Transplanting the past

A popular destination with local tourists, Ninh Binh province near the Red River Delta in North Vietnam, is best known for the Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex, a Unesco World Heritage Site famous for its boat cave 

 tours, and Tam Coc-Bich Dong, often referred to as “the terrestrial Ha Long Bay” in a nod to its caves.

But not many tourists know that this province is also famous for its ancient Vietnamese village.

The village is nestled on the bank of the Ngo Dong River, only a few footsteps from the wharf of Tam Coc. Better known as Co Vien Lau, Tam Coc is a private museum featuring ancient houses with unique architectural and cultural features.

Nguyen Minh Thoa is the founder of the museum. A well-known antique collector in Ninh Binh, he travelled throughout the province and through other northern Viet Nam provinces for years, looking for and buying houses that date back to the 18th-20th centuries.

He finally succeeded in buying 22 houses. He then dismantled them, moving all of the materials to Hoa Lu District, where he rebuilt them.

Spread over an area of 20,000 square metres, the village is now home to 22 antique homes, each bearing the traditional architectural traits of its home village or district, and each built of precious wood. 

The Van Hai house, for example, was collected from the Hau Loc district of Thanh Hoa province and restored from a home built in 1885 during the reign of King Dong Khanh – the 9th monarch of the Nguyen Dynasty, who reigned from 1885 to 1889.The house’s curved beams are shaped like the neck of a goose and chiselled with intricate carvings.

The Y Yen ancient house, originally built in 1883, was collected from Y Yen district of Nam Dinh province. Inside the house, several ancient objects dating from the 12th-century Ly dynasty – including a plate and bowl – are displayed.

The Tho Xuan ancient house is home to a collection of more than 100 ornamental jars dating from the Gia Long period (1802), the largest collection in Vietnam. This 200-year-old house was once inhabited by a shaman in Thanh Hoa province.

Its roof was rebuilt from a Tho Xuan District home more than 200 years old. The house is made of fish fin tiles and its four corners are shaped like curved knives. Inside the house are more than 70 dragon-shaped jars.

These 22 old houses are furnished with more than 40,000 ancient objects dating back hundreds – and thousands – of years. The artefacts include coins, pictures, jars, jewellery, statues and farm tools used in the Red River Delta.

Two tiny houses built of soil, straw and bamboo stand in a corner of the village, copies of old houses of poor Vietnamese farmers in the 19th century. 

The yard is home to bales of straw, water jars, and stone mortars and surrounded by vegetables, a garden, and bamboo hedges.

“Seeing the high stack of straw in the yard reminded me of my grandmother’s house. I spent happy moments of my childhood there. I used to play hide-and-seek with my sister around the straw when we were little,” says visitor Vu Thanh Nga. 

The ancient Thanh Liem temple, from Thanh Liem district of Ha Nam province, is now located at the heart of the village, which also boasts thoroughly modern WiFi and accommodation for visitors wanting to stay overnight. Visitors can also participate in local folk games and enjoy regional delicacies.

 

 

AROUND NINH BINH

Ninh Binh is about three hours on public bus from Hanoi. The town itself has nothing to boast though decent beer, best enjoyed with the locals, can be found. The tourist destinations are scattered within an hour ride’s of Ninh Binh town. Most independent travellers book into the small hotels and guesthouses before exploring Ninh Binh on bicycle or motorcycle.

Here are some places worth checking out.

TAM COC

Limestone karst stands out amid the rice paddies. Most tourists jump into a rowing boat and paddle through the rice field. Sadly though, Tam Coc has become a tourist trap, with demanding rowers, aggressive hawkers and too many tourists. The secret is to wait for very last boat (5.30pm in summer, 4.30pm in winter) when you can enjoy the spectacular scenery without the hassle.

BICH DONG PAGODA

A few kilometres north of Tam Coc, Bich Dong Pagoda requires a climb of more than 100 steps. It’s a sort of stairway to “heaven” since the lookout on top offers breathtaking view of Vietnam’s countryside. The monastery itself is well worth a visit.

PHAT DIEM CATHEDRAL

Mixing and matching Eastern and Western architectural styles, Phat Diem Cathedral stands right in the middle of the canals and rice paddy. The cathedral was established during the French colonial period and has withstood wars and revolution. It’s worth an hour’s ride on a motorcycle from Ninh Binh to admire the iron wood columns and gothic chapels.

HOA LU ANCIENT CAPITAL

This royal city was an ancient capital of Vietnam a few hundreds year prior to Angkor Wat and the Sukhothai Kingdom. There is not much to show off about the ancient Vietnamese royal life in Hoa Lu, except for some beautiful and majestic archways and the temples of Dinh Tien Hoang, Nhat Tru and Le Dai Hanh.