Conquer the god cliff

Ha Giang rocky plateau attracts visitors not only by the flower seasons, delicious food but also the craggy roads on the edge of the cliff that challenge the courage and the heart to explore.

The White Cliffs Walk, also known as the Cliffs of God, starts at the Monument of Volunteers and ends at the Cliffs of God, located at an altitude of about 1,700m above sea level, on the top of Mount Co. Tien, belongs to Pai Lung and Pa Vi communes, Meo Vac district, Ha Giang province.

The road is precarious on the edge of the cliff

In the past, I have watched many review clips of this road and felt quite scary when the motorbike ran on the road close to the edge of the deep rocky cliff. But until you get to the place, you can see that it is probably due to the technique of choosing the angle of rotation, but in fact, the road has a width of many sections up to more than 1m wide, going slowly and firmly steering is not dangerous. Moreover, this is also the route people often go through every day.

A place where many tourists come to take pictures to check in

Majority of guests tourism Going on this road, only stop to check in at the cliff of the god – a protruding place with a view of the entire National Highway 4C below, rolling hills and mountains. But our goal does not stop here. We continued to find our way to the cliff, through a small valley on both sides of steep rocks, on high, people were diligently burning their fields to prepare new crops.

At a small fork, we stopped, my guess would be to turn up the high road. But I’m not sure because I don’t see signposts, and around the house, people close their doors quietly because they all work in the fields. Open the map to see, google said to go up. Still not quite convinced, I looked around, saw an ethnic girl, so I asked for directions. Who would have thought that she couldn’t speak Kinh, spit out a series of H’mong languages, making everyone’s faces bewildered, then she kept smiling and pointing up and down another street. Fortunately, at that time there was another guy from another ethnic group riding a motorbike passing by, he told me to go up that direction. So we parked motorbikes by the roadside and started walking.

Open the phone to find directions on google

I like jogging. Like Miss Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice, like Anne in Red-haired Anne. I like to walk because I can leisurely admire the scenery, can turn my head, look back at what I just missed without thinking about stopping or crossing the street. Every trip, I always try to spend some time walking on the street, in the forest, through the village. When you are too bored, you can lie down under the tree and sleep. And almost all of those times are great: the weather, the nature, the people, the atmosphere.

The small path leading up to the cliff

Near the end of the concrete road, we met a group of dozens of people working together to clear the fields. There is little dirt on the hillside, a lot of rocks, but they still work hard to clean it. Some of the children are naked, some are wearing shorts, playing by themselves, the young women are all working and talking in H’mong. Naturally, this scene reminds me of Nepal – where people also take advantage of every tiny piece of land in the middle of the mountain to grow vegetables. We are tourists who are passionate about trekking, relaxing in the midst of nature, not caring about anything else.

The road passes by the place where people work for farming

The higher you go, the narrower the road becomes

The walking distance from the parking lot to the observatory is about 500m. From here it will be a complete walk down to the Magic Cliffs or White Cliffs.

Panoramic view of the Cliff of Gods from the Observation Deck

Even this road like the Great Wall of China has only the figure of 4 of us tourists, it’s fun. It’s just a little unlucky that it’s a bit cloudy today, so I can’t see Ma Pi Leng pass and Nho Que river clearly, if it’s a beautiful day, I’m sure this road will eat away all the virtual living views. Just the feeling of walking here is so great, if I do a trail run in this place, I will definitely register to participate right away.

Some pictures on the Magic Cliff walking route

After walking for about 30 minutes, we reached the Cliff of Gods – a place associated with a famous legend. Legend has it that in the past, when the Ma Pi Leng pass did not exist, from the Nho Que river looking up at this high cliff. At the top of the mountain is the residence of a fairy who protects the crops and people around the area. On the mountain, there is a precious medicinal plant, but it grows in dangerous places. Legend has it that no one has successfully climbed up and picked it because the road up is dangerous.

One day, at the foot of the mountain lived a happy couple, but unfortunately the wife was terminally ill. Hearing about precious medicinal plants, the husband still despite the danger climbed the high rocky cliffs on Co Tien mountain to pick up and cure his wife. The brave husband brought hundreds and thousands of wooden stakes to the cliff to climb. Climbing and climbing, the husband finally reached the precious medicinal plant.

But strangely, when he picked up the precious medicinal plant and climbed down, the wooden stakes also mysteriously disappeared. The husband obtained a precious medicinal plant and saved his wife’s life. Since then, no one else has been able to see the precious medicinal plant and climb the cliff. Touched by the husband’s sincere heart for his wife, drops of water appeared from the precious medicinal plant, which people called “fairy tears” or “stone tears”.

After a long time, people walked, so a trail led to the foot of the White Cliff leading to Pai Lung commune (Meo Vac) and Dong Van district. This road is also the road that in the past, the Cat King often went back and forth and stopped to rest.

My friend told me that every famous place will have a legend, perhaps. Legend helps to explain the origin and name of a place, making it more illusory, more mysterious, easier to remember.

We sat at the cliffs of God to rest for a while to admire the scenery, if only there were not many clouds, if it was sunny, how beautiful the scenery would be. But even like this, it is already very satisfying, not worth the effort to walk. Since there are many destinations left, we decided to end the hike here, turning back.

From the cliff you can continue along the trail and steps until the end of the walking route – ending at a nearby village, the exit point will be in the middle of the pass, the part between Ma Pi Leng Pass Stop and Panorama cafe. The walking route is 5km long. That is, if you decide to go this whole route, then both going and returning is 10km, because like us, you have to go back to get a motorbike. You should bring some snacks and drinks to gain strength to conquer this unique walking route.

Because of these strange and interesting roads, Ha Giang will always be a land that no matter how many times you come, it still doesn’t get boring, right?