Travel Guide Nghia Lô

The village of Nghia Lô lies some 200 kilometers from Hanoi, in the Muong Lo valley. The route is winding, through valleys and hills planted with tea, lacquer and latan trees. These are replaced by orange trees on the final stretch. Muong Lo is a vast basin surrounded by mountains rising to an altitude of 1,500 meters. It covers an area of 3,000 hectares, making it the second largest rice-growing valley in northern Vietnam, after the famous Diên Biên Phu valley. In October 1951, Nghia Lô was the scene of a bloody battle in which the Viet Minh offensive was thwarted by the paratroops of General Salan, commander of the French Forces in Indochina. Remains of the French fortifications are still visible, and a stele honors the fallen Vietminh fighters.The valley is happy and prosperous. It is crossed by a river whose flow swells in the rainy season, washing away bridges... The villages are harmoniously scattered. Mainly Black Tay, they have retained their traditional character, with houses on stilts near a pond.