Wild Sunflower Season in Vietnam’s Dien Bien

Reading the headline, one may wonder: “Wild sunflower in Vietnam? That’s insane!”, but we can guarantee it’s not. The bright yellow species in grown not only in the central highland city of Dalat, but also in Dien Bien province in Vietnam’s most northwestern mountainous region.

But there’s a catch. Wild sunflower’s season doesn’t start until October, which is the beginning of winter. As the weather’s getting chillier, the sky is bluer and the wild sunflowers start to bloom in the sun. It looks like something straight out of Van Gogh’s paintings. Evidently, sunflowers thrive in November before starting to decay in the last month of the year.

Wild sunflower can reach a height of two to three meters, which is ideally for hedge. The leaves are dark green and take similar shape to daisies. Since wild sunflower belongs in the Asteraceae family, its petals are narrow and long, and surround each other quite intimately. At first glance, it does look like golden daisy or a slightly abbreviated kind of sunflower.

In Dien Bien, most wild sunflowers grow naturally until recently when they’ve been cultivated specifically for hedgerow. In every part of the province can we see yellow patches surrounding hills and mountain bases, from Pha Din pass to Tuan Giao, Muong Ang or Na Tau… These golden patches feel like reflection of sunlight in every direction, pushing the chillness away while also taking away all of our breaths.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic is getting under control, we can plan a journey by spending miles to redeem award tickets or use Cash&Miles to buy tickets online at Vietnam Airlines website.

For Economy Class award tickets, from Hanoi to Dien Bien it costs 7,000 miles one way, similar to the flight from Hue/Vinh/Da Nang to Hanoi, while from Dalat, Nha Trang or Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi it stands at 11,000 miles.

A 500-km stretch lies between Hanoi and Dien Bien, running through high and treacherous mountain passes, which is definitely not for amateurs. But we can directly fly there on Vasco’s ATR-72 plane. The flight takes just one hour, which can benefit us a lot.

Special Offer From Hanoi to Dien Bien

	Vietnam Airlines offers airfares between Hanoi and Dien Bien from only VND 75,000 (excluding taxes and fees).
	For groups of 2 or more people: a 25-percent discount applies to customers who buy Classic Economy, Lite Economy and Super Lite Economy tickets. The price starts from VND 75,000 only, or equivalent to VND 652,000 including taxes and fees.
	In addition, Vietnam Airlines offers the entire journey from Da Nang – Hanoi to Dien Bien from only VND 298,000, or VND 1,348,000 (with taxes and fees inclusive), and the Ho Chi Minh City – Hanoi – Dien Bien journey from only VND 598,000, equivalent to VND 1,678,000 (including taxes and fees).
	Ticket purchase period: From now to December 30, 2021.
	Departure period: From now to March 27, 2022 (except for the Tet peak period).