Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year) in the world's best tourist village.

Tan Hoa village in Minh Hoa district, Quang Binh province, is one of 260 villages honored by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) as the "World's Best Tourist Village" in 2023 for preserving and promoting its traditional ethnic cultural identity.

Traveling in the heart of the flood zone.

The village is nestled in a valley, surrounded by rocky mountains. Every year during the flood season, the waters of the Rao Nan River rush down like a raging waterfall. The rising water turns Tan Hoa into a waterlogged area. The villagers only have time to grab a few belongings before fleeing to the rocky outcrops for shelter. When they return, their houses are submerged in mud, and their possessions are virtually lost. The historic flood of 2010, with water levels reaching 12 meters, completely submerged the village, and since then, Tan Hoa has been known as the "flood epicenter."

Tu Lan Cave Discovery Tour

In 2011, devising a way to live with floods, the locals tied together about 20 to 30 empty barrels, securing them with four stakes at each corner to create floating houses. When the flood season arrived, the floating houses would rise with the water, and the people could continue their normal lives amidst the rain and floods.

The floating house of Mr. Truong Xuan Duong (60 years old, Hamlet 1 - Yen Tho) and other households in Tan Hoa are now not only flood-resistant houses but have also been converted into homestay rooms for tourists to rent, fully equipped and adaptable to all weather conditions. Tourists can immerse themselves in the lives of the locals and experience tourism during the rainy season and floods. From this, each household earns an additional 7-10 million VND per month from hosting guests and providing accommodation and meals. Mr. Truong Thanh Duan, Chairman of the People's Committee of Tan Hoa commune, said that to date, the entire commune has nearly 620 floating houses, ensuring that 100% of households can adapt, be safe, and live with floods. The people of Tan Hoa are proud to have beautiful and famous forests and caves. Here, the indigenous culture of the Nguồn people is also present, with folk songs about fishing: "Waiting until the rainy season, there's a male snail sitting on the plate," "When it rains, the water flows around the pond / If I don't marry, who will I eat?"

Stunning scenery, unique cuisine.

Tan Hoa village has over 3,300 inhabitants, mainly Nguon people with their unique language and cultural practices.

Floating houses in Tan Hoa have become unique homestays.

Nature has bestowed upon Tan Hoa a unique landscape, including a system of caves hidden deep within the forest. Many beautiful caves with magnificent stalactite formations, such as Tu Lan, Tien Cave, Chuot Cave, Hung Ton, etc., have appeared in world travel magazines like Lonely Planet and CNN Travel. The lim forest, the peaceful villages with buffaloes grazing, the lush green cornfields, and the towering limestone mountains have become filming locations for many movies, most notably the Hollywood blockbuster "Kong: Skull Island".

In the days leading up to Tet (Lunar New Year), the people of Tan Hoa are busy preparing traditional local delicacies to serve tourists. Among them, "com boi" (rice cooked with herbs) and "mam thinh" (fermented fish sauce) are indispensable specialties during Tet, festivals, and when entertaining honored guests.

Scenery of Tan Hoa village

The ingredients for making "com boi" (a type of Vietnamese rice dish) are corn, rice, and sometimes cassava mixed together. After soaking the grains in boiling water for 2-3 hours, the locals grind them into a powder in a mortar. Then, they cook the powder over a fire for about an hour. Once cooked, the "com boi" is removed from the heat and molded into individual pieces for eating. This dish is typically eaten with male snails caught in the stream, wild fish, and sweet potato soup.

The fermented fish paste of Tan Hoa is made from freshwater fish such as carp, grass carp, and tilapia. Ms. Tran Thi Hoa (52 years old), who has been making fermented fish paste for 30 years, revealed that she has prepared ingredients to make hundreds of servings of rice with fermented fish paste and many jars of fermented fish paste to serve tourists. "Through generations of experience and with the 'secrets' passed down from our ancestors, we have created a delicious and flavorful fermented fish paste from freshwater fish that anyone who has tasted it once will never forget. This Tet holiday, I plan to make 100 jars of fermented fish paste to serve tourists. They can buy it as gifts or to eat with rice on cold days," Ms. Hoa said.

Discover the ironwood forest in Tan Hoa.

Despite enduring many ups and downs, the traditional rice porridge and fermented fish sauce of Tan Hoa people today still retain their unique flavors. Not only during rainy and flood days, but also on family gatherings during holidays, Tet (Lunar New Year), and ancestral commemorations, Tan Hoa people always include rice porridge and fermented fish sauce to show filial piety to their ancestors.

Oxalis Company, which laid the foundation for tourism in Tan Hoa in 2010, is working with Quang Binh province to build a solid development strategy for Tan Hoa. According to Mr. Nguyen Chau A, General Director of Oxalis, these attractive tours have helped Tan Hoa welcome over 10,000 tourists in the first 10 months of 2023. This Lunar New Year, Tan Hoa plans to cooperate with Oxalis Company to organize tours during the holiday. In addition to showcasing beautiful rural landscapes and caves, they will promote the preparation of local culinary specialties to serve tourists visiting Tan Hoa for the Tet holiday. Besides the two main dishes mentioned above, there will be many other dishes with the flavors of the mountains and forests, such as honey, stream fish, stream snails, wild vegetables, and yam... expected to attract tourists during Tet.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Quy, Director of the Quang Binh Provincial Department of Tourism, said that they will gradually develop Tan Hoa tourist village into a model of weather-adaptive tourism in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. Besides creating tourism products that adapt to weather conditions, this is also an effective linkage model between businesses and the community. Businesses support marketing and sales while the community creates sustainable value to develop together, gradually improving and diversifying services in Tan Hoa to meet the diverse needs of tourists.

Mighty tiger guards the teak forest.

Mr. Truong Xuan Do (72 years old) is likened to a "fierce tiger" protecting the lim tree forest. Although no one pays him a salary to protect the forest, he volunteers to safeguard it at all costs. Thanks to his efforts, the lim tree forest behind his house remains intact with its precious timber and has become a tourist attraction called "Exploring the Lim Tree Forest - Kong's Home" using 4x4 off-road vehicles. This tour attracts many visitors to Tan Hoa.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/tet-o-lang-du-lich-tot-nhat-the-gioi-196240206000505958.htm