Ha Giang was jammed, many customers gave up and left

According to a quick report on the morning of February 20 (the 4th day of Tet) of Dong Van Karst Plateau Global Geopark, the number of visitors to tourist destinations in the area increased dramatically from February 19 (the 3rd day of Tet), the room system was 100% closed and information counters had to work at full capacity to serve guests.

Many roads in the area have continuous congestion, especially at famous tourist destinations such as Tham Ma slope, Nho Que river or Ma Pi Leng pass.

At the Tham Ma slope area, many tourists “turned back” to the city because they could not continue. Mr. Ngo Xuan Hieu, owner of Tham Ma slope coffee shop, said the number of customers on the 4th day of Tet was about 5,000 people, 10 times more than usual. Tourists stopped to take photos on the slope, causing traffic jams. When he returned to the Ha Giang ward area on the afternoon of February 20, it took him about an hour to get off Tham Ma slope because “the line of cars extended, inching little by little”.

The Nho Que river wharf area is also overloaded, with customers waiting for more than 40 minutes and still not getting their turn to board the boat. Thuy Duong, a Hanoi customer, gave up at 12:30 when her ticket number was 246, with hundreds of customers ahead of her.

At around 2:30 p.m., many people also gave up like Duong. If they continue, the guest accepts an incomplete experience because it is dark. After selling his waiting number, Duong moved to Meo Vac, but was stuck for more than 30 minutes at Pa Vi village.

Other tourist attractions such as Pao’s House were also in a state of prolonged traffic jams. Mr. Hoang Tuan, a tourist from Hai Phong, said that his experience traveling to Ha Giang these days is “just tiring” because it is too crowded. He planned to go to Meo Vac to sleep tonight but realized the situation was not positive and was urgently looking for a room in Dong Van.

On Ha Giang travel groups, many people, like Mr. Tuan, cannot travel to their intended destination because of traffic jams, so they are forced to resell their rooms and find new ones. However, the ability to find a room in places like Dong Van, Meo Vac or Lo Lo Chai close to the hour is almost hopeless.

By the evening of February 20, many drivers transporting passengers in sharing groups had not yet found a place to sleep in Dong Van because the homestays were overloaded and the travel agencies had not made arrangements in time. Posts looking for rooms and requests for shared accommodation appeared densely from late afternoon on travel groups. Many tourists without a place to stay are expected to sleep in cars or pitch tents.

Hoang An, representative of Ha Giang Wind Tourism Company, said he continuously received urgent booking requests until the afternoon of February 20. However, Ha Giang currently has almost no vacant rooms even though many people are willing to pay high prices.

Traffic jams in Ha Giang have continuously occurred during holidays in the past 2-3 years. Most visitors come to Ha Giang by personal car, rent motorbikes at the center and then disperse to main tourist destinations including Dong Van, Lung Cu, Meo Vac.

Mr. An predicts that visitors to Ha Giang will peak on February 21 (the 5th day of Tet) and gradually decrease after February 22 (the 6th day of Tet).