"Flood center" becomes tourist village thanks to a private company
About 12 km from the center of Quy Dat town, Minh Hoa district, Quang Binh province, Tan Hoa commune is nestled among limestone mountains.
In late October, Giao thong Newspaper reporters returned to Tan Hoa. The entrance to the village was still a single, clean concrete road, winding along the foot of the mountain; on both sides of the road were wooden houses or floating houses to avoid floods, decorated in bright colors.
But this time, we felt that the people of Tan Hoa were happier and more proud when their village was honored as the best tourist village in the world.
With support from Oxalis, many flood-proof floating houses have been converted into homestays for tourists to stay.
Talking to reporters, Mr. Dinh Minh Hien, Secretary of the Party Committee of Tan Hoa commune, Minh Hoa district, Quang Binh province, excitedly said: After many efforts of the local government, people and Chua Me Dat Company Limited (Oxalis), now people and tourists know Tan Hoa as the best tourist village in the world, not the "flood center" of Quang Binh province like before.
Mr. Hien shared that for generations, Tan Hoa people have lived together at the foot of the valley, facing natural disasters as a matter of course. Floods and poverty have followed their descendants for generations, making Tan Hoa one of the most difficult localities in Quang Binh province.
Following the direction of the Commune Secretary, we turned our eyes to the Rao Nan River, winding around the commune, beautiful and poetic. According to Mr. Hien, during the flood season, the water from the upstream areas flows down, red and boiling, making the river become unusually fierce.
When the rain poured over, Tan Hoa people had to suffer from the flood.
Floating houses are rented for 400,000 VND/day and night. This is a significant source of income for local people.
Floating houses change people's lives
Mr. Thai Xuan Luc - the pioneer householder who built the first floating house in the commune said that after the historic flood in 2010, he happened to go to floating restaurants and saw them making floating houses floating on the water using plastic barrels. He went home, imitated the practice and it really worked in the following flood seasons.
Since then, Tan Hoa people have been living comfortably on floating houses, building floating houses as the water rises. When the rainy season comes, they stock up on food and clean water on floating houses enough for about 7-10 days without having to rely on outside support.
With floating houses, Tan Hoa residents no longer have to run up the mountains to avoid floods.
Walking on the village roads in Tan Hoa, the reporter noted that this countryside has completely changed. From a village facing poverty, floods all year round, struggling to make a living under limestone mountains, Tan Hoa began to participate in Oxalis' tourism activities.
Farmers who spend all year round farming corn, raising cows or logging have now participated in training courses to become chefs, safety supervisor assistants and porters serving tourists on Tu Lan discovery tours.
After school, children happily return home along the green village roads. They wave to visitors as naturally as if the presence of strangers has become a familiar thing here.
Tourists join a cave trekking tour organized by Oxalix.
In that peaceful setting, in addition to domestic tourist groups, it is also easy to meet European guests.
Sharing with reporters, Mr. Robert said that he learned about Tan Hoa from friends, and heard them talk a lot about this place, so he and his wife wanted to come and experience it.
"It's really fun to cycle around the green roads between corn hills, rice fields and see the pretty little wooden houses. Waking up in the morning, opening the window to listen to the birds singing, watching the mountains in the distance is an experience we will never forget..." Mr. Robert happily shared.
Guests sleep on floating houses and eat local food.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy (Oxalis Company) said that from the initiative of building flood-proof floating houses, people have gradually adapted to the weather conditions and started participating in Oxalis' tourism activities.
In 2011, Oxalis began operating adventure tours to explore the Tu Lan cave system.
Over the past 10 years, tourism activities have directly created regular jobs for more than 120 Tan Hoa residents, with an average income of 8 million VND/person/month. Tourism activities have also indirectly created jobs and income for more than 100 local workers through homestay activities, eating at local people's homes, providing food and other activities.
The meal is cooked by locals to serve tourists.
Previously, with tours to explore the Tu Lan cave system, Oxalis often took guests through Tan Hoa without having the opportunity to stay. In recent years, Oxalis has tried to accommodate guests on floating houses that have been converted into homestays.
Visiting the floating house of Mr. Truong Manh Hung's family, one of the first 10 households in Tan Hoa to provide homestay services at home, he shared: At first, my family, like many other households in Tan Hoa, built a floating house to prepare for floods. Later, with the support of Oxalis Company, I started to redecorate the landscape and garden. The floating house was also rearranged to serve the short-term accommodation needs of tourists.
"During the rainy season, there are fewer visitors to Tan Hoa. The price for a room for 2 guests usually ranges from 920,000 VND to 1.5 million VND per room...", Mr. Hung informed.
With support from Oxalis, many locals here become "professional chefs" by providing dinner for guests with local specialties.
Adventure tour to explore the forest in Tan Hoa.
According to Ms. Thuy, the home-cooked dinner service was opened by Oxalis at the end of 2022, and to date, 7 homes have participated. Thanks to that, guests have more experiences and Tan Hoa people also have more income.
Oxalis Adventure Tours is an adventure travel and cave exploration company founded in 2011, headquartered in Phong Nha village, Quang Binh.
Protecting the environment as best as possible and developing the community are the criteria that make Oxalis different from other travel companies. 95% of the labor used at Oxalis Adventure are indigenous people in the Phong Nha area or Tan Hoa commune.
Mr. Truong Son Bai, 72 years old, in Yen Tho village 2, Tan Hoa commune, used to be the Party Secretary of Tan Hoa commune. Now retired, he and his wife help their children cook to serve tourists.
Mr. Bai said, since retiring, with a lot of free time, my wife and family members and I have participated in cooking classes sponsored by Oxalis. Every day, we collect food and drinks with rich local flavors such as: rice, snails, and fish sauce and cook them for guests to enjoy.
While the guests eat, we will introduce the dishes and how to make that specialty. If the guests want to listen to stories, I will tell them about memories of the old days, or the time when we escaped from the flood.
"Cooking for tourists is not too hard, and it also brings the family a stable income of 5-6 million VND/month. When I get to meet and talk with tourists, especially foreigners who come to my house for a meal, I am very happy," Mr. Bai shared.
People in Tan Hoa flood center participate in tourism activities that have been developing in recent years.
The Best Tourism Villages Award is a UNWTO initiative to promote tourism as a pillar of rural development. Villages selected for the award must demonstrate outstanding natural and cultural resources; and demonstrate innovative actions and a commitment to tourism development in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Participating in the 2023 award are 260 tourist villages from 60 countries around the world, of which Vietnam has 4 tourist villages. After a long journey of leaving a strong impression with unique and outstanding features, Tan Hoa is the only village in Vietnam to be listed in the World's Best Tourist Villages in 2023.
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