Sung La village, located on Dong Van plateau in the northern mountainousprovince of Ha Giang, became a popular tourist destination after it wasfeatured in the 2006 film Chuyen Cua Pao (Pao's Story).
ChuyenCua Pao, which won a Golden Kite award in 2005 and was presented at theCannes Film Festival in France in 2007, depicts the life of a Mong girlnamed Pao. Viewers found the scenery as powerful as the narrative.
"WhenI came to the village, I found it even more beautiful than in the film.I remembered seeing Pao walking around cabbage flowers or weavingbeside the loom," said tourist Le Viet Ha. "I was glad to visit Pao'shouse, a typical house of Mong people which is really alluring. I wasimpressed by the scenes of her brother taking the goat flock homethrough the wooden gate and the ancient stone ledge."
Sung La ison national road 4C, which leads to the northernmost point of Vietnamon the border with China. The road connects two of the most famoustourist spots in Ha Giang province: Dong Van town and the house of VuongChinh Duc, a king of the ethnic minority people in Ha Giang. Thebeautiful village is home to the Mong people, one of the most populousminority groups in the country.
Here, tourists can see endlessfields of corn like in other ethnic minority villages. However, the hugerose fields make it different from other regions. When harvested, thoseroses are taken to big cities like Hanoi. Visitors often call thevillage the "rose of the plateau".
The black and stone houses oflocal inhabitants in the valley perch on mountain slopes that arecovered by fog all year. The sun struggles to shine through the wholevalley, creating a dreamlike scene.
The colourful costumes of Mong women going to market with horses and melodious sounds of the pan-pipe also seduce tourists.
Sincethe success of the film, Sung La began to develop community-basedtourism, with some families offering homestay services to tourists.
"We will try not to let tourism change the lifestyle of local inhabitants," said Nguyen Cong Van, the village's chairman.
Sand dune
Anotherparadise recently revealed to movie lovers is Nam Cuong sand dune insouthern Ninh Thuan province, which was featured in the TV series DauChan Du Muc (Nomadic People Footprints).
Directed by Dinh ThaiThuy and recently broadcast on Vietnam Television, the 40-episode serieswas the first to feature the beauty of this region, exploring the dailylife of those hired to tend cows, sheep and goats.
The 700-hasand dune is often compared to a gold silk carpet under the glisteningsun. It is surrounded by mountains, sea, rice fields, villages andpastures where cows graze tranquilly.
On the way to the sanddunes, travellers can see cacti with red and yellow flowers that aretough enough to survive the sterile land.
A shrimp farmingvillage nearby helps tourists learn about the daily life of the localvillagers. Sometimes travellers can meet Cham girls in traditionalcostumes with water jars on their heads and herdsmen walking with theiranimals. One can also see the colours of the sand change as the sunsets.
"Ninh Thuan is the driest region of Vietnam so we facedseveral difficulties filming in this region. We are very happy about thebeautiful images that the film offers viewers," said producer NguyenQuang Tuyen.-VNA
ChuyenCua Pao, which won a Golden Kite award in 2005 and was presented at theCannes Film Festival in France in 2007, depicts the life of a Mong girlnamed Pao. Viewers found the scenery as powerful as the narrative.
"WhenI came to the village, I found it even more beautiful than in the film.I remembered seeing Pao walking around cabbage flowers or weavingbeside the loom," said tourist Le Viet Ha. "I was glad to visit Pao'shouse, a typical house of Mong people which is really alluring. I wasimpressed by the scenes of her brother taking the goat flock homethrough the wooden gate and the ancient stone ledge."
Sung La ison national road 4C, which leads to the northernmost point of Vietnamon the border with China. The road connects two of the most famoustourist spots in Ha Giang province: Dong Van town and the house of VuongChinh Duc, a king of the ethnic minority people in Ha Giang. Thebeautiful village is home to the Mong people, one of the most populousminority groups in the country.
Here, tourists can see endlessfields of corn like in other ethnic minority villages. However, the hugerose fields make it different from other regions. When harvested, thoseroses are taken to big cities like Hanoi. Visitors often call thevillage the "rose of the plateau".
The black and stone houses oflocal inhabitants in the valley perch on mountain slopes that arecovered by fog all year. The sun struggles to shine through the wholevalley, creating a dreamlike scene.
The colourful costumes of Mong women going to market with horses and melodious sounds of the pan-pipe also seduce tourists.
Sincethe success of the film, Sung La began to develop community-basedtourism, with some families offering homestay services to tourists.
"We will try not to let tourism change the lifestyle of local inhabitants," said Nguyen Cong Van, the village's chairman.
Sand dune
Anotherparadise recently revealed to movie lovers is Nam Cuong sand dune insouthern Ninh Thuan province, which was featured in the TV series DauChan Du Muc (Nomadic People Footprints).
Directed by Dinh ThaiThuy and recently broadcast on Vietnam Television, the 40-episode serieswas the first to feature the beauty of this region, exploring the dailylife of those hired to tend cows, sheep and goats.
The 700-hasand dune is often compared to a gold silk carpet under the glisteningsun. It is surrounded by mountains, sea, rice fields, villages andpastures where cows graze tranquilly.
On the way to the sanddunes, travellers can see cacti with red and yellow flowers that aretough enough to survive the sterile land.
A shrimp farmingvillage nearby helps tourists learn about the daily life of the localvillagers. Sometimes travellers can meet Cham girls in traditionalcostumes with water jars on their heads and herdsmen walking with theiranimals. One can also see the colours of the sand change as the sunsets.
"Ninh Thuan is the driest region of Vietnam so we facedseveral difficulties filming in this region. We are very happy about thebeautiful images that the film offers viewers," said producer NguyenQuang Tuyen.-VNA
