Dances and wine on the plateau

Pom Coong Village in early morning

The winter cold is starting to ease so spring will soon be coming in the highland village of Pom Coong on Mai Chau Plateau in the northern province of Hoa Binh.

Early in the morning, when the mist is lifting, the Thai ethnic people of the village send their kids off to school and the women in colorful brocade dresses walk to the farm with wooden papooses on their backs. When the night falls, the stilt houses are warmed by the sounds of pan-pipes, drumming by the tribal boys, girls’ singing and laughter and stories around the fire.

The simple things link people together, making them love their village and make it more beautiful. Pom Coong has become a famous cultural and tourism village on the plateau.

A Thai woman and girl on their way to the paddy field - Photos: Mong Binh

The village has nearly 70 households with more than 300 people. Traditionally, at sunset, people sit in stilt houses, which are just a bean row apart, to talk together. Stilt houses of the Thai people are higher than other ethnic group houses. The bamboo floor is about two meters above the ground, held up by wooden pillars. The roofs are often made of leaves and windows are large for more air and for bird cages to hang.

In front of the stilt houses, Thai ladies  weave on looms to make brocade products to sell to tourists. The village is full of colorful products and colorful ladies.

Visitors to Pom Coong won’t forget the bamboo dances or Thai traditional dances by Thai boys and girls in the chill of the northern highlands. Enjoying specialties of Mai Chau Plateau and ruou can (wine drunk though a bamboo pipe from a jar) while joining in the dancing with Thai people by the fire, will be an experience that you will tell your friends about back home.

Have you made a plan for Tet holidays? If not, make a plan and pack a bag for Pom Coong.

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The home of Uncle Ho’s father

Life size models of carpenters in Hoa An ancient village at the new Nguyen Sinh Sac Tourist Area

To mark 81 years since the death of Nguyen Sinh Sac (1862-1929), the father of the late Vietnamese President, Ho chi Minh, the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap has inaugurated the Nguyen Sinh Sac Tourist Area in Cao Lanh City.

The area, which was expanded to 9.3 hectares from 3.6 hectares at a cost of VND5 billion, has Vietnamese culture and history displays and an ancient village.

When completed the replica village will comprise nine wooden houses built in traditional southern style. Displays will include palm leaf weaving, metal forge and carpentry, all jobs that Nguyen Sinh Sac did in Dong Thap.

The village will also feature canals, rows of coconut trees, vegetable farms, cornfield and sugarcane.

Dang Van Hoang, director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism in Dong Thap Province, said the village will open for tourists in mid-2011 adding that visitors would be able to participate in traditional farming and learn about southern culture.

In 1917, Nguyen Sinh Sac came to Hoa An Village to teach and give medical treatment to local residents. He joined the revolutionary activities till he died in 1929.

A canal along wooden houses in the tourist area - Photos: Uyen Vien

A corner of the Hoa An ancient village

Young men join a chicken fight

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The home of Uncle Ho’s father

Life size models of carpenters in Hoa An ancient village at the new Nguyen Sinh Sac Tourist Area

To mark 81 years since the death of Nguyen Sinh Sac (1862-1929), the father of the late Vietnamese President, Ho chi Minh, the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap has inaugurated the Nguyen Sinh Sac Tourist Area in Cao Lanh City.

The area, which was expanded to 9.3 hectares from 3.6 hectares at a cost of VND5 billion, has Vietnamese culture and history displays and an ancient village.

When completed the replica village will comprise nine wooden houses built in traditional southern style. Displays will include palm leaf weaving, metal forge and carpentry, all jobs that Nguyen Sinh Sac did in Dong Thap.

The village will also feature canals, rows of coconut trees, vegetable farms, cornfield and sugarcane.

Dang Van Hoang, director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism in Dong Thap Province, said the village will open for tourists in mid-2011 adding that visitors would be able to participate in traditional farming and learn about southern culture.

In 1917, Nguyen Sinh Sac came to Hoa An Village to teach and give medical treatment to local residents. He joined the revolutionary activities till he died in 1929.

