Weekend community tourism experience in Xuan Thai

On hot summer days, with the added worry of not knowing when the power will be cut off, we decided to spend the weekend 2 days immersing ourselves in the peaceful dreamy nature. Our destination was Xuan Thai commune (Nhu Thanh), an ideal address for young people who love to travel and explore recently, located more than 60 km from Thanh Hoa city.

Weekend community tourism experience in Xuan Thai The over 300-year-old fig tree is recognized as a Vietnam Heritage Tree.

From the center of Xuan Thai commune, we continued to travel 3 km to Lung village. Formed nearly 100 years ago, Lung village has nearly 500 people including 3 ethnic groups: Thai, Muong, Kinh living together. The village has a natural area of over 100 hectares, the people mainly produce agriculture . "Since the construction of the cultural village in 2018, the people of Lung village have always followed the convention of 4 chapters and 22 articles, especially preserving the village's cultural features", said Mr. Vi Van Them, a tourism business owner here.

Sitting in the stilt house, we were surrounded by a vast space with sparkling water waves and flat, wide lawns. While acting as a tour guide, Mr. Them quickly arranged a place for us to rest while instructing the children: "If you like, you can come into the tent to play, just remember to keep it clean."

As one of the first 5 households doing tourism in the commune, Mr. Vi Van Them said: "At first, everything was difficult. But we were still determined. Partly because we saw the advantages of doing tourism in the commune, partly because young people increasingly like to experience, but most importantly, if we don't do it, we will be poor forever. We don't know how much profit we will make, but every time a family has guests, the village is bustling."

- What do you want to eat tonight so I can prepare it? While we were hesitating, Them immediately said: Here we have grilled chicken, grilled buffalo meat, grilled pork, snails, crabs, river fish, bamboo shoots, bamboo rice with rice wine, fermented rice wine... which are typical dishes. Please try them and give us your comments on how to prepare them. After the meal, on weekend nights we always have an art troupe with special singing and dancing performances and a free campfire night.

While we sat relaxing, drinking tea together and watching other groups of tourists playing on the grass, some children played shuttlecock and others called each other to play volleyball.

When the night had just fallen, Them brought out firewood to prepare for the campfire night. The music started, the children cheered and carried chairs with the host. The fresh, poetic air, the gentle and hospitable people made anyone who came here moved, opening their hearts to the peaceful beauty of nature and people here. By the campfire, the bustling sound of singing combined with Muong bamboo dances, Thai xoe, all visitors were immersed in the wine. While joking and dancing bamboo dances, a few people occasionally missed a beat, the bamboo hit their feet, laughing in embarrassment and exclaiming in pain. The children danced around the fire, eagerly waiting for the roasted sweet potatoes. Occasionally, they asked: Is it cooked yet, Mom? Why is it taking so long, Mom...?

The campfire night ended after the “Holding Hands” around the fire. The girls arranged themselves to sleep in tents, while the boys took another shower and climbed up to the stilt house to sleep until morning.

Weekend community tourism experience in Xuan Thai Many groups of visitors coming here are very excited by the charming beauty of the mountains and rivers, the peaceful and poetic natural scenery.

On Sunday morning, before leaving the Ban Thai Club in Lang Lung, we took a group photo to continue exploring Xuan Thai. Our journey was to Len Pot Cave in Thanh Xuan Village. The cave is also known as Tru Thach Son - because it is located halfway up a mountain shaped like a wild boar, surrounded by vast rubber forests. It is quite far from the commune center, about 15 km, so although it was discovered a long time ago, it was only after the COVID-19 pandemic that people came here. Mr. Quach Van Thiep, the person in charge of this cave, said: “Tru Thach Son Cave is nearly 300m long. We consider this to be the most beautiful cave discovered in Nhu Thanh because of its many beautiful, relatively intact stalactites with many different shapes”.

The deeper you go, the wider and more beautiful the cave becomes, with clusters of stalactites hanging down, with many strange shapes, evoking the viewer’s imagination about a mysterious world of creation. Therefore, this cave is associated with many fascinating anecdotes, with a mysterious and magical color.

We stopped at Yen Vinh village, looking at the more than 300-year-old fig tree that has been recognized as a Vietnam Heritage Tree. The fig tree is 21.5m high, the trunk diameter is 1.86m, the circumference of the tree base at the ground level is 7.06m. Although it is hundreds of years old, this fig tree still grows well, has a balanced canopy, and every year the tree still flowers, bears fruit and has many fruits. Not only is it a national heritage, the fig tree also has an important meaning in preserving gene sources, environmental ecology, as well as being associated with cultural, historical, spiritual values of the Thai ethnic group in Xuan Thai commune.

Sharing with us about the tourism development plan of Xuan Thai commune, Mr. Nguyen Khac Dai, Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune, said: "Currently, the commune has effectively exploited community tourism in Cay Nghia village, Lang Lung village, Dong Luon village and Len Pot cave exploration tourism in Thanh Xuan village. Although there are still many difficulties in terms of facilities, we regularly propagate to households to be ready to welcome guests. The goal in 2023 is to welcome 8,300 visitors, of which 50 are international visitors, achieving a total revenue from tourism of 8.3 billion VND".

Leaving Xuan Thai, each of us had different feelings. Some hoped to see changes in this place soon, others hoped that the landscape would remain the same, especially that no construction would be built on the wide, flat lawns, with hills on one side and the poetic and clear Song Muc Lake on the other.

Kieu Huyen

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