In the midst of hot summer days, nearly 180 km from Hanoi, it only takes about 3-4 hours by car, you can get lost in a different world, with fresh air like Europe, you can have dinner in surrounded by dense clouds. That is Hang Kia – Pa Co.
Hang Kia – Pa Co valley (Mai Chau district, Hoa Binh province) is located between four rocky mountains, covered with clouds all year round. This place not only has a beautiful landscape like a fairyland but also contains many unique cultural features such as 3-room 2-leaf cottages, women weaving, sewing, brocade skirts…
Hunting clouds in Hang Kia – Pa Co. (Photo: Cung Phuc) Hang Kia – Pa Co valley is as beautiful as a fairyland. Hang Kia – Pa Co is located in the middle of Xa Linh and Luong Xa mountain ranges, with an average altitude of 800-900m above sea level, a cool year-round climate and surrounded by primeval forests with invaluable vegetation. equally rich. Drug hotspot turns into a beautiful cloud hunting spot Hang Kia, in Thai is “Bat Cave”, and Pa Co means “Goat Forest”, the residence of the Mong people in these two communes, which were formerly the villages of the Thai people. However, because it is not suitable for farming and living practices, the Thai people here have moved elsewhere. About 30km from Mai Chau town, Hang Kia – Pa Co are the two most difficult communes of Mai Chau district, once the capital of opium and a hot spot for drugs and social evils of Hoa Binh province. The cause of this situation is that the Mong here have a close relationship with the Mong people in Van Ho district (Son La) and the Mong people in Laos. Taking advantage of this, some subjects have carried out acts of illegally trading and transporting drugs. Since then, criminal lines have been formed and this place has become a transit point for drugs from Laos to Vietnam. Currently, Hang Kia – Pa Co has returned to its peaceful rhythm of life. Some households have begun to develop homestay tourism, attracting a large number of domestic and international tourists. From 2010 up to now, the local tourism activities began to have strong development steps. Since 1986, Hang Kia – Pa Co was planned as a special-use forest and in 1997 was converted into a nature reserve. The residents here are up to 90% of the Mong ethnic group, which still retains many unique cultural features. Khen dance – one of the unique cultural features of the Mong people in general and the Mong people in Hang Kia – Pa Co in particular. On festivals, the Mong ethnic group in Hang Kia – Pa Co organizes pounding day cakes to treat friends, this is also one of the unique culinary features here. 
The group took a souvenir photo at Hang Kia gate. (Photo: Huy Khoi) The most characteristic feature of Hang Kia – Pa Co for tourists is to go to “heaven’s gate” to “hunt clouds”. From above, visitors can watch white clouds floating around the mountains. We went to Hang Kia on a last day of April. The period from October last year to April next year is the ideal time to hunt clouds because these days with high humidity and cold will easily have the opportunity to meet more cloudy. The night before, we sat outside to eat and drink, surrounded by clouds making us feel like we were sitting in a refrigerator, a natural refrigerator. If you don’t wear a hat, it will only take a moment for the clouds to soak your hair. The later it got late, the colder it got, a few rains came, making our group all secretly happy that tomorrow morning will hunt clouds successfully. We woke up at 5am so we could reach the sky gate at 5:30am to hunt clouds. On the way, the gravel roads are messy, foggy, going 1-2m apart but “faint human image”. The more we waited, the less we could see the clouds descending, twisting together densely and floating around the mountain peaks. So cloud hunting failed. Kha A Dinh, the owner of A Dinh homestay, told us that if it rains heavily the night before, and the next morning is sunny, the hunt for clouds will succeed. “This season is the best season to hunt clouds, hopefully, you guys are lucky next time,” A Dinh said. Hang Kia and Pa Co market If the rattan hunt fails, you can visit Hang Kia and shop at Pa Co fair. In fact, very few people are allowed to enter Hang Kia because this place is not a tourist attraction, but is under the management of the Ministry of Defense. Fortunately, we were loved by the local people and personally took us to Hang Kia to tell us the name was taken to give this place name. What you should pay special attention to when entering Hang Kia is to stay away from the Ki tree, a wild plant that grows along the entrance to the cave, has very sharp thorny leaves that sting like a needle. Locals said that sometimes when I don’t look at it, it also stabs itself. We had to actively use our shoes to crush the Ki tree so it wouldn’t hit us. Entering the cave, we caught a few bats flying out of nowhere, then flew away again. That’s the Bat Cave. The cave is small and deep. Sometimes we had to crouch to keep our heads off. In the cave there are many stalactites, traces left by thousands of years of water droplets flowing on the top. Pa Co market takes place on Sunday mornings with products of the indigenous Hmong people. Banned pork is sold at the market gate. The red pork pieces like beef, white fat and thick, the price is about the same as pork in the city, but definitely much better. Dresses and shirts sewn and embroidered by the people themselves are also on sale, priced at 1 million/piece. The price is expensive because this is completely handmade. To sew a brocade dress/shirt, it takes a month of hard work for the sisters/mothers. There are Hmong women about 70-80 years old who bring ginseng roots, precious plants only in this area, and lovely Mong dogs… for sale. People often buy and bargain less because people here are still too poor, buying to support them is the main thing. 
Group of tourists taking pictures with Mong children in Mongolian village, Hang Kia. (Photo: Huy Khoi) With a cool year-round climate, and located on a famous tourist route connecting Mai Chau and Moc Chau, going to Hang Kia is often combined with tourists to visit neighboring areas. For example, if in the calendar year, you can run to Moc Chau to see plum or peach blossoms, take advantage of visiting Hang Kia to play. There is also a plum garden here for you to see, if you like. Located between Tan Lac and Mai Chau on National Highway 6, you can go through Thung Khe Pass or Da Trang Pass, you can see the clear sky in the morning, the afternoon sun is hot, the sky is blue, the afternoon is gentle with sunlight. Afternoon sun and night fog spread all over the road. Going down Mai Chau 30km, visitors can visit Lac village, Mai Chau, a famous and poetic attraction among high mountains and green rice fields. Currently, Lac and Mai Chau villages have developed community tourism with electric cars that take tourists to visit 8 villages, there are double bicycles for renters to cycle through fragrant ripe rice fields.
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