Through IndoChina Junk we booked two nights at sea in and one night HomeStay in Yên Đức on the return to Hanoi.
We had two great nights on the cruise – the four-cabin Prince 3 was comfortable and the other three couples on the boat made for sociable meals. Our tour guide, Đức, planned our trip to phase it away from the timings of the other boats (IndoChina take you to cruise the quieter Bai Tu Long Bay rather than the crowded Ha Long Bay but don’t think you will be alone!) and this made a big difference to our enjoyment of the scenery, the visit to a fishing village and our first experience of kayaking. He shared his deep knowledge of the environment and the traditional way of life of the fishing people and, together with the service from the great crew of Prince 3, made this a memorable trip.
The whole area between Hanoi and Hon Gai International harbour (the embankment point for Ha Long Bay) is very heavily industrialised. The road and buildings are black with coal dust from the mining operations Previous visitors had written supportive reviews on TripAdvisor and so we hoped for the best but we were filled with trepidation about the overnight stay we had booked at Yên Đức.
We need not have been concerned – it turned out to be a highlight of our 3-week holiday in Vietnam. Our host guide, Thuỳ, met us from the mini-bus (around one hour from Hon Gai) and we were treated like VIPS throughout our 24 hours in the village.
Anther couple had travelled with us on the minibus and returned with us the next evening. They stayed in the “luxury room” but, apart from that, had the same schedule of visits around the village as we had. We had chosen HomeStay to expose ourselves to as much of the local culture as we could. We stayed in Mr San’s house and we were pleased that it showed us first-hand how a Vietnamese family lives. We slept under a mosquito net on the hardest bed we have ever tried – but slept well (perhaps because Mr San was keen to share his rice wine with his visitors (Một, hai, ba, vô! (pronounced mot, hi, bah, yo)). We ate wonderfully well – Mr San’s wife was away (several hours drive away) helping her daughter look after the twin grandchildren and so Hue (a truly expert home-cook) prepared supper, breakfast and lunch, which we ate with Thuỳ, hue and Mr San. The bathroom facilities were clean but not luxury – apart from that we were delighted we had chosen the HomeStay option.
The 24 hours flew by. Thuỳ cycled in front and we followed on our bikes. We stopped and chatted with locals we passed. We visited rice fields, temple, community hall, an old house (and learnt about the owners ancestors), the village market, the war memorial to a French War atrocity (remembered but not dwelled upon) and brush-makers. We fished for our supper and ended the whole visit with the village water-puppet performance (Thuỳ was the announcer and drummer and Hue operated the rice-planting puppet).
We had the most wonderful relaxing experience. We learnt an enormous amount about life in a rural commune. Yên Đức Village is a rural oasis in the midst of the surrounding industry. We had the impression that the tourism that IndoChina Junk bring to the village enables brings much needed tourism funds directly to the community – providing an option for people to be employed in their village rather than in the surrounding works.
We highly recommend the visit.
Collection of reviews about Yen Duc village tour, luxury homestay near Ha Long Bay, Vietnam 