Dong Van

Dong Van Karst Plateau Geopark is in the Northern region of Vietnam, in Ha Giang Province.

Understand


The Geopark covers much of Ha Giang Province's four districts: Meo Vac, Dong Van, Yen Minh, Quan Ba. It's in the north of Ha Giang province of Vietnam. It shares border with China in the north, with a total area of over 2,356 km².

History
The Dong Van Geopark history is similar to that of surrounding, non-Viet areas. The local population (mainly ethnic Hmong, Ðao, and Tay) originated in what is now south China, and gradually migrated south. Eventually, they were pushed even further south after persecution by the Qing dynasty. Most local ethnic groups are split between northern Vietnam and southern China. Most villages in this area relied on communal subsistence farming until recently.

The region contains a lot of potential values such as geological heritage, biological diversity, tourism and fossils, and also the culture of 17 ethnic groups on Dong Van karst plateau Geopark.

Dong Van Rocky Highland Geopark became the 77th member of the Global Geopark Network in 2010. It became the first global Geopark in Vietnam, the second in Southeast Asia. This has sped up regional and international integration. Local villages are transitioning to a tourism-based economy, away from subsistence farming. The national government has built many new schools since the UNESCO designation, improving literacy rates for children in the area.

Landscape
Dong Van rocky plateau is sculptural in appearance, a historical rocky page of nature. About 80% of the geopark is limestone karst. This terrain is characterized by sharp, rising elevations, flat valleys, and many natural caves. Many fossils of ancient creatures species from 400 - 600 million years ago. Its average elevation is 1400-1600 m above sea level.

Scientists have made statistics of 45 geomorphic heritages, 33 tectonic heritages and numerous fossils in the sediment stone stratums on Dong Van Karst Plateau Geopark. Of which, there are 26 breed and species in the world, the first time which has been found in here and named Geographical after Ha Giang. Many Geoheritages have been ranked in National level and International level such as, the system of fault valleys in Nho Que river, Tu San canon - Ma Pi Leng pass under the type of tectonic and geomorphic heritage. Folds in calcareous karst in Ma Pi Leng, Quan Ba and many other places, etc.

Climate
Dong Van is situated in a temperate climate and divided into two seasons: Rainy (from May to October) and dry seasons (November to April). The annual mean temperature is 24-28°C, while the winter temperatures may be down to 5°C.

Spring is the most beautiful season in here, when the yellow mustard flowers and pink blossom flowers are on the foot of mountains; people also visit here in October and November for the purple buckwheat flowers.

Get in


From Ha Giang city, you can get in Dong Van in 4 ways: by motorbike, by car, by public bus, or by private guide.
 * By motorbikes: You can rent a motorbike in Ha Giang with the price: 250,000 dong/manual motorbike/day, 300,000 dong/scooter/day. You must pay for oil and gas yourself. Exploring Vietnam on a motorbike is a great way to see the country. The freedom that you get with a motorbike is amazing, being able to go off and explore anything you want whenever you want is just the best. You must have an international driving license for motorbikes if you want to ride one by yourself. The police are known to set up checkpoints along the tourist loop to ensure compliance.
 * By car: rent a private car if you go with a gang. Price is 2-3 million dong/day for a car (depending on how big the car is). Be warned: the roads are dangerous, in poor condition, and always under construction. The motorbike drivers are reckless.
 * By public bus: There are only 24-seats public buses from Ha Giang station to Dong Van such as: A Sinh Bus, Cau Me Bus, Hung Hoa Bus. Fee: 100,000 dong/person. The buses do not stop at beautiful and famous places.
 * By guide or tour group: Most people who visit Dong Van do so with a tour group or private guide. Prices vary wildly, depending on the quality of guide, stay, and mode of transportation.

Fees and permits
No permit is required to enter the Dong Van park once you are in Vietnam.

In order to travel past Ha Giang, you need to acquire a “Permit to Enter the Border Area”. You can get a permit in the Ha Giang Immigration Office or ask the receptionistd in hotels.
 * You can get the permit when you ask the receptionist in any hotels or guesthouses in Dong Van, Meo Vac. And they usually charge you 300,000 dong/permit.
 * You can get the permit when you ask the receptionist in any hotels or guesthouses in Dong Van, Meo Vac. And they usually charge you 300,000 dong/permit.

Get around
Generally, you will be getting around by the same method of transportation that you got in (see "Get In", above). Otherwise, your only bet is to hire a tour guide.


