Every December, trekkers and photographers are free to choose cloud-hunting routes throughout the highlands. And I often choose Pu Luong to come and return many times.
Because of my love for Pu Luong, I became friends with Hai Anh - a native of Pu Luong - to get "secret information" whenever the weather was good and favorable for cloud hunting. Just one call from Hai Anh was enough for me to arrange my work and set off immediately. 
180km from Hanoi , following the Ho Chi Minh road with about 4 hours of travel by motorbike, I arrived at Pu Luong. In the early winter days, Pu Luong is quite cold. The best time to hunt clouds is from 6 to 8 am, which is also the time of sunrise. 
From the homestay, Hai Anh and I moved through the still sleeping villages. We stopped at Don village, which has a panoramic view of the 1,700m high Pu Luong mountain peak in the clouds as well as the most beautiful terraced fields. 
When the camera and flycam were ready, the clouds were pouring in, the whole village was immersed in the early morning clouds. The rice fields appeared and disappeared behind the clouds like a flowing scarf. The pictures of Pu Luong often do not have the majestic beauty like in the northern mountainous provinces. It is the peace and gentleness that makes our hearts calm down. 
The clouds quickly dispersed in Don village. We moved to Kho Muong village. Many people jokingly say that if you haven't set foot in Kho Muong valley, you haven't been to Pu Luong. Located deep in the core of Pu Luong Nature Reserve, Kho Muong still retains its original wildness. 
Here, there are about 60 Thai ethnic households with more than 200 people living together in rice fields, corn fields and isolated from other villages in the area. At the end of Kho Muong village is Doi cave, the most prominent terrain in the cave complex in Pu Luong Nature Reserve. 
In Bat Cave, there are stalactites hundreds of millions of years old with strange shapes and many different colors. Therefore, in addition to cloud hunting in Kho Muong village, if you have time, you should learn about the lives of the indigenous people and explore Bat Cave. 
Leaving Kho Muong, we continued to Lan village - where the Thai people have a traditional handicraft. Thai women are diligently spinning silk on their looms. They are the ones who preserve and teach their ethnic culture to the next generations through brocade fabrics to make dresses or unique souvenirs.
Heritage Magazine
Comment (0)