Where to spend the weekend is still a question that makes many city dwellers headache. One step more difficult and also more practical, more people are interested in is a weekend trip where the scenery is beautiful, comfortable, and reasonably priced. That question sounds a bit absurd and rare to find, but although it is difficult, it is entirely possible. The cheap weekend destination near Hanoi is Da Bia Hamlet, in Tien Phong commune, Da Bac district, Hoa Binh.
Da Bia hamlet is about 120km from the center of the capital, can go by road, or by road combined with waterway, very convenient for those who want to experience many different forms of tourism. Because tourism has only been developed since 2015, Da Bia currently has only 5 homestay service households for the indigenous people (Muong Ao Ta ethnic group) to take care of themselves.
However, I would like to affirm that the homestay service here is extremely professional and friendly, because before participating in the tourism model, the people in Da Bia were guided by an NGO on how to develop tourism. friendly and sustainable calendar. In addition, before the COVID-19 epidemic, most of the guests coming to Da Bia were international tourists, so people have experience in welcoming visitors with guaranteed accommodation standards.
As soon as you reach the top of the village, you will see bilingual signage, helping visitors understand the basics of Da Bia hamlet as well as reminding visitors to respect the local culture, asking visitors not to money, give children candy at will, want to take photos of people must get their consent.
It sounds a bit fussy, but thanks to that, when you come to Da Bia, you will not see scenes of soliciting to buy things, not seeing children asking for money, asking for candy. All the people in the village, even though they know you are a tourist, treat you normally, comfortably and friendly as if you were part of the place. This is also the way to do sustainable tourism that Da Bia people are aiming for.
Coming to Da Bia, you will be staying in the stilt houses of Muong Ao Ta people, but these stilt houses have been renovated and cleaner. The most common type of room here is the community room – a large stilt house with many small mattresses, spaced about 30cm apart. Each mattress is equipped with clean sheets, pillows, blankets, single curtains, each bed has a night light, curtain and fan to serve guests.
The price for accommodation in a community room is very cheap, only 100,000 VND/bed. Yes, you are not mistaken, the money for one night here is only 100 thousand/person! More importantly, these community houses often have a very nice view, even from the window it is easy to observe the river and mountain scenery – a frame that sometimes in a million-dollar resort is not sure you will be satisfied like that.
Cheap accommodation, how to play in Da Bia? As a small hamlet, Da Bia does not have a daily market, maybe there are only one or two houses with a small counter, mainly selling soft drinks to serve tourists. Therefore, often visitors to Da Bia will either order meals from the homestay owner, or can rent a kitchen to cook by themselves. But the advice of many people who have come to Da Bia is that it is best to order rice from the owner because the people here cook very well, the local ingredients are also fresh, eat the food you bring back from the city. .
A meal at Da Bia on average costs from 120 to 150 thousand / main meal, breakfast costs 40 thousand. If you just listen to the price, you might think it’s expensive, but with a menu of grilled lentils, grilled pork, braised chicken and 1 or 2 vegetable dishes, full of delicious soup, you will find this is the price Extremely reasonable, even quality for the price. The hosts also help guests heat up some simple dishes at no charge.
But what makes Da Bia the most attractive weekend destination is the landscape. Da Bia village is located on the edge of Hoa Binh lake, so coming here, you will enjoy the memorable river landscape. The immense lake surface, the clear blue water surrounded by clouds, the rolling mountains make many people shout “Ha Long on the edge” when looking at Da Bia.
To help visitors fully enjoy the river, the households here have additional business of Kayak and Sup rental services, the average price is 120,000 VND / hour for 2 people. The feeling of being floated on the emerald-green water is truly amazing. Rest assured, the water here is very clean, so if you know how to swim, you should prepare more swimsuits to freely splash in the clear – blue – clean water, which swimming pools in the city cannot have. Even if you don’t know how to swim or don’t swim well, don’t worry, the homestay businesses here are equipped with life jackets and often lend them to visitors for free!
In general, Da Bia is not a tourist destination for those who like to live virtual, but if you like to explore the local culture, like to find a real hiding place, this is a tourist destination that cannot be more suitable. If you are someone who likes to live slowly, just walking around the village, swimming, watching the sunset, reading a book, interacting with locals is also fun enough. If you want to explore more, you can also book a gong performance, go hunting for clouds or rent a boat to explore the Da River.
How to get to Da Bia Village?
Walk by road
Da Bia hamlet is located very specifically on google map, so you just need to turn on this application and follow. Motorbike driving time is about 4 hours. Riding a motorbike is also a way to help you enjoy the weekend in Da Bia with only about 500 thousand.
In general, the road is very simple, the road from Hanoi to Hoa Binh is very easy to go, only about 30km from Da Bac town to Da Bia will have some mountain roads, steep curves, some bad roads. go.
As of the beginning of October 2020, the road to Da Bia is under construction, so cars will not be able to enter the place, however, in a short time, everything will be completed. To be careful you can call the host before you go.
Going to sell on foot – sell water
There are 2 routes by foot – by boat with the destination being Thung Nai Port and Bich Ha Port
To Bich Ha Port, you park your car at the port and then rent a boat or notify the homestay owner in advance to send the boat to pick you up. At Bich Ha point, it takes you up to 2 hours and 45 minutes to get to Da Bia and the cost of travel is also more expensive.
Some homestays in Da Bia
Lakeview Homestay – 0986827500
Homestay Dinh Thu – 0982264800
Homestay Ngoc Nhim – 0334420086
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