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Discover the jungle and hilltribe villages in Pu Mat National Park in Nghe An

The Pu Mat National Park is located in the southwest of Nghe An Province, about 122 km from Vinh City. Breathing the absolute purity of fresh air beneath thick canopies of flora, along paths winding through hills and mountains sounds nice. Those interestede in romantic adventure should read on.

The Western Nghe An Biosphere Reserve with Pu Mat National Park as its centre was recognized as a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in September 2007. It is the sixth biosphere reserve in Vietnam recognized by UNESCO. With an area of 1,303,285m2 the reserve is the largest in Southeast Asia.

Pu Mat National Park is located in the middle of the Annamite, covers three districts - Anh Son, Con Cuong and Tuong Duong – with an area of over 91,000 hectares.

Pu Mat, home to diverse flora and fauna, has 896 flora species, 241 mammal species, 137 bird species, 25 reptiles and 15 amphibians. Many scientists also see Pu Mat as Vietnam’s great museum of animal gene pool.

According to scientists’ research Pu Mat National Park has four species of endemic animals in Indochina. They include the Sao la (Pseudoryx Nghetinhensis), Annamite striped rabbit (Nesolagus spp.nov.), white-cheeked gibbon (Hylobates leucogenys) and yellow-cheeked black gibbon (Hylobates gabriellae). There are also the giant Muntjac, Truong Son Muntjac, red-shanked douc, tigers, elephants, striped civets, Malaysian bears, tibetian bears, crested arguses and bulls. 

Coming to visit Pu Mat National Park, tourists will have an opportunity to take part in many fascinating activities: pleasure-boat on Giang River, cool bath, recreations at Kem Waterfall, trade village of brocades and enjoy the other things: bamboo-tube rice  and Lam dance…

Pu Mat National Park has 1,841m-high Pu Mat Mountain which is dubbed as the second Fansipan in Vietnam. Visitors to the park are very interested in the wildness of the primeval forests and beautiful landscapes. There is the Kem Waterfall, 150m high, which looks like a white silk band. Its water runs all year round, spreading a spray against the heat of the southwestern wind, relieving the typical scorching weather of the central region in summer. The Moc Spring with clear water is cool in summer and warm in winter, so it is very attractive to visitors.

Coming to this area, visitors can take a boat ride upstream on the Giang River to discover the splendid and superb beauty of the mountains and forests. They can also walk in the forests of Sang le trees (Lagerstroemia tomentosa) to see century-old trees which are about 50m high with a large canopy of leaves, listen to birds singing and enjoy golden sunbeams through spaces between the leaves at sunrise or sunset.

After explore the jungle, visitor should visit to unique villages. These tours also allow visitors to speak to ethnic minorities and learn about their arts and culture, visit villages making brocades or tho cam and enjoy special food such as com lam (rice in bamboo cylinders).

Pu Mat National Park is the central part of the Western Nghe An Biosphere Reserve, one of Vietnam’s six areas which have been recognized as world biosphere reserves. Pu Mat National Park not only has great values in biodiversity but also constitutes an attractive eco-tourist site in Central Vietnam.

Pu Mat National Park is situated in the administrative It consists of a central area of 94,804ha and a buffer area of 86,000ha and has rich biodiversity with many rare and precious fauna and flora. According to surveys carried out in recent years, Pu Mat National Park has nearly 2,500 species of plants and nearly 1,000 species of animals. The name Pu Mat is very familiar to scientists because the park is the place where the Sao La (pseudoryxnghetinhensis), a rare and precious species of animal, has been discovered.

Pu Mat area is the main residence of the Thai ethnic group in Nghe An Province. In the Thai language, Pu Mat means “the highest mountain”. The Thai people in the Pu Mat area live in hamlets. They grow rice, reclaim land for cultivation, raise cattle and poultry, make bamboo and rattan products and weave traditional brocade cloth. Their brocade cloth is well known for its bright colours and unique decorative patterns. A small population of the Kinh and the Dan Lai people also live in this area. The Dan Lai people live mainly in the Co Phat and Bung Hamlets of Mon Son Commune, southeast of Pu Mat National Park

Visiting the hamlets in Pu Mat area, visitors will have an opportunity to enjoy the unique festive space of the ethnic people. They can participate in the Sap dance, drink the Can wine (wine drunk out of a jar through bamboo straws) and learn about the local customs and habits.

