roads are seriously eroded.
When I asked Mr. Huu Vinh, a travel business owner in Sa Pa, if I could still see the rice crop this year, I only received a sad message: "There's nothing left to go, everything is ruined."
My Tay ethnic friend who owns a homestay in the middle of Lam Thuong valley, Luc Yen district, Yen Bai province, told me about the stream behind his house that gets more and more turbulent at night. On the other side of the hill, an entire village is isolated and the fields don’t have a single sunny day to work during harvest season.
Sa Pa - Muong Hum - Y Ty is normally a nightmare route for those who are used to off-roading (traveling into areas with difficult terrain and bumpy roads). Muong Hum has beautiful curves with terraced fields on both sides and clouds in the distance. Going deep into Y Ty, everyone must stop at Choan Then, a famous cloud hunting spot and terraced fields that are predicted to ripen after the September 2nd holiday. But storm Yagi came, floods came, landslides occurred more and more, "tearing" mountains and terraced fields. The view of Muong Hum from above literally "melts the hearts" of those who love the Northwest.
Just hearing the story and looking at the pictures, I was filled with pity for the many roads in the Northwest that I had passed, and I missed the terraced fields with the fragrant scent of ripe rice in the past. I hope that the Northwest will soon connect the roads, and the golden season of warmth and prosperity will return.
