Visitors bathing in Cua Tu stream
Dong Khuan hamlet is located in the west of Dai Tu district (Thai Nguyen province), 15 km from the district center, 4 km from the center of Hoang Nong commune, with a convenient roads to move to the tourist spot.
Dong Khuan covers a natural area of 67 hectares with nearly 400 inhabitants comprising four ethnic groups, of which over 80% are Dao ethnic people. Tea is the main crop of the hamlet. Situated near the foot of the mountains where Cua Tu stream originates, the summer temperature here is only about 20 – 22ºC. The Cua Tu stream boasts a rich flora and fauna ecosystem, including many rare plants and animals. Here, there are many interesting attractions suitable for camping and picnicking amidst the cool and fresh mountain air and for trekking through the forest to admire the majestic nature. Consequently, summer is always the peak season when many visitors come to escape the heat. The hamlet has a stream originating from the Tam Dao range, flowing through contiguous rocks, creating small bathing areas along the stream and waterfalls cascading from several tens of meters high, making it an ideal spot for bathing and experiencing the coolness by the streams. At the foot of the mountains are lush tea fields, stretching rice paddies and babbling brooks, creating an even more poetic and serene, yet wild and rugged, landscape.
Foreign visitors experiencing tea picking
After engaging in activities such as stream bathing, kayaking and trekking, visitors can enjoy many local and mountain-flavored dishes such as: Giang bamboo shoots, Neohouzeaua bamboo shoots, wood ear vegetable, yam, bracken fern, wild banana flowers; sturgeon raised in cool streams; rice cooked in bamboo tubes, sticky rice cakes, five-colored sticky rice, ash cake, steamed pork, sausages, honey-roasted chicken,… Moreover, when visiting Dong Khuan Hamlet, visitors can participate in cultural activities and folk games such as: experiencing the herbal foot bath service of the Dao ethnic people, participating in campfire events, interacting with local boys and girls through art exchanges, learning about Dao Quan Chet ethnic group’s rituals and listening to the Pa Dung melody. This is also a great place to experience tea harvesting and join in the processing stages, as well as enjoy tea products made by the local people.
In a conversation with Mr. Ban Van Linh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cua Tu Ecotourism Cooperative (the unit managing the tourist site), we learned that with a desire to introduce a region of many beauties to domestic and international friends, he established the cooperative and mobilized local people to participate in building and developing it. Dong Khuan Hamlet ecotourism destination is managed under the cooperative model, with 10 households in the hamlet registered to run short-term accommodation services, food services, community tourism, … The cooperative can serve up to 500 dining guests at four restaurants and accommodate about 100 staying guests at the same time, ensuring all necessary living conditions for visitors.
In the evening, visitors relaxed with a Dao herbal foot bath
Nature has generously endowed Dong Khuan with attractive natural conditions to attract and retain visitors. Coupled with the friendly and hospitable local people, it is sure to be an appealing destination for visitors passionate about experiential tourism, community tourism and a love for nature.
Thanh Mai
en.thainguyen.gov.vn
