Endless Beauty of Nui Doi

Those who have been on the Highland of Ha Giang can enjoy a masterpiece of nature bestowed on this place. That is Nui doi. Legends are legends forever; however, anyone who contemplates Nui Doi without hearing the story about the fairy`s breasts may associate the fully and sexy breasts of a young lady.

With an odds shape connected with a legendary story, Nui Doi Quan Ba called Co Tien Moutain is regarded as an important destination in the tours to Dong Van rocky highland, an attractive place for professional photographers to come.

Standing alone in a small valley nearby Tam Son highland city of Quang Ba District, Ha Giang Province,  Vietnam surrounded with terraced rice fields and spotted with the houses made of soil in dark brown, typical for the scenery encountered in the rocky highland, Nui Doi looks so fascinating.

The best time to visit Nui Doi and contemplate these amazing sceneries of the site is the spring and the summer, when the grass and plants cover " the fairy`s breasts" in freshly green or rice fills out Tam Son terraced rice fields in brightly yellow.

Nui Doi is so beautiful and fascinating that local ethnic people have adored and preserved the legend of the fairy for many generations, it has become a part of their subconscious

As told by the legend, there was a young Hmong boy in Quang Ba, the misty highland, who had talent for performing musical sound by his lips; the sound was so melodious like stream flowing and bird singing, so tuneful like the wind spreading our everywhere to the sky that many young female highlanders were softhearted. A beautiful fairy from heaven named Hoa Dao occasionally encountered the music and looked for performer. They fell in love afterwards and she could not return to heaven. The marriage between the human and fairy was made finally. The couple had one son.

The Lord knew Hoa Dao escaped from heaven and married with the human. He angrily recalled her back to heaven. Before leaving, she left her breasts to her husband to feed the baby with her breasts milk. The breasts gradually grew up and became the twin mountain like the mother `s breasts fully strain with milk. That twin mountain was named Nui Doi or Nui Co Tien.

According to the legend, thanks to “the fairy`s breasts milk”, the weather at the site is cool and thus fruits grown there give wonderful taste, such as peach, apricot, persimmon.., rice and vegetable harvests are always successful. The fairy`s tear became the Mien River covering the rocky mountain area. 

Thanks to the fascinating beauty of Nui Doi and is value in terms of geology and natural scenery, the site was recognized the national famous landscape in 2010. In combination with the global geological park of Dong Van Rocky Highland, Nui Doi is the symbol, an atractive and important of this unique highland.

Attractive Khot Cake in Vung Tau

Khot (khọt) cake is a very popular dish in southern Vietnam. The cake is easy to cook and suitable for the taste of many people, usually made for desert or treating guests.

Formerly, the main ingredients of khot cake were rice powder and well-grinded pork.The cake was served with flavour sauce, snack vegetable and cucumber. After that, people have made changes on the recipe creating the special features of the cake in different places.

People in the West usually mix rice powder with saffron and put more fresh shrimps when putting in the pattern. In the Centre, khot cake is served with cucumber, thin-sliced young papaya, big egg-plant…which are all soaked in weak shrimp sauce. In the North, people just use rice powder, some eggs (to make the powder more soft-rise) and dry shrimps instead of fresh ones...

In the khot cake making process, powder making is the most important. Chosen rice must be good to generate the cake powder. The ingredients of cake powder are wet grinded rice, steamed rice and grinded solid cool rice noodle.

The different parts of powder are mixed mainly according to the makers’ experience. In the next step, powder is steadily stired with the water, little vinegar, coconut juice; there may be more eggs to increase cake softy or more saffron to make the cake having attractive color. The cake is treated with spice, salt, sugar, glutamate, small sliced onion... People usually use pork or shrimp, small shrimp, crab which are minced well then sauteed to make the cake filling.

They put the circle pattern in the pan, coat the pattern with hot fat, pour powder in the pattern, put the filling into the centre  then cover waiting until done to take out. After being done, cake powder becomes opaque yellow, the filling is brown-red, onion and chives which are in the fat stick to the cake making the green color.

There are also sauce and raw vegetable to be served with khot cake. Raw vegetables usually includes mint leaves, lettuce and cucumber... and the sauce can be flavour sauce or salted fish with garlic,lemon juice... depending on regions.

Mesmerizing Beauty of Hang Rai

Stone tufts cluster prominently on the blue water and sky, showing off its wild and majestic beauty as well as the precious tranquility.

Located to the south of Vinh Hy Bay and being one of the places included in the exploration of Ninh Thuan’s beauty, Hang Rai (Otters Cave) in Thai An village, Vinh Hai commune, Vinh Hy district, where used to focus the plethora of otters, are always the best destination draws tourists who go to “phuot thu” (the travelers who love traveling by themselves), photography enthusiasts or those who love fishing.

It is really difficult to explain why tourism agencies do not consider this place as a destination for their tourists though it is nearby Vinh Hy Bay, because once setting the feet here, no one can resist the alluring and charming beauty of the stones clustering into groups, scattering on the coast as the animals dancing with waves and the wild as well as the imposing beauty of the rocky beach without human intervention.

Some explanation may be thought of includes the fact that this place is not suitable for many guests, but it is not true. In addition to the beauty of the stones, the tourists traveling here have the rare chances to soak themselves in a small beach beside and contemplate the poetic swamp poured down from the God Mountain or the pure clear streamline.

Looking from the mountain peak, the tourists can get the whole peaceful Binh Tien sea image on their eyes or the lively picture of the goats lounging on the cliffs and admire the opposite beauty between the barren cliff and green trees.

Those who desire to discover or love thrills are also pleased by numerous attractive challenges such as conquering low and high stones, lurking in the big and small caves, diving and watching the herds of colorful swimming fish.

After getting tired with these games with stones, the tourists can select a seat and enjoy the breeze, cast the baits or visit the fishing villages behind the cactus bushes blooming all year round, contemplate the astonishing picture of the boats drifting on the waves or enjoy the fresh seafood processed by the villagers.