A canal along wooden houses in the tourist area - Photos: Uyen Vien

A corner of the Hoa An ancient village

Young men join a chicken fight

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Rival for old ceramics village

A new craft village site, the Minh Hai ceramic village, which has been
built near the Bat Trang ceramic village, began welcoming tourists on
October, and offers more choice for tourists looking for a day out from
Hanoi.

Bat Trang village is a well-known half-day tour
from Hanoi, but the new site will offer travellers more choices in
exploring a large natural site with folk performances and a backdrop
modelled in the typical style of craft villages in the northern delta
region.

The 10-ha Vietnamese art village displays
different traditional handicraft trades, such as ceramics, silk,
woodwork and bamboo.

A lake stage has been set up at the
site to feature traditional Vietnamese folk performances such as “cheo”
(traditional opera), “chau van” (spiritual music), “quan ho” (love
duet), “ca tru” (ceremonial singing), and water puppetry twice a day
every Saturday and Sunday.

Visits cost from 150,000 VND (7.5 USD) to 300,000 VND (15 USD) for a day-time tour.

The cost includes pottery practices, cultural performances, lunch and fishing from the lake.

The site is a 20-minute bus journey from the city centre. The No 47 bus
leaves from Long Bien station to Bat Trang village every 15 minutes
from 5.30am to 8.20pm daily.

The bus route winds the 12km
river dyke from Chuong Duong bridge to the east and runs across the site
gate, which is 300m from Bat Trang.

Visitors can explore both the site and Bat Trang village over a few hours.

Hanoian Nghiem Huyen Trang and her friends visited the site as soon as it opened last month.

The 19-year-old student, who grew up in the Old Quarter, said she
enjoyed the peace and quiet of the place, just 20-minutes from the
crowded city centre.

Nguyen Minh Hai, the owner of the
Minh Hai craft village, designed the gate of the site in the shape of a
pottery-kiln, while pavilions and stilt houses surround a big lake.

The passageway imitates a stream with dotted stepping-bricks in the middle.

Hai, 40, who has 20 years of experience in the tourism and pottery
industries, wanted the site to offer a new look at traditional ceramic
villages.

"Bat Trang village has been long-known as a
pottery centre, but it's not easy to promote it as a charming
destination due to its polluted environment. Although villagers have
introduced gas furnaces to replace coal-fired kilns," said Hai.

"I launched the cart-buffalo service 10 years ago, but I want to lure tourists with a new tourist product," he added.

The site has different galleries showcasing silks from Van Phuc Village
in Ha Dong town; brocade weaving from Sa Pa ; wooden furniture,
rattan and bamboo products, terracotta from Bau Truc in Ninh Thuan
central province and precious stone from Yen Bai northern province .

"It's like a miniature centre for Vietnamese craft villages. I even
made myself a flower pot with the help of a craftsman in the ceramic
workshop," said Tran Thanh Van.

Van, 28, a shop assistant from Hanoi , said she was glad to make the clay pot within half an hour.

Craftsman Nguyen Van Doanh, 36, instructs visitors in practising with porcelain clay.

"I teach them how to form thing with hands and a slab-roller. It lets them do a bit of handicraft," Doanh said.

"Tourists can take home unfinished things that they make themselves. We
want to let visitors have a bit of fun for a few hours."

The tour closes with cultural performances./.

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Timeless M’lieng Village

The village children bathe in the stream

M’lieng village beside Lak Lake in Daklak Province is still the same as it was a hundred years. The old houses and paths make it one of the rare villages that preserves the highland’s tangible and intangible cultural values.

To get to the village from Buon Ma Thuot City travel to Lien Son Town and then head to Daklak’s famous Lak Lake. Tourists can hire a motorboat or a wooden boat to cross the lake to the village. The peaceful village is surrounded by hills, mountains and primeval forests.

The M’nong ethnic minority live in traditional long houses built of wood and thatch cut from the forest. Each house is 30 meters long and includes five areas according to the M’nong family matriarchal system. It takes several years to collect all the timber from the forest for one house, and they hold ceremonies when they chop down big trees.

