Viet Hai ancient village is located in Cat Ba and is a memorable tourist destination for visitors to Hai Phong. Since ancient times, Viet Hai was accidentally discovered by fishermen as this piece of land surrounded by sea but with abundant freshwater resources. Therefore, some fishermen decided to settle down and live here.
The ancient village “sleeps” in the deep forest
Located deep in the core area of Cat Ba National Park, with a total area of only about 150 hectares, the special scenery here has a very unique charming beauty, and especially preserves great historical and cultural values. Viet Hai ancient village is a destination for those who love nature, looking for the wild and pure.
Currently, Viet Hai commune has more than 85 households with over 300 people. Not noisy, flashy and located quite deep in the heart of the “pearl island” Cat Ba, so few tourists have heard of or set foot in this extremely unique and attractive tourist destination. Favored by nature with majestic limestone mountains, clear streams, old forests and blue beaches, along with the simple life of the local people, this ancient village is especially peaceful.
About 10km from the center of Cat Ba town, there is currently no direct road to the village. To get there by road, visitors must go through Cat Ba National Park on a road deep in the forest about 12km long. With this form, most foreign tourists or young people who love exploring and trekking will choose. The journey will include visiting Cat Ba National Park, then continuing to walk through the forest to Viet Hai village and going to the boat dock to visit Lan Ha Bay, snorkeling to see corals… In addition, the most popular way is to take a canoe to approach the village from the sea.
Coming to Viet Hai, what makes visitors most excited besides the majestic, pristine natural scenery is the quiet, peaceful space rarely found in any tourist area. Not as bustling, hurried, jostling or fast-paced as in the city, the people of the ancient village are very hospitable and sincere in the ancient way left by their ancestors.
Foreign tourists learn about fishing tools of ancient Viet Hai villagers
Another very unique thing is that after visiting the mountains and forests, staying at homestays and budget motels, tourists will feel secure in ordering the locals to cook meals from the vegetables and products they grow and catch themselves.
In recent years, the people of Viet Hai village have also begun to approach and develop tourism. Mountain bikes bought from the center of Hai Phong city are brought back to serve tourists cycling to see the village and climb mountains.
Many households have also switched to homestays or tour guides, electric car business to pick up and drop off guests, and motorbike rental for guests to move from the pier to the village. Thanks to that, the lives of the people have also changed a lot, with a more stable income than before.
Tourists enjoy exploring the traditional rice mill.
The village elders even selected nearly a dozen local boys and girls to send to Cat Ba town to update their common English. The people of Viet Hai are very eager to do tourism in their own style with the dream of turning their village into a unique “tourist island” in the near future.
Tourists are relaxing on the stream
Another experience that many tourists, especially foreign tourists, love when coming to the fishing village is to transform into a fisherman, go fishing by boat to harvest shrimp and fish, or experience being a farmer with green fields. Visitors will participate in plowing the fields, drawing water from wells, visiting farms raising buffalo, cows, pigs, chickens… to feed them.
Enjoy local specialties
When coming to the ancient village of Viet Hai, visitors should enjoy the specialties. The local people have the skills to create especially delicious dishes from lobster, grouper, sea cucumber, geoduck, mantis shrimp, red snapper, cobia… With its pristine beauty and hospitality, the small fishing village of Viet Hai is a tourist sport that you should not miss when come to explore Cat Ba.
Source: collected by An
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