For a long time, Ban Lac has been a famous place in Mai Chau valley (Hoa Binh). This is an ideal stop for tourists when coming to Hoa Binh. Standing on the pass looking down, the stilt houses are immersed in the mist, the flickering fire evokes the vitality of the valley, Ban Lac appears before our eyes, beautiful, amidst the clouds and sky.

As soon as we arrived at Ban Lac, Hung Mech homestay sent someone to the parking lot to pick us up. The people here have long been hospitable like that. In the first meeting, we felt the kindness, hospitality and rusticity of the Thai people.

A corner of Ban Lac.

Ms. Lo Thi Mech (Thai ethnic group), the homestay owner, said that the name “Ban Lac” means “Strange Village”. However, when setting foot in this land, everyone feels close, warm and gentle about a community tourism village in the middle of the Northwest mountains.

Ban Lac is located in the center of Mai Chau valley. Surrounded by rugged mountains. Standing on the pass looking down, you can see the whole village like a beautiful picture with lovely stilt houses clustered around streams and vast rice fields. Ms. Mech said that Ban Lac has long been the home of the White Thai people. The Thai people here live by growing rice, corn, weaving and in recent years, they have had another job to enrich and beautify the land, which is the whole village doing community tourism.

That is why, walking along the roads into the village, into the village, everywhere is imbued with the color of brocade, every house has a loom to weave fabric, open a shop to sell souvenirs. The special thing about Ban Lac is that because the whole village, every house does community tourism, so every stilt house is numbered and designed, used in the style of community tourism.

The upper floor is used as a place for guests to rest, while the lower floor is used to serve food and drink to guests. Therefore, on weekends and evenings, the stilt houses in Ban Lac are crowded, bustling, and brightly lit. It is even more poetic when the village's art troupes come to join in the fun with wonderful Thai xoe dances.

On the first night, we joined the Thai people around the campfire in the stadium. The music, the torches, and the singing all harmonized to create an intoxicating feeling in our hearts. By the crackling fire at the foot of the stilt house, the Thai people prepared and grilled fragrant bamboo-tube rice for visitors to enjoy.

Looking at the Thai ethnic women cooking sticky rice and grilling bamboo-tube rice, we suddenly remembered a poem by the poet Quang Dung: Oh, I remember Tay Tien, the rice rising in smoke/ Mai Chau, the season when you smelled sticky rice . It seems that the fragrant aroma of sticky rice and the warmth of human affection have been here for a long time.

Mr. Vi Van Bang, Thai ethnic, head of Ban Lac village shared: “In recent years, Ban Lac has been promoting the potential of community tourism, creating attraction for tourists from all over. The locality focuses on preserving cultural identity and creating a friendly experience space for tourists”.

Mr. Vy Ngoc Anh (Na Hang, Tuyen Quang) said: “Lac Village and Mai Chau Valley have attracted us tourists. Stopping here, people seem to be immersed in the cultural space of community tourism, which is both friendly and attractive with many things to discover”.

In the distance are the winding rocky mountains, surrounding the village, evoking a majestic and solid beauty. In the afternoon, clouds descend on Ban Lac valley, making the space become floating and illusory. The clouds seem to cover Ban Lac with a thin silk coat with soft, lingering clouds, making the village space more poetic and magical.

Ban Lac has a strong Northwest color, a space filled with many poetic things about the land of Mai Chau that has gone down in history, poetry, and music. Stopping here even just once, you will not want to leave. The scenery and people here are charming, lingering in the emotions of people from far away. This place seems to be a sweet invitation and date.

NGUYEN THE LUONG