Long houses in M’lieng Village in Daklak Province - Photos: Lam Van Son

Each family has rice fields, cornfields and vegetable farms with herds of cattle. Some rich families also have elephants to carry wood and goods for sale.

Many villagers still keep old jars and drums made of elephant or buffalo leather. The village has their own ethnic music and dance traditions that they perform at festivals.

Most of them do traditional craft - making brocade, gongs and jars and weaving bamboo products and fishing nets and traps.

Staying overnight by the flickering firelight while enjoying local dishes and listening to old men tell folk stories is an amazing experience.

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Timeless M’lieng Village

The village children bathe in the stream

M’lieng village beside Lak Lake in Daklak Province is still the same as it was a hundred years. The old houses and paths make it one of the rare villages that preserves the highland’s tangible and intangible cultural values.

To get to the village from Buon Ma Thuot City travel to Lien Son Town and then head to Daklak’s famous Lak Lake. Tourists can hire a motorboat or a wooden boat to cross the lake to the village. The peaceful village is surrounded by hills, mountains and primeval forests.

The M’nong ethnic minority live in traditional long houses built of wood and thatch cut from the forest. Each house is 30 meters long and includes five areas according to the M’nong family matriarchal system. It takes several years to collect all the timber from the forest for one house, and they hold ceremonies when they chop down big trees.

Long houses in M’lieng Village in Daklak Province - Photos: Lam Van Son

Each family has rice fields, cornfields and vegetable farms with herds of cattle. Some rich families also have elephants to carry wood and goods for sale.

Many villagers still keep old jars and drums made of elephant or buffalo leather. The village has their own ethnic music and dance traditions that they perform at festivals.

Most of them do traditional craft - making brocade, gongs and jars and weaving bamboo products and fishing nets and traps.

Staying overnight by the flickering firelight while enjoying local dishes and listening to old men tell folk stories is an amazing experience.

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Timeless M’lieng Village

The village children bathe in the stream

M’lieng village beside Lak Lake in Daklak Province is still the same as it was a hundred years. The old houses and paths make it one of the rare villages that preserves the highland’s tangible and intangible cultural values.

To get to the village from Buon Ma Thuot City travel to Lien Son Town and then head to Daklak’s famous Lak Lake. Tourists can hire a motorboat or a wooden boat to cross the lake to the village. The peaceful village is surrounded by hills, mountains and primeval forests.

The M’nong ethnic minority live in traditional long houses built of wood and thatch cut from the forest. Each house is 30 meters long and includes five areas according to the M’nong family matriarchal system. It takes several years to collect all the timber from the forest for one house, and they hold ceremonies when they chop down big trees.

Long houses in M’lieng Village in Daklak Province - Photos: Lam Van Son

Each family has rice fields, cornfields and vegetable farms with herds of cattle. Some rich families also have elephants to carry wood and goods for sale.

Many villagers still keep old jars and drums made of elephant or buffalo leather. The village has their own ethnic music and dance traditions that they perform at festivals.

Most of them do traditional craft - making brocade, gongs and jars and weaving bamboo products and fishing nets and traps.

Staying overnight by the flickering firelight while enjoying local dishes and listening to old men tell folk stories is an amazing experience.

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Timeless M’lieng Village

The village children bathe in the stream

M’lieng village beside Lak Lake in Daklak Province is still the same as it was a hundred years. The old houses and paths make it one of the rare villages that preserves the highland’s tangible and intangible cultural values.

To get to the village from Buon Ma Thuot City travel to Lien Son Town and then head to Daklak’s famous Lak Lake. Tourists can hire a motorboat or a wooden boat to cross the lake to the village. The peaceful village is surrounded by hills, mountains and primeval forests.

The M’nong ethnic minority live in traditional long houses built of wood and thatch cut from the forest. Each house is 30 meters long and includes five areas according to the M’nong family matriarchal system. It takes several years to collect all the timber from the forest for one house, and they hold ceremonies when they chop down big trees.

Long houses in M’lieng Village in Daklak Province - Photos: Lam Van Son

Each family has rice fields, cornfields and vegetable farms with herds of cattle. Some rich families also have elephants to carry wood and goods for sale.

