Small peaceful village by the Chu River

Ban Ma creates a highlight with the white words "Ban Ma Tourism" on the green grass by the Chu River.

New fairy tale by the river

Ma in Thai means horse. The name of Ma village probably came from that story - a land of horse breeding. The village elders in Ma village recounted that this land used to be a place for raising horses for the Lam Son insurgents. In the early stages, the Lam Son insurgents were still weak, Le Loi had to lead his army upstream to the Chu River, using the rugged terrain of the mountains and forests to recruit soldiers and horses. The villagers voluntarily donated horses and sent people to take turns cutting grass to feed the Lam Son insurgents' war horses.

Although the Ma village has been renamed Thanh Xuan residential area, the Thai people here still call it the Ma village with pride. For them, pride in their homeland is like a warm fire passed from generation to generation. In spring, the Chu River is like a girl in her late teens, full of life. Since the beginning of time, the river has embraced and cared for the village, providing water for people's lives and irrigating the lush green rice and corn fields.

In 2016, the suspension bridge across Chu River invested by the State broke the isolation of Ma village.

Ban Ma creates a highlight with the words "Ban Ma Tourism" in white on the green grass reflecting on the gentle Chu River. According to the Party cell secretary and head of Ma village, Vi Van Tien, before 2010, the people of Ma village quietly lived in isolation with no electricity, no roads, no schools, no stations. For many years, nearly 50 Thai Den households were closed in their own traditional cultural space. In 2016, the suspension bridge across the Chu River was built by the State, breaking the isolation of Ma village. From the "capital" of natural beauty and unique traditional cultural features, Thuong Xuan district mobilized the people of Ma village to promote their potential to build a community tourism village. Along with that, the traffic system in the village was solidly concreted to help people travel conveniently. Currently, Ma village has been covered by telephone and internet, 100% of families in the village use national grid electricity, clean water...

Keep the old ways to do tourism

Although tourism is developing, Ma village still retains many traditional cultural features, especially 30 ancient Thai houses. Many spacious and solid houses have been repaired and upgraded into homestays to serve guests. In these houses, people use short wood to arrange around to create a unique beauty.

Many spacious, solid houses have been repaired and upgraded into homestays serving guests staying in Ma village.

As one of the pioneers in tourism in Ma village, Mr. Vi Van Tien shared: "When I started doing tourism, through studying the community tourism model in many places, I found that in order to invest in long-term tourism development, we must respect the natural values, historical and cultural values ​​of the locality and build tourism products with nature as the highlight. Therefore, I renovated the stilt house into a homestay and built 2 more bungalows and palm-roofed huts for tourists to rest and enjoy the cuisine. At the same time, I planted many types of green trees and seasonal flowers around the house. Along with that, I organized many experiential services for tourists to participate in such as cooking, campfires, cultural exchanges, cycling, rafting on the river".

With the help of the government and the efforts of the people, Ma village has established an art troupe to perform Thai khap dances, bamboo pole dancing, and rattling of the beds. People also set up groups of households to grow vegetables, raise chickens and pigs, catch stream fish, and organize cooking for tourists when they come to visit and relax. These jobs bring a relatively good income to the people in the village.

The Thai ethnic group in general and the Thai ethnic group in Ma village in particular always believe that "all things have a spirit". Therefore, all important work of the village must be "permitted" by the gods. And for any ceremony, the people prepare and organize it very thoughtfully and carefully. For example, after harvesting rice, the villagers will organize a new rice meal, and of course tourists will also be invited to participate. In addition, many traditional rituals such as the harvest ceremony, the forest god worship ceremony, the soul making ceremony... are associated with the wild nature and peaceful life, which are also resources for tourism in Ma village.

Thai women prefer to wear traditional costumes every day to create a highlight to attract tourists when coming to Ma village.

Good wine needs no bush, more and more tourists know about the community tourism destination of Ban Ma.

Returning on the small path leading to the suspension bridge, flowers blooming and swaying in the wind, we clearly saw the eyes of the Thai boys and girls shining with faith and hope for good things tomorrow.

Article and photos: Tang Thuy

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/ban-nho-binh-yen-ben-dong-song-chu-243835.htm