One night sleeping in Muong’s house on stilts, enjoying lunch with grilled fish, hill chicken, fresh bamboo shoots right next to a cool stream, only costs from 500,000 VND.
Ke hamlet belongs to Hien Luong commune, Da Bac district, a highland district of Hoa Binh province, located close to the lake of Da river. About 90 km from Hanoi, this destination is very suitable for weekends to escape the heat and recharge with nature.
Move
From the center of Hanoi to Hoa Binh, there are two directions or Hoa Lac direction, through the Vietnam Ethnic Culture and Tourism Village, turn to Hoa Lac – Hoa Binh highway or go to Ha Dong – Xuan Mai to Hoa Binh. .
From Hoa Binh city, there are also two ways to go to Ke hamlet. One is to travel by road along provincial road 433, to Da Bac town, turn left and go about 8 km along the winding road along the lake. Or go by waterway from Thung Nai port, after an hour floating on the lake, combined with the peaceful lake view with the “floating islands”, then dock ashore and continue walking for a few hundred meters on the grass. Green is to reach the center of the village.
Going by road for a total distance of about 90 km will take 2 – 2.5 hours to travel. If you save time, you can take a self-driving car or motorbike from Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon, to enjoy a night of sleeping on stilts without being too tired from moving a lot.
Stay
Ke hamlet has over 90 households, mainly Muong people, with almost original cultural features from eating and living habits. Currently, there are only a few households in the village doing community tourism, turning the family’s stilt house into a homestay to welcome guests. Some homestays are welcoming guests in Ke hamlet, such as Sac Luyen, Huu Thao, and Sanh Thuan, with room rates from only 100,000 VND/night.
Play
While the capital Hanoi is hot and uncomfortable until the night is still above 30 degrees Celsius, in Da Bac, the mountains and surrounding trees make the night temperature about 24-25 degrees Celsius, the highest daytime temperature is only 30-31 degrees C is very pleasant. Not only that, until the evening, the sky of Da Bac is fresh and quiet, you can watch the stars with the naked eye and listen to the insects chirping in the garden.
The next morning you will wake up to the sound of roosters crowing and the early smoke of people’s kitchens. After having breakfast, the homestay owner in Ke hamlet will introduce you to interesting experiences such as walking, cycling through the trails to explore the village, wading and bathing in cool streams, picnicking right on the green lawn. Da river lakeside, kayaking on the lake, raft swimming…
However, at present, the Da river lake in Ke hamlet is shallow, activities on the lake are difficult to perform, in return for the wide stretch of grass by the lake, suitable for those who love camping and picnicking. In addition, Ke hamlet stream is also a tourist attraction in the summer, a stream of clear water flows from the high mountains, weaves through the hamlet and pours into the lake of the Da River. Many young people or families from Hanoi come here on the weekend to relax with a steam bath and enjoy a barbecue meal at the campsite next to the stream. Adults can relax in the middle of the green forest, enjoy specialties, children can struggle by the clear stream, learn about natural plants and see the impossible in the city.
Eating
Xom Ke still has many products, especially fish, shrimp (Da river lake), chickens and ducks that can be easily farmed and caught and processed into specialties such as chicken, grilled fish, steamed fish, barb fish, etc. Braised bananas, pork, buffalo meat, bamboo shoots, nettles, coriander, bamboo shoots…
The homestay in the village is very dedicated to serving guests, whether you order rice on the spot or request to bring it to a shack by the stream, it will be met. Rice is usually presented in the style of the Muong people, not using dishes to hold each dish, but putting everything on the mat, lined with clean banana leaves. A meal will be full of fish, meat to boiled, fried, or pickled vegetables with lots of fresh herbs. The price for a meal per person is about 120,000 – 150,000 VND.
