Vietnam TravelTravel Special FeaturesPac Bo Cao Bang - Where time stands still

Pac Bo Cao Bang - Where time stands still

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We headed to Pac Bo, Cao Bang, a romantic mountain getaway, with the feeling that we were touching history while listening to the breath of the Pac Bo stream ...

Fair winter sun shined on swinging reed flowers along the road to Pac Bo, creating a fresh and gentle air to the impressive mountainous region. From Cao bang our motorbike slowly conquered 60km of mountain road, heading to Pac Bo, the place uncle Ho Chi Minh once secretly lived and worked as the nation’s top communist leader. He stayed here for nearly one month - which is not so long - but the stories of his struggle for independence in the forest "every morning by the spring - coming back to a stone cave at night" have been deeply embedded in the minds of the Vietnamese.

The historic Pac Bo cave in the middle of the forest is also the home of Tay ethnic village. The Tay people are abundant in Cao Bang Province, and they still hold fast to many of their traditional customs and activities. The village road was brown-yellow: the color of earth. Villagers mix this kind of earth with carefully chopped straw to build their houses. Under the honey-like sunlight, the whole village seemed familiar and welcoming. Children were playing on the road while feeding their buffalos, chickens and ducks. The ducks were unfolding their wings in the sun, polishing their feathers. The local breed of ducks here have shiny blue heads, yellow beaks and strong legs.

Michael, our Australian companion, saw a sign on which was written "We sell wild honey here", which led us to step in and inquire. The owner of the house was out, but his neighbor, an old Tay woman who spoke little Vietnamese, enthusiastically pulled us into her house to show us her family picture album. We sew photos of her family members standing with great generals like Nong Duc Manh and other high ranking leaders of the Communist party. Despite the language barrier, we guessed that her house used to be part of the revolutionary base.

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