Handbook of 10 must-experience Thai Nguyen tourist destinations in 2023

Thai Nguyen borders Hanoi and the provinces of Vinh Phuc, Tuyen Quang, Bac Kan, Lang Son, and Bac Giang. This is a place that not only has famous revolutionary bases but also many scenic spots.

Climate

Thai Nguyen has a hot and humid tropical monsoon climate, divided into four distinct seasons according to the characteristics of the North. Due to the terrain from plains, midlands to mountains, each region in Thai Nguyen has different temperatures. The average temperature of the hottest month (June) is 28.9 degrees Celsius and the coldest month (January) is 13.7 degrees Celsius. January is the time when there are many traditional festivals and spiritual beliefs such as Duom Temple Festival, Long Tong Festival, Hich Festival, Chua Hang Festival, Van Mountain - Vo Mountain Festival. Summer is when the tea hills - a specialty of Thai Nguyen - are greenest and most beautiful for tourists to visit and take pictures.

Move

Thai Nguyen is about 80 km from Hanoi. Tourists can travel by motorbike, car or bus. The Hanoi - Thai Nguyen - Bac Kan - Cao Bang Expressway (or the new National Highway 3) is one of the major expressways in the North. National Highway 3 runs along the entire 85 km length of the province, and is the main route connecting Thai Nguyen with Hanoi and the northern provinces. Thai Nguyen is about 50 km from Noi Bai airport, so it is suitable for short trips on weekends. At major bus stations such as My Dinh, Gia Lam, Giap Bat, there are bus companies going to Thai Nguyen. Ticket prices range from 70,000 - 150,000 VND. Some bus companies to refer to: Thanh Thuy, Duc Phuc, Lac Hong.

Accommodation

Tourists can choose to stay at hotels in Thai Nguyen City such as Habana, Da Huong, May Plaza, Dong Duong, Hai Au, The King Hotel, with prices ranging from 400,000 to over 1 million VND per night.

Mojen's Camp & Retreat streamside campground. Photo: *Mojen*

In the Nui Coc Lake area, Dai Tu district, there are several hotels: Nui Coc Lake Plaza, Cong Doan Hotel, Mo Viet Bac Hotel. Prices range from 700,000 to 1.2 million VND per room per night. In Dai Tu district, there is a luxury camping site (glamping) Mojen Retreat that attracts the attention of many young people. The campsite has accommodation for about 60 people, with a price of 1.2 million VND per person per night on weekends, including all food and accommodation services. In the Song Cong City area, visitors can stay at several hotels such as Green Hotel, Song Cong Hotel, Grace Hotel, Ngoc Thuy Hotel. Prices range from 350,000 to 700,000 VND. In addition, visitors can stay at some homestays such as Hoang Nong farmstay, Hai Ha homestay, Hoang Kim homestay with prices ranging from about 300,000 to 600,000 VND.