 * By motorbike. The Ha Giang Loop is a well known route around this region covering the UNESCO Dong Van Karst Plateau Geopark with views of karst formation and cascading rice paddies. Motorcycling is the most common method to cover this route of about 310 km. This circular route is usually Ha Giang -> Dong Van -> Meo Vac -> Mau Due -> Du Gia -> Ha Giang. Two options for motorcycling are self-drive and "Easy rider", that is being passenger on a motorcycle with a local driver. The easy rider vehicles are often Honda Wave semi-automatics which is the type most popular with the locals. Safety standards in Vietnam is very poor and protective gears for the passengers are often lacking. It is also possible to self-drive while being in a group of about 15 motorcycles following a group leader, where the group may also include easy-riders. Due to the difficult hilly terrain, scooters are not used on the Ha Giang loop. Common rental motorcycle models are Honda Wave/Blade 110cc clutchless "semi-automatic" (most popular with the locals), Honda XR150L 150cc manual off-road and Honda Winner/Winner X 150cc manual underbone. Daily rental prices are 280,000 dong for semi-automatic and from 350,000 dong for manual models.  Notably the road conditions range from acceptable tarmac (QL4C national road) to gravel to nearly impassable at some points, due to deep mud. Be aware of this as there are no signs forewarning such road conditions. Expect average speed of 30km/h on the few best surfaced sections of QL4C to as low as 9 km/h on many part of the DT176. Your contributor has calculated the actual average speed for the entire loop at 20km/h.  As of 2024 April police have been frequently spotted at key locations along the loop such as at Ha Giang, Dong Van and Meo Vac where most travelers overnight. They target drivers without licence and/or international driving permit. It is not clear whether the police distinguish between the 1968 Vienna convention, which Vietnam belongs to, and the 1949 Geneva convention IDP, which some English-speaking countries belong to, but Vietnam does not recognize.
 * By motorbike. The Ha Giang Loop is a well known route around this region covering the UNESCO Dong Van Karst Plateau Geopark with views of karst formation and cascading rice paddies. Motorcycling is the most common method to cover this route of about 310 km. This circular route is usually Ha Giang -> Dong Van -> Meo Vac -> Mau Due -> Du Gia -> Ha Giang. Two options for motorcycling are self-drive and "Easy rider", that is being passenger on a motorcycle with a local driver. The easy rider vehicles are often Honda Wave semi-automatics which is the type most popular with the locals. Safety standards in Vietnam is very poor and protective gears for the passengers are often lacking. It is also possible to self-drive while being in a group of about 15 motorcycles following a group leader, where the group may also include easy-riders. Due to the difficult hilly terrain, scooters are not used on the Ha Giang loop. Common rental motorcycle models are Honda Wave/Blade 110cc clutchless "semi-automatic" (most popular with the locals), Honda XR150L 150cc manual off-road and Honda Winner/Winner X 150cc manual underbone. Daily rental prices are 280,000 dong for semi-automatic and from 350,000 dong for manual models.  Notably the road conditions range from acceptable tarmac (QL4C national road) to gravel to nearly impassable at some points, due to deep mud. Be aware of this as there are no signs forewarning such road conditions. Expect average speed of 30km/h on the few best surfaced sections of QL4C to as low as 9 km/h on many part of the DT176. Your contributor has calculated the actual average speed for the entire loop at 20km/h.  As of 2024 April police have been frequently spotted at key locations along the loop such as at Ha Giang, Dong Van and Meo Vac where most travelers overnight. They target drivers without licence and/or international driving permit. It is not clear whether the police distinguish between the 1968 Vienna convention, which Vietnam belongs to, and the 1949 Geneva convention IDP, which some English-speaking countries belong to, but Vietnam does not recognize.

See






Buy
It's possible to buy here mint honey, corn wine, buckwheat cake, candy, and ethnic costumes.

Mint honey is a special honey, only in Dong Van karst plateau global geopark. This kind of honey has delicate taste of mint, much more light sweetness than other honey. Mint honey is said to be special pharmaceutical to strengthen health, curing respiratory illness, digestive troubles. Mint honey is special produce, only in rocky region with average height of 1,200 m over sea level. According to ancient experiences, hint honey can also cure obesity, anxiety, dry cough and laryngitis. Mint honey can be bactericide, curing burned. Especially, mint honey of high land can be used to wipe furrow, soften skin and make skin ruddy.

Eat
The towns in the Geopark have many eateries that serve Vietnamese and local ethnic foods. Most homestays will include a meal with your booking. Food is generally served communally with dipping sauces.

As elsewhere in Vietnam, do not stick your chopsticks point-down in a bowl of rice.
 * Thang Co &mdash; cattle intestine soup, costs 20,000-30,000 dong per bowl. Thang Co is commonly known as special food, tradition dish of Mong ethnic people in Ha Giang high - land region and other North Pole region. Nowadays, Thang Co is a delicious and familiar dish of highland people. When lowland people are proud of pho, high - land people pride on Thang Co. The colder it is, the more delicious Thang Co is. Thang Co is processed from many parts of a horse, including head, legs, types of meat, intestine and other specific ingredients. Thang Co is usually eaten with men men (special corn of Mong people), baked corn cake. According to Han - Vietnamese meaning, “thang” means soup, “co” means pan, Thang Co means a pan of soup. This is a typical dish of high-land community. Thang Co used to be only made of horse meat because of its deliciousness. However, now Thang Co can be processed by other cattle meat like buffalo, cow, goat. Therefore, its name “Thang Co” is usually followed by specific cattle such as buffalo Thang Co, cow Thang Co, goat Thang Co. Thang Co is not only tasty but also showing the community’s cleverness, gastronomy and cultural beauty.
 * Men men &mdash; steamed corn flour which is made of non-glutinous corn. To cook men men, each Mong family has to steam men men from early morning for the whole day. Processing men men requires much time with steps: split, grind corn into flour and sift to remove corn skin. To cook men men, it is required 2 times of steaming. In the first steaming, corn flour absorbs water to keep the flour non-glutinous. After that, the flour is left to get cold before the second steaming. To eat men men, they use a wooden ladle to scoop it into a bowl and eat with a soup, which is usually pumpkin soup or mustard greens soup. Men men is an indispensable dish of Mong people in Northern high - land Dong Van, especially in their Tet holiday, wedding or funeral.

Drink




Stay safe
Motorbike crashes on the highways are very common and quite dangerous. Always wear a helmet and ride with an experienced guide.

Go next
Meo Vac