Pu Mat National Park has 1,841m-high Pu Mat Mountain which is dubbed as the second Fansipan in Vietnam. Visitors to the park are very interested in the wildness of the primeval forests and beautiful landscapes. There is the Kem Waterfall, 150m high, which looks like a white silk band. Its water runs all year round, spreading a spray against the heat of the southwestern wind, relieving the typical scorching weather of the central region in summer. The Moc Spring with clear water is cool in summer and warm in winter, so it is very attractive to visitors. Coming to this area, visitors can take a boat ride upstream on the Giang River to discover the splendid and superb beauty of the mountains and forests. They can also walk in the forests of Sang le trees (Lagerstroemia tomentosa) to see century-old trees which are about 50m high with a large canopy of leaves, listen to birds singing and enjoy golden sunbeams through spaces between the leaves at sunrise or sunset.

To increase the attractiveness of this special tourist site the management board of the Pu Mat National Park ordered construction of traditional craft villages of the Thai ethnic people to help visitors learn more about the customs and daily activities of the local people.

Get romantic adventure into Pu Mat National Park
During this trip, visitors will have many marvelous opportunities to record a peaceful short break from city madness by taking photos of breathtaking, picturesque scenes. Those who are spectacularly lucky may just get a chance to see the famously elusive "unicorns" that live deep in the forest.

Pu Mat National Park, which covers an area of 91,113ha, bordering Laos on the west and spreads across three districts in Nghe An province –Tuong Duong, Con Cuong and Anh Son. It takes about three and half hours to get there from Vinh city or about eight hours from Hanoi, by either coach or train.

From Con Cuong township, travellers embark on a long winding, narrow path leading to the Kem waterfall, one of two popular destinations for visitors.

The sealed path zigzags through narrow valleys crowded in by red-dirt hills and limestone mountains. They are densely covered with bushes at the base, but in the higher areas, there are some big trees, providing an abundance of fresh air amid an atmosphere of perfect peace.

Travelling along the path, visitors often witness daily activities of the native ethnic people, the Dan Lai, who still carry firewood and foliage used for covering the roofs of their housesin huge basketsstrung on their backs.

The path includes dozens of small bridges spanning small streams in which children can play in the crystal waters. The bridges provide a stunning background for those handy with a camera.

At one or two points on the road further into the park, you can see stilt houses scattered over a valley by a stream far below. This where the Dan Lai people live in a largely self-sufficient way by growing rice and weaving cloth for their own clothing.

After half of hour or so bumping alongthe path on a motorbike, from a few hundred metres away, a stunning waterfall comes into view.

The water pours down from an impressive height, equal to the size of a 20-storey building. It is so close you can almost touch it.

The closer you get to the waterfall, the more formidable and powerful it feels. The stream and ponds might not be big enough to accommodate hundreds of visitors at one time, but they are really ideal for a small group to swim in or take photos right at the foot of the waterfall as rainbows shimmer in the background.

A dozen or so metres from the waterfall is a rest area where people can quench their thirst in summer or get an energy boost from native specialties such as rice cooked in tubes of bamboo.

After riders have exhausted the picture opportunities at the base of the waterfall from many different angles, it's time to return to the path, take a right turn and head for the second destination, Pha Lai Dam in Mon Son commune.

The path leading to the dam does not compare with the tranquil and verdant slopes leading to the Kem waterfall. Here you are expected to deal with unchained dogs, wandering cows and buffaloes left by locals to graze and roam as they choose.

After riding for about 10km, visitors encounter the lower reaches of a stream flowing down from the Giang river, which is held in check further up in the park by a 100m wide dam.

The thing, however, that impresses most is not the dam itself but a 100m-long suspension bridge connecting the two banks of the stream just down from the dam itself.

The Golden Gate-style miniature fits perfectly with the dam and stream to create romantic vistas, which prompted me to think that if the bridge was in Hanoi. it would be swamped by young couples wanting to take their wedding photos.

Vu Thi Suong, who sells refreshments by the dam, said the peak season is from April to August.

"Young people make up a large proportion of tourists. Most foreign visitors are from China, the Republic of Korea and Russia," Suong said. The water held back by the dam makes it possible to visit native villages by boat.

This enables trips to a handful of villages inhabited by the Dan Lai tribal folk, whose traditional ways of living have not changed much in centuries.

After arranging a boat and negotiating the itinerary and the price for a round-trip, you will be taken to one, two or three villages where you can see how the Dan Lai people work and live.

Upon completing your boating adventure it is time to find a place to stay, for example in a lovely, family-run mini hotel in the Lien Son village. Others may call it a day and get back on a coach back home, left with memories of where unicorns reside.

 

Ethnic Voyage Vietnam
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