Many villagers still keep old jars and drums made of elephant or buffalo leather. The village has their own ethnic music and dance traditions that they perform at festivals.

Most of them do traditional craft - making brocade, gongs and jars and weaving bamboo products and fishing nets and traps.

Staying overnight by the flickering firelight while enjoying local dishes and listening to old men tell folk stories is an amazing experience.

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Duong Lam Ancient Village

A tractor crosses the temple square where farmers have stacked their rice straw

Duong Lam Ancient Village is only 50 kilometers from Hanoi. From the city take Duong Lang- Hoa Lac highway past the Hoa Lac – Son Tay crossroad heading to Bat Bat and turn left to Duong Lam Ancient Village. It is typical of an old rice farming village in northern Vietnam with 200 year old houses made from laterite. The village still relies mainly on rice cultivation.

The owner of this house, Ms Hong, renovated it using traditional materials such as laterit - Photos: Thai Hang

About 50 meters from the main road, the Mong Phu ancient gate, under shadow of 300 year-old tree, welcomes tourists to Duong Lam. The dirt road leads to the village, passing a lotus lake. Some houses on the edge of the village used to be built with laterite that was quarried at the site or brought from neighboring Thach That Commune; but they have been repaired or rebuilt with modern building materials.

Also rebuilt only thee years ago, the house of Ms. Hong caught our eye from a distance thanks to its new renovations. The red-brown dirt house is built from laterite and wood that cost the owner about US$100,000. Hong said she was willing to pay that money as the old house was passed down through the generations to her and it was badly damaged was got it. She wanted to restore it to to its original condition.

One of the old lanes in Duong Lam village

Hong told stories while she gave tourists traditional candy made from peanuts and served tea made from the flowers and leaves of Voi, a tree only found in the north.

We then continued up the dirt road to an old temple in the center of the village, where villagers gather on special occasions. In front of the temple was a small square that was covered with of stacks of harvested rice stalks. It was noon and we sat at a street side stall run by an old woman who told us some of the village history and about some of the national heroes who came from Duong Lam such as Ngo Quyen and Phung Hung. The deeper into the quiet village we walked, the lanes got narrower and the houses seemed to be older.

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New ideas in traditional craft village tourism

Traditional craft village development potential, solutions to developing
tours to craft villages and bringing into play cultural heritage values
of handicraft villages were presented at an international seminar in
Hanoi on Oct. 4.

At the seminar, Head of the
National Administration of Tourism (NAT) Travel Department Vu The Binh
said that each heritage and traditional craft village contained
attractive and new interests for tourists.

Tourists can understand Vietnam ’s culture, beliefs and history through tours to heritages and villages, he said.

Many traditional crafts have been restored thanks to the development of traditional craft villages for tourism.

Representatives of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
in Vietnam said that JICA would assist the development of
sustainable self-reliant communities through heritage tourism.

The project which will be carried out for four years until 2014 is
intended to improve the living conditions of people in Duong Lam ancient
village in Hanoi , Phuoc Tich ancient village in the central province
of Thua Thien-Hue and Dong Hoa Hiep in the Mekong delta province of
Tien Giang .

The seminar was jointly held by
NAT and the Hanoi People’s Committee on the occasion of the Thang
Long-Hanoi International Tourism Festival, to mark the capital city’s
millennium./.

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Village works hard to remain in the past

Seven years after Duong Lam Village was recognized as a national heritage site, its authorities say they have not slackened efforts to preserve its centuries-old houses and relics.

Pham Hung Son, head of Duong Lam Ancient Village Preservation Committee, said they are considering a plan to build a 10- hectare relocation center for part of the village’s nearly 10,000 residents.

“We want to protect the space and the communal feeling of this ancient village,” Son said on the sidelines of a conference in Son Tay Town discussing ways to promote Duong Lam’s tourism potential.

Located about 50km west of Hanoi, Duong Lam is considered one of the oldest villages in Vietnam with a history that is said to date back more 1,200 years.

Most of the village’s traditional features have survived the ravages of war-time, and many of its shrines, communal halls, streets and trees give the place an authenticity that is probably unmatched elsewhere.

