Vietnamese stilt houses are popular in Western newspapers

The Daily Mail published memorable experiences of Western tourists after taking a tour of stilt houses in Ha Thanh village (Phuong Do commune) and Meo Vac, Ha Giang province.

Below is Teresa Levonian Cole's share on the Daily Mail:

The journey took us through the fertile Lo River valley, past rice and corn fields, tea hills, kumquat and pear gardens, and pigs tied precariously to motorbikes.

An 80-year-old woman with bony feet. Photo: Teresa Levonian Cole.

In Ha Thanh village (Ha Giang city), our accommodation was a large wooden stilt house. The host welcomed us with a smile, and the staff dressed in traditional Tay ethnic costumes offered us glasses of wine and delicious spring rolls. Then they took us up 9 stairs to the living area.

I didn't expect this before arriving: the simple, open-plan stilt house, thatched with 8,000 palm leaves, had been transformed into a meditative "temple", with lanterns, bamboo furniture and a fireplace in the middle of the house.

The stilt house is thatched with 8,000 palm leaves. Photo: Teresa Levonian Cole.

There was nothing to complain about. Two silk-covered beds sat in curtained alcoves. Sheaves of rice were decorated in one corner, and in the opposite corner was the ancestral altar tended by Mrs. Uan. She was about 80 years old, had bony legs, and walked very lightly.

The view was heavenly. Limestone mountains surrounded by rice fields heavy with grain, swaying in the wind.

Elsewhere, three generations of women split and shave bamboo to weave baskets, while three generations of men look on. These men fought in 1940, when Ha Giang was a hotbed of anti-French revolution. It’s hard to imagine all that happening now.

But the stilt house still haunts my dreams, along with the image of Mrs. Uan getting up early in the morning, herding the ducks through the village to the pond. I wake up the next morning to the sound of roosters crowing and pigs squealing for food from the neighbors. We will continue our journey north, visiting colorful markets, large caves and small villages on the way to the former opium den of Meo Vac.

According to Zing.vn