Purple season on the rocky slopes

Having lived in southern Khanh Hoa for over 10 years, I still wait for the first summer rains to go in search of the purple blossoms of the crape myrtle on the coastal slopes and semi-mountainous areas. It's a flower season not many people know about, but it's enough to make anyone who has ever been there remember this land of sunshine, wind, and sea forever.

Purple heralds the season.

If you only visit southern Khanh Hoa during the dry season, it's hard to imagine that this place has such a beautiful flowering season. For many months, the coastal slopes are covered only in the gray of rocks and the faded yellow of grass. The sea breeze blows fiercely across the hillsides, and the heat radiating from the road surface seems to make everything feel sluggish.

Then the rain came. Not much, just a few early-season showers. That was enough to revive the green of the forest trees and awaken the crape myrtle trees. From the coastal slopes of Binh Tien, Vinh Hy, Phuoc Dinh, and Ca Na to the semi-mountainous areas of My Son and Bac Ai Dong, streaks of purple began to appear amidst the rocky mountains, creeping into the dry forests and winding slopes.

The crape myrtle season arrives on the slopes of My Son mountain.

Late in the afternoon, our car slowed down on the Son Hai coastal road. By the roadside, a young couple stopped their car, pointing their cameras towards the mountainside. The travel companion gently pointed: "It's the season."

Following his gesture, amidst the gray rocky slopes, the wild crape myrtle was in bloom. The flowers didn't cover the entire mountain but appeared in small clusters, creeping along the slope and gradually leaning towards the sea. Every time I encountered them, I was amazed by how that purple hue softened the entire rocky mountainside. The young couple's car remained parked by the roadside for quite some time. The girl raised her phone, then lowered it again, turning to her friend and smiling: "It's much more beautiful in person than in the photos." No one urged the other to continue. In the midst of the sun-drenched road, people suddenly accepted going slowly, simply because of a mountain slope in full bloom.

The crape myrtle season has arrived on the slopes of My Son.

Locals commonly refer to it as the forest crape myrtle. Its roots cling deep into the crevices of the rocks, helping the tree survive months of intense sunshine before blooming simultaneously. Therefore, when the flowers bloom, the purple color not only signals the rainy season but also evokes the enduring vitality of nature in this harsh land.

In recent years, the blooming season of the crape myrtle in the forest has become widely known through photographs taken by photographers and travel enthusiasts. In early summer, many people flock to Vinh Hy, Phuoc Dinh, or Ca Na just to witness this flowering season that lasts for several weeks. There are no festivals, nor any pre-planned check-in points. What keeps them coming back is simply the pristine beauty of nature.

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A friend of mine said that no two crape myrtle seasons are alike. Some years the flowers bloom early, other years later because of the rain. Each time I return, it's a different shade of purple, a different light. Perhaps that's why he comes back every year, not to photograph a season of flowers, but to encounter a season of flowers that has never repeated itself.

Where the flowers remain

The next morning, the car followed Provincial Road 705 uphill towards My Son and then Bac Ai Dong. The sea gradually receded after the bends, giving way to the sound of cicadas in early summer, the scent of forest leaves after the rain, and rolling hills stretching to the horizon. While the crape myrtle along the coast carries the salty scent of the wind, the crape myrtle here is imbued with the breath of the vast forest. The flowers appear under the forest canopy, beside small streams, on gentle hillsides, and along the paths leading to the fields.

We stopped our motorbike on a slope. A Raglai woman, who had just tied a bundle of firewood to the back of her motorbike, smiled when she saw us admiring the flowers: "They bloom like this every year when it rains." Then she started her engine. The bundle of firewood on the back of the motorbike swayed gently with the slope. For those living in the mountains, the crape myrtle season is as normal as the corn or rice seasons. Only those from other places linger beneath the flower-covered slopes, amazed by the purple hues that have just covered the mountainside.

The vibrant purple of the crape myrtle stands out amidst the arid coastal forest ecosystem of Phuoc Dinh.

Having traveled all the way from the sea to the forest, I understand that what makes the crape myrtle season special is not just the color of the flowers, but also the places they choose to bloom. On the perpetually dry, rocky slopes, their roots silently cling to the crevices of the rocks, accumulating vitality throughout the dry season before suddenly bursting into bloom. Not dazzlingly vibrant, the purple hue is just enough to make passersby realize that nature always knows how to soften even the harshest conditions.

I once asked a forest ranger why everyone always emphasized the importance of preserving the crape myrtle trees in the mountains. He smiled and replied, "Taking a single crape myrtle tree home is easy. Preserving an entire mountainside that turns purple is the real challenge." That statement stayed with me all the way home. Indeed, the value of the wild crape myrtle never lies in individual trees, but in the moment when the entire mountainside changes color. That's also why, in recent years, forest rangers and local authorities have intensified efforts to raise awareness and prevent the uprooting of these trees for ornamental purposes, preserving a unique landscape characteristic of the dry forest ecosystem in southern Khanh Hoa.

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Late in the afternoon, the car headed back towards the sea. The slopes of purple crape myrtle trees gradually disappeared behind the bends, blending into the green of the mountains. Southern Khanh Hoa will still be remembered by many for its blue sea, white sand dunes, and wind farms. But for me, that land also has a very unique season.

Each year, the flowering season lasts only a few short weeks. But that's enough to soften the barren slopes, enough to make passersby slow their pace, and enough to leave a lasting impression of purple in my memory. And so, whenever the first rains of the season return, I remember those mountain slopes and know that, in southern Khanh Hoa, the wild crape myrtle is blooming again.

XUAN NGUYEN

Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/van-hoa/nhung-goc-pho-nhung-con-duong/202607/mua-tim-tren-trien-da-faa65d2/