Ha Giang 'broken', passengers stuck for 30 minutes on Tham Ma slope

The crowded scene is 'suffocating' in Ha Giang. Ha Giang enters the buckwheat flower season, attracting many tourists .

At around 3pm on November 14, Tham Ma slope, a famous check-in point on Dong Van road (old Ha Giang, now Tuyen Quang province) was jammed. Vehicles stretched for hundreds of meters, almost standing still.

Dao Huong (32 years old, in Ninh Binh) said she is on a 3-day trip (November 14-16) to Tuyen Quang to see buckwheat flowers.

According to her, since the morning of the same day, many roads have started to get congested due to the sudden increase in the number of passengers. In addition, some roads are under construction, making travel difficult.

"We were stuck for about 30 minutes at the top of Tham Ma slope. We were quite surprised because we didn't think it would be so crowded," she told Tri Thuc - Znews.

However, the female tourist said she was not too tired because the weather in Ha Giang was pleasant, cool, and not too hot. The atmosphere on the bus and along the way was still cheerful, everyone was excited.

The road to Tham Ma slope was jammed on the afternoon of November 14. Photo: Dao Huong.

Tien Dao, a tour guide in the Northeast region, expressed surprise at the large number of tourists flocking to Ha Giang on weekends.

According to him, the locality is preparing to enter the buckwheat flower festival season, so it attracts a large number of tourists.

Ms. Huong (right) checks in at Km0 milestone. Photo: Dao Huong.

The festival was originally scheduled to open on November 15, but was later rescheduled to November 29. Many visitors who had booked early still kept their travel plans, unintentionally creating an unusual rush of visitors.

"On November 15-16, the number of visitors may be much higher. Traffic jams at tourist attractions will definitely continue," the tour guide predicted.

Giang Mi Xa, 22 years old, a motorbike tour driver who transports tourists, also got "stuck" at Tham Ma slope.

The local guy said that last week the weather was cloudy, just two days ago it was raining, but today the sun is shining, attracting tourists in droves.

"Tourists mostly choose to travel by motorbike, so the roads are jammed. Not only Tham Ma slope, many other sections on the route are also jammed," said Xa.

He said the number of visitors this week increased sharply compared to last week, with Vietnamese tourists dominating. The buckwheat flower season is in full bloom, which is the reason for the peak number of visitors.

All roads in Ha Giang were congested on the afternoon of November 14. Photo: Rabbit Man, Giang Mi Xa.

Ti Lau, 29 years old, who has worked in tourism in Ha Giang for nearly 9 years, posted a photo of a traffic jam.

According to him, Ha Giang is at its most beautiful time of the year, with pleasant weather and very favorable for exploration. In early November, daytime temperatures range from 18-23 degrees Celsius, sunny, and in the evenings they drop to 13-18 degrees, not too cold and quite dry.

Scene of a line of vehicles in Ha Giang on the afternoon of November 14. Photo: Ti Lau.

He also said that buckwheat flowers are no longer as difficult to "hunt" as before, because they have been propagated and grown in many places, even out of season, some places still have flowers.

"However, in the main season, the flowers will be more colorful and the trees will be taller and more beautiful," he added.

Ti Lau's company recorded that these days the number of Vietnamese and international visitors is "equal", as crowded as during the entire buckwheat flower season.

While Vietnamese tourists mainly gather on weekends when the weather is nice and sunny, foreign tourists come regularly every day, "every day".

Buckwheat flower fields in Ha Giang in 2023. Photo: Nguyen Sy Duc.

A representative of the People's Committee of Pho Bang commune (Tuyen Quang province) said that buckwheat flowers are grown on Tham Ma slope, so they attract many tourists.

From late October to early December is the peak tourist season when buckwheat flowers are in season, the weather is dry and sunny. Many places such as Tham Ma slope, Ma Pi Leng, Pho Cao, Lung Cu… are often overloaded.

Tuyen Quang said it will focus on planting buckwheat flowers along tourist routes, so they can bloom in time for the festival. The flowers will be planted in three batches, with a total area of over 300 hectares.

According to tourism agencies, this year’s flower season has seen a fairly balanced number of Vietnamese and international visitors. Foreign visitors remain stable year-round, while domestic visitors increase sharply on weekends.

Tourists 'stuck' for 30 minutes in the traffic to Ha Giang. The sudden increase in traffic on the steep mountain passes of Ha Giang forced many tourists to wait up to 30 minutes to move.

Source: https://znews.vn/ha-giang-vo-tran-khach-ket-cung-30-phut-o-doc-tham-ma-post1602773.html