So far, ten of the ancient houses have received national recognition and nearly 1,000 traditional houses await more preservation efforts.

However, recent visitors have found traditional houses being replaced by the typical three-to-four storey matchbox houses found throughout the country, especially in urban and semi-urban areas.

Shimada Toshio, head of Architectural History at the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties in Japan, said it’s important that the village continues preserving its space and communal feelings rather than focusing on protecting each house.

Since 2003, Toshio and other Japanese experts and volunteers have been visiting the village and advising local residents and authorities about preserving the village’s unique characterisitics.

In 2006, they put together a report titled “Hamlet survey report, Duong Lam Village” which presented part of the results of cooperative efforts by the Vietnamese and Japanese governments to conserve cultural heritages in Vietnam.

Toshio said it was important to maintain traditional architectural features. Residents should also be discouraged from over-using modern construction materials while renovating their homes, he said.

Tomoda Hiromichi, another expert in heritage management from Showa University, said efforts should also be put into reviving the intangible cultural values of the village, which include maintaining the traditional festivals, folk games, traditional clothes and dishes.

Many long-term residents have taken to the conservation efforts with enthusiasm. Ten generations of 54-year-old Ha Nguyen Huyen’s family have resided in the village.

Huyen used to earn a living by selling peanut sauce. Now, the family frequently hosts groups of visitors who bring in additional income that helps the family repair and maintain their traditional house.

“We know we have a mission to protect these houses and we will not make the same mistake of losing these treasures like many other parts of the country,” he said.

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Portable village brings a touch of Dutch Culture

The wooden clog maker at Holland Village displays his craft - Photo: The organizers

To see windmills and tulips, you won’t have to get on a plane to travel to Holland next month as a piece of the Netherlands is coming here.  

 “Holland Village”, a collection of traditional crafts, food, and traditions, will come to Ho Chi Minh City for the first time and be open to visitors at 23/9 Park from October 22-31 to give visitors an insight into Dutch lifestyle and customs.

The village that has traveled all over the world has 12 traditional Dutch houses with traditional gables and a life-size windmill which is 10 meters high.

It will have typical old Dutch attractions, including a fish stand, a cheese stand, and street organ. Try the Dutch herrings, a favorite type of raw pickled fish in Holland, plus the stroopwafels (Dutch syrup waffle cookies) and cheese.

Also see for yourself how Dutch craftsmen make wooden clogs, do glass blowing and discover Dutch floricultural products made by professional artists who are difficult to meet even in the Netherlands.

Eat a plate of freshly baked Poffertjes, a type of Dutch pastry made from the original recipe dating back to 1795. Cooked by a member of Lubica van Wijk family who has been operating a Poffertjes cart for more than 25 years, the pastries are as authentic as they get. The original recipe has been passed down for generations in her family and is a closely guarded family secret.

At the Village, artist Frans Limpens will give demonstrations of glass blowing. “You name it and I will produce it. The lungs of a man for a surgeon, music instruments for musicians, mascots for football-fans and animals as collector’s items,” the artist says in a statement.

“All of these objects are made with a glass-torch and special equipment made out of glass tubes with different diameter and glass bars. By blowing and handling the melted glass all kind of objects can be created,” adds Limpens.

A stroll alongside traditionally costumed Dutch characters; daily shows on the open-air stage; floral workshops and accordionists playing Dutch music will all liven up the 10-day festival. At 3:30pm, 5:30pm and 7:30pm every afternoon, Dutch traditional costume shows will take place, followed by sponsors’ interactive programs with visitors, such as an ironing competition. Competitions, including milking, will be held for children to have more knowledge of the Netherlands.

The admission to the Village is free and about 300,000 visitors are expected.

Holland Village was built in 1980 to promote Dutch agricultural products in Germany. It was deployed about four times per year in the major cities of Germany. Since 1989 it has been deployed all over the world, starting in Japan (Osaka) and later in Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Canada, France, Austria, USA and a number of other countries.

Holland Village is being brought to Vietnam by the Consulate General of the Netherlands in HCMC with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality in the Netherlands to promote trade and Dutch brands.

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