We did an overnight stay on the way back from Halong Bay. Our guide was Cuc who was very knowledgable and welcoming. We cycled around the village and tried our hand at fish farming and rice-making, met a number of villagers and enjoyed a lovely dinner. The accommodation was really nice too, large and comfortable room. One improvement could be a separate toilet as opposed to just a curtain to separate it! Would definitely recommend doing this it’s very interesting.
we was welcome by Na for two days and one night in Yen duc village. We had no ideal before coming here but it was amazing with the landscape and people here. It was not so busy for your itinerary with visiting an old house, locaal market, making rice and broom, catching fish which we didn’t do before.
People are very friendly, warmy, helpful. They will say hello to you everywhere you come. The food is the most wonderful for our whole trip in Vietnam. Our tour guide Na is fantastic. She speaks perfect English and educate us about the culture, the history. She is one of the most informative girls we have ever met.
if you have a chance to visit Vietnam, i hightly recommend this tour.
저는 처음에 YEN DUC촌에 와서 농사를 직접 만들 수 있었다. 분위기 좋은 데다가 경치도 예쁘더라고요. 사람들이 친절하고 우리를 따뜻하게 대접했다. 우리는 재미있는 체험을 받았다. 그리고 Thuy 씨는 그 시간 동안 우리에게 아 내해서 감사합시다.
베트남에 가면 YEN DUC 촌에 갈 만한 데이다.
We were travelling with 3 children (3, 6, and 21 years old). All five of us loved our (3D/2N) village stay at Yen Duc village. Wow! It was exceptional, a major highlight of our Vietnam trip, as much or more than the exceptional Dragon’s Pearl Bai Tu Long Bay cruise.
The village stay was warm and friendly, they adopted our family, the little ones cried when we left, and back in Canada little Florence says “I miss Thuy!” every day. You should make time for the village stay, perhaps your best chance to connect with Vietnam and its wonderful people (… and the food!!).
Thuy took care of all the visits. We went to the oldest house in the village and met the lady there who explained the family tree and the veneration of their ancestors. We were all moved by this aspect of Vietnam, the little ones ‘became buddhists’ (their words) and when we got home set up a little temple to worship our family ancestors. Well you don’t get those experiences staying in chain hotels!
In other village visits we learned to sing in Vietnamese, visited little artisanal businesses, went shopping in the market of course, as a precursor to a cooking class. We cycle all over the village, between the emerald green rice paddies and the dramatic jagged karsts. The texture of life made yet more interesting by the propaganda streaming out of hill-top loudspeakers, all very fascinating.
The food was amazing – the quality and presentation extraordinary, some of the best we had in the whole country. We had to keep telling them to not serve so much, they had to pull a second table up to place all the dishes. My wife took photos of every dish, so beautiful. Amazing to think that in the price we not only had the gorgeous rooms, but three outstanding meals per day and all the activities – could this be the best value (and experience!) in Vietnam?
The rooms were set up in traditional style, with two bedrooms as wings and a long hall between them, encompassing lounging space and an archetypal family temple with altar in the middle. So aesthetic and soothing.
I could not recommend more strongly a Yen Duc village stay, and if you can, at least 2 nights if not more.
Das war der absolute Höhepunkt meiner Vietnamrundreise.
Ich habe im Dorf bei einer Familie übernachtet und hatte viele unvergessliche Eindrücke. Vielen Dank an meine Reiseführerin Gi . Mach weiter so !
Wenn man wirklich einen Einblick bekommen will, sollte man einen Homestay buchen,
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.
Apres 24h sur une jonque dans la baie d halong, quoi de mieux que 24h en retrait des hordes de touristes au sein d un village reculé ? Notre séjour à Yen Duc ne dura que 24heures mais quelle douce parenthèse entre les bruits de scooter d Hanoi et l’usine à tourisme de la baie d halong.. Le village se trouve à mi parcours entre les deux sites et l agence Indochina Junk (via laquelle nous avions réservé notre croisière dans la baie) nous y a proposé un court séjour qui nous a enchanté. Seule une maison dans le village (Mr San) reçoit des visiteurs comme nous car nous sommes peu nombreux encore à tenter l expérience (3 à 4 visiteurs par mois). Nous avons était accueillis par notre guide Gi, une jeune vietnamienne de 23ans qui s est occupée de nous a la perfection. Avide de discussions en tout genre, nous avons parcouru le village à pied, puis à vélo, découvrant pagode, temples, marché local, traditions, artisanat… Le tout dans la bonne humeur et l amabilité.
La maison était assez simple mais il faut s y attendre dans ce genre de séjour et nous avions tout de même tout le nécessaire (eau chaude électricité lit comfortable …). Les repas étaient plus divins les uns que les autres et partagés avec nos hôtes à meme le sol comme le veut la tradition.
Un pur havre de paix avant de retourner à la civilisation.
À recommander sans hésiter !!
We took the three days two nights your with Indochina Junk and chose the option for one night cruise and one night in Yen Duc village. I highly recommend this option because you get to enjoy both the beauty of Halong Bay and what it’s like living in a real traditional village. The village experience is most memorable because here you get to experience real hands on village living – market visit, history of the Vietnam war and impact on the people, farmers and how beans, broccoli, morning glory, rice, etc are planted and harvested. We also harvested our own vegetables for dinner. We visited homes and spoke to the locals. What I also learnt is how much we give back to this community. The whole tour in the village engages the whole village in a big way – the crafts that we do, the security around the village, the cleanliness (this is probably one of the cleanest village I’ve been through as we cycled freely across the whole place). The mist amazing experience here is the people. They are so down to earth and pure and sincere. It reminds me some 30 years ago when I was small kid and we lived in the small village. People live a simple life yet you can feel the happiness and sincerity. Everyone works hard for a good cause. Our guide “Cuc” speaks very good English and tells us and the kids of such interesting stories of the villagers and the war. Both our eight and ten year old daughters enjoyed the trip so much they said this is probably one of their most memorable experience amongst the many trips we do. This morning, we went to the market and we bought ourselves ingredients to make lunch. The girls can’t wait to get a hands on experience making Spring rolls – which we had for dinner and it was so delicious they asked for more. This