Ngoi Tu - tourist village by Thac Ba lake

Tourists camping on the shore of Thac Ba Lake. Photo: TN

To travel from Hanoi to Ngoi Tu village (Vu Linh commune, Yen Binh district, Yen Bai province), visitors can travel by private car, motorbike or bus. These are the most popular and convenient means of transport. Ngoi Tu village is about 150 - 170km from Hanoi, depending on the route.

Ngoi Tu is on the left side of the road, with a large sign right at the beginning of the village. Almost the entire route, the road is spacious, only a section of nearly 15km connecting Thac Ba town to Ngoi Tu, the road is relatively narrow, however, not too steep or winding, moving at an average speed is not a big problem.

In the village, there are more than 10 Dao families providing homestay services. Guests can contact in advance or book the service when they arrive because although there are guests all year round, the homestay system in Ngoi Tu is almost never overloaded. Guests can book a communal room, which is a Dao stilt house, rent a place by the bed or book a private room, depending on their needs.

Coming to Ngoi Tu, visitors can walk around the village, admire the countryside scenery of the northern mountainous region, and experience the daily life of the local people. Those who have come here say that they must have a meal with the host family to enjoy the local cuisine and experience the customs and habits of the Dao ethnic group. If you like to cook for yourself, you can go to the market to choose your own food and thereby understand more about the life of the local people. If you are lucky, you will be able to buy bunches of black-leafed vegetables and a bunch of anchovies that the locals have just caught from Thac Ba Lake.

The day we arrived, we bought more than 1kg of fresh river catfish and some fresh bamboo shoots. The group decided not to cook the first meal but to give the host some to share with the family.

If the season is right, visitors also have the opportunity to enjoy local farm produce such as grasshoppers, bee pupae, ant eggs, crickets and freshwater fish from Thac Ba Lake. People can eat and drink in the stilt house, or light a fire in the yard if the weather is cold. Ngoi Tu village also has an art troupe to perform traditional folk songs and dances.

Mr. Van Nam - owner of Vu Linh Homestay said that he and the people working in tourism services in Ngoi Tu all attended training courses on serving tourists organized by the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Yen Bai. Mr. Nam also went to Hanoi to learn how to cook some Western dishes to serve foreign guests when they need it. "But in general, most guests prefer to enjoy local food and drinks," Mr. Nam said.

Coming to Ngoi Tu, in addition to experiencing local culture, visitors can also do many outdoor activities such as camping by the lake, fishing, or renting a motorboat to cruise around the hydroelectric reservoir. This can be said to be a quite interesting destination for the weekend.

Source: https://daidoanket.vn/ngoi-tu-thon-du-lich-ben-ho-thac-ba-10292146.html