Hanoi: Crowds of people camping and boating at Dong Do Lake

During the April 30 - May 1 holiday, instead of going far away, many people choose to camp and have fun in the suburbs of Hanoi , especially Dong Do Lake area (Soc Son).

According to the reporter's records, during the April 30 - May 1 holiday, Dong Do Lake area was packed with people playing, camping, and boating. Dong Do Lake is located in Minh Tri commune (Soc Son district, Hanoi ) - about 45km north of the city center. The lake is about 45 hectares wide and more than 2km long. With a large area and a landscape surrounded by pine forests, this place is chosen by many people to come with friends and family to play and entertain. Traveling from Gia Lam district to here, Mr. Nguyen Minh Tien (27 years old) and a group of friends decided to rent 2 tents in Dong Do Lake area to have fun during the day. Mr. Tien said that 3 years ago he came here to camp, but the current scene of Dong Do Lake surprised him. "On this holiday, I invited my friends to come here to have fun for a quiet, deserted place, I didn't think that there would be so many people coming to play now" - Tien said. Unlike Mr. Tien's group of friends, Ms. Pham Khanh Huyen (25 years old, Soc Son, Hanoi) and her family decided to "turn around" after seeing the place packed with people. Ms. Huyen said that it only took about 20 minutes to get from home to here, but it took that much time to find a parking space and a place to rent a tent. After a while of searching and receiving notices that there were no more spaces, in addition, because this place was too crowded and the music was loud, the whole family decided to move to another location. "Previously, this place was considered a miniature Da Lat in Hanoi. But now more and more people come here, bringing with it many types of services, so it is no longer as peaceful as before" - Ms. Khanh Huyen said that the whole family then decided to camp at Cau Ca Lake - about 8km from Dong Do Lake.

Dong Do Lake is crowded with people coming to have fun and camp. Photo: Khanh An

SUP services are booming here. Photo: Khanh An

Many people come here with friends and family to have fun. Photo: Khanh An

According to records, the only dirt road leading to the camping area at Dong Do Lake is always congested. If there are only 2 cars going in opposite directions at the same time, the place will immediately become "stuck". Inside the camping area, a series of services have flourished such as renting tents, picnic mats, SUP boats, tarpaulins, foam pads...