Where to play

Nui Coc Lake

Nui Coc Lake tourist area is a natural beauty spot located in the south of Dai Tu district, about 15 km from the center of Thai Nguyen city. The area has a total of 89 islands with names such as Nui Cai island, Hoa island, Co island, Long Hoi island. Here, visitors can experience sitting in a basket boat, explore the World of Fairy Tales and Hell cave, Ba Cay Thong cave, visit the complex of Thuyet Nhan Qua - Thieng Thac Vang Pagoda, the largest pagoda in the heart of Buddha in the North, recognized by the Guniess record. Ghenh Che Lake Ghenh Che Lake is located in Binh Son commune, Song Cong city, about 20 km from Thai Nguyen city. This is an irrigation lake built in 1986 with a water surface area of about 80 hectares, including 45 peninsulas. Ghenh Che Lake is known to tourists as an eco-tourism and fishing destination every weekend. Currently, Ghenh Che Lake has developed new tourism services such as boat trips to explore the lake, dining, camping, and picnicking. Kem Stream and La Bang Tea Area Kem Stream is located in La Bang Commune, Dai Tu District, about 35 km from Thai Nguyen City. The source of the stream is on the top of Tam Dao. Following the rapids along the stream, visitors will admire the successive waterfalls that gradually increase in height like terraced fields, pouring water down to form natural bathing beaches. La Bang Tea is one of the famous tea areas of Thai Nguyen. Here, visitors can go up the green tea hills to take photos and experience tea picking with the locals. Visiting the Craft Village Information Center and the handicraft display of La Bang Tea Cooperative, visitors also have the opportunity to enjoy Thai Nguyen tea specialties. Phuong Hoang Cave - Mo Ga Stream This is a nationally ranked scenic spot, located in Phu Thuong Commune, Vo Nhai District. Phuong Hoang Cave is associated with the legend of a pair of phoenixes. The cave mouth is on the top of the mountain, about 500 m high. The cave is deep into the mountain, three floors wide with many stalactites hundreds of years old, with strange shapes on the cave ceiling. From the cave entrance, water flows down, forming many small waterfalls. Right at the foot of Phuong Hoang mountain, Mo Ga stream flows naturally, the water is clear and cool. Phuong Hoang cave tourist area currently has restaurant services, swimming pool, motel, event organization, souvenir shop.

Chua Hang Pagoda is about 2 km from the center of Thai Nguyen city, a national relic in 1999. Chua Hang Mountain was formerly called Hoa Trung Stone Mountain, Long Tuyen Mountain. Chua Hang Cave in the mountain is also called Tien Lu Cave, has many beautiful stalactites, in the cave there is a Buddha worship. The cave entrance cliff has an ancient parallel sentence in Chinese characters: "The natural landscape is the most beautiful. The man-made landscape is also unmatched". The cave wall is also engraved with Chinese poems by famous scholars Vu Quynh, Dang Nghiem (15th century), Cao Ba Quat (19th century). Duom Mountain - Duom Temple Duom Mountain was formerly called Diem Son, 24 km from the center of Thai Nguyen city. The book Dai Nam Nhat Thong Chi ranks Diem Son as a famous landscape of Thai Nguyen land. From afar, the six rocky mountains look like six dragon heads. The cliffs are vertical, covered with ancient moss. At the foot of the mountain in the northeast is the famous temple of the famous person Duong Tu Minh - Chief of Phu Luong district, son-in-law of two Ly dynasty kings, who made many contributions to protecting the northern border of Dai Viet. Duom Temple was restored and ranked as a national monument in 1993. Temple festival Duom is held on January 6 every year. ATK Dinh Hoa Special National Relic Site

*Safety of Dinh Hoa area. Photo: Khac Tho*

During the resistance war against French colonialism (1946 - 1954), Dinh Hoa district, along with Dai Tu and Phu Luong districts, were chosen as the Central Safety Zone (ATK) - the resistance capital of the whole country. ATK Dinh Hoa was ranked as a special national monument in 2012. Here, visitors can visit Khau Ty hill - the place where President Ho Chi Minh's first working headquarters was located at ATK Dinh Hoa, the office of General Secretary Truong Chinh at Na Mon hill, Phong Tuong hill, where President Ho Chi Minh awarded the rank of General to the Commander-in-Chief of the Vietnam Army Vo Nguyen Giap, ATK Dinh Hoa exhibition house, President Ho Chi Minh memorial house, Uncle Ho's hut in Khuon Tat, Quang village relic, Bao Bien relic, Cho Chu prison... Thai Nguyen 1917 Uprising relic cluster On August 31, 1917, the Thai Nguyen uprising led by Doi Can and Luong Ngoc Quyen shook the French colonial government in Indochina. Although it failed, the uprising left a special mark. For the first time in modern Vietnamese history, an uprising took place, seized power in a province, had a declaration, declared independence, had a national flag, national name, and established its own army. Today, the locations of the Consul's Palace, the Kho Xanh Barracks, Thai Nguyen Prison, and the Gia Sang defense line have been ranked as national historical relics, but only ruins remain. Museum of Vietnamese Ethnic Cultures Located in the city center, on the Cau River, the Museum of Vietnamese Ethnic Cultures is a large-scale cultural project. This is where over 40,000 original documents and artifacts about the traditional culture of 54 Vietnamese ethnic groups are displayed and preserved. Indoors, there are exhibition rooms introducing the cultures of ethnic groups, divided into language groups: Viet - Muong, Tay - Thai, Mong - Dao, Mon - Khmer, Nam Dao and Han. Outdoors, there is a space displaying 6 cultural regions of the country including: the high mountains in the North; Valleys; The North Central - Delta; The Central - Coastal, Truong Son - Central Highlands and the South Delta. Viet Bac Armed Forces Museum Located on Quang Trung Street, Tan Thinh Ward, the Viet Bac Armed Forces Museum - Military Region I displays nearly 10,000 original artifacts about Viet Bac - the base and main battlefield in the resistance war against French colonialism. The museum's outdoor exhibition area has 28 original large-sized artifacts such as airplanes, missiles, radars, and artillery. These are weapons used by the armed forces and achieved feats during the resistance wars.

What to eat

Bo Dau Chung Cake Bo Dau Chung Cake is a specialty of Phu Luong, Thai Nguyen. This traditional Chung Cake dish includes sticky rice with lychee, one of the specialties of Phu Luong region, Na Ri wild dong leaves, thick and wide sticky rice, bamboo strips split from giang trees of Thai Nguyen mountains, green bean and pork belly filling. Bo Dau Chung Cake impresses with the green color of dong leaves, the characteristic aroma mixed with the rich taste of beans, the fatty taste of pork belly. Bo Dau craft village, Co Lung commune, Phu Luong district is located about 8 km from the city center, convenient for tourists to stop by to enjoy and buy as gifts. Ash Cake Also known as gio cake, nang cake, is a rustic cake of Kinh people, Tay people, San Chay people... The cake is made from yellow sticky rice, sticky rice with lychee soaked in ash water burned from sesame trees and some other types of trees, wrapped in chit leaves or dong leaves and boiled. Ash cake is eaten cold, dipped in molasses or honey, has a strong, slightly pungent taste, and a cool feeling on the tip of the tongue. The cake helps cool the intestines, is easy to digest, and is often used during holidays and Tet. Five-color sticky rice Five- color sticky rice is often made by the Tay people in Dinh Hoa to offer to Uncle Ho's altar at the memorial house on De Pass on holidays and Tet. Five-color sticky rice has 5 basic colors: red from gac fruit, green from ginger leaves or pandan leaves, yellow from turmeric, purple from black rice leaves or areca leaves, and white is the original color. According to the concept of the indigenous people, five-color sticky rice represents love for mother, respect for father, steadfast love, loyalty of couples, and good luck and fortune.

Nham Nham is a famous specialty of Ha Chau commune, Phu Binh district. In the season of ripe plums (late July, early August of the lunar calendar), Ha Chau people often make this dish. Nham is made from 14 types of food and rustic spices: dried fish caught from Cau River (or white carp), grilled pork belly, sesame, roasted peanuts, sour star fruit, fig leaves, young sesame leaves, nhoi leaves, coconut pulp and chopped banana roots, soy sauce, vinegar... Ha Chau people use a secret family recipe to make a delicious, fatty, rich nham dish with a rustic flavor. The best way to eat nham is to roll nhoi leaves, dip it in Uc Ky sticky rice sauce, which is also a specialty of Phu Binh. Cooc mo cake Cooc mo is a traditional cake of the Tay and Nung people in Thai Nguyen. Dong leaves are rolled up like a funnel, the filling is made from upland sticky rice and crushed raw peanuts, tied with strings, strung in pairs or small bunches, and boiled for about two hours. The cooked cake has a light green color of dong leaves. Although there is no filling, when chewing, you can feel the fragrant, sticky taste of sticky rice and the fatty, rich taste of peanuts. Depending on each person's taste, the cake can be dipped in sesame salt or honey, sugar. Dinh Hoa bamboo rice Bamboo rice is a dish associated with the stream at its source, the rice fields on the hillside and the bamboo forests of the ATK Dinh Hoa region. The rice is cooked from yellow sticky rice, in a long bamboo or reed tube, grilled with charcoal or straw for about an hour. When the rice is cooked, use a knife to peel off each layer of burnt skin until you find thin layers of ivory-white silk covering the rice in long pieces along the length of the bamboo tube. Break each piece of rice and dip it in sesame salt. Bamboo rice can be eaten immediately or left for a week and still be soft, delicious and not spoiled.

Mugwort cake

Mugwort is a vegetable that the Tay people grow a lot in their gardens or along streams. After simmering the young shoots of mugwort with the ash water of bamboo trees, they are put into a mortar and pounded with steamed sticky rice until they turn dark green. They are then shaped into a round shape by hand. Mugwort cakes come with or without fillings. The filling for mugwort cakes is usually made from crushed green beans, peanuts or roasted sesame seeds mixed with sugar. The cake has a spicy, cool, slightly numbing taste of mugwort leaves mixed with the sticky, fragrant taste of sticky rice flour and the sweetness of the sugar filling, creating a unique flavor that is easy to eat and not too greasy.

What gift?

Tan Cuong Tea

Thai Nguyen's soil and climate help tea plants grow well, producing plump, high-quality tea buds, so it is known as "the number one famous tea". Tan Cuong tea has the characteristics of clear tea water, light yellowish green color and smooth. When enjoying, you can feel the astringent taste on the tip of the tongue, the sweet aftertaste lingering in the throat, very little bitterness.

Tea is a familiar gift from Thai Nguyen. Photo: *Che Dung Hiep*

Australian sticky rice sauce

This is a local product of the people of Uc Ky commune (Phu Binh district) made from soybeans and mold fermented from the famous delicious castor sticky rice grown in Uc Ky commune. The soy sauce is dark yellow, smooth, thick like honey, with a strong aroma of sticky rice and soybeans, and leaves a sweet taste when eaten. Uc Ky sticky rice soy sauce can be used as a dipping sauce to accompany dishes in meals or to marinate and prepare daily dishes.

Viet Cuong Vermicelli

Viet Cuong Hamlet, Hoa Thuong Commune, Dong Hy District (Thai Nguyen) is famous for its nearly 50-year-old vermicelli making craft. Viet Cuong vermicelli is made from purple arrowroot, has a sweet and cool taste, has a characteristic brown color, and does not use any colorants. The vermicelli is produced according to a strict process, is chewy, delicious, does not break, and ensures food hygiene and safety.

Ha Chau black plum

Black plum is a specialty fruit of the people of Ha Chau area along the Cau River. The plum is black, the flesh is yellow, the inside of the seed is white. The soil and climate along the Cau River have created a fatty, rich taste, a characteristic aroma and a thick layer of flesh for Ha Chau plum. Plum season is usually around the 7th and 8th lunar months. In addition to nham, black plum can also be used to make many other dishes such as stewed with meat, fish, cooked with sticky rice, and soaked in fish sauce. The price of black plum is relatively high, one kilogram of plum ranges from 100,000 - 150,000 VND.

Ngan Me Bitter Bamboo Shoots

These are bamboo shoots taken from the Ngan Me forest, sold quite a lot at Chua Hang market, Dong Hy and along National Highway 1B through Gia Bay bridge. Peel the bamboo shoots, leave them whole and boil them twice in water until the smell is gone and they can be eaten. The simplest way is to boil them and dip them in salt and chili. When eating, you can feel the fresh crunchiness, the slightly bitter taste but not astringent of the bamboo shoots mixed with the salty, spicy taste of salt and chili. Bamboo shoots can also be stir-fried or cooked in soup, bringing different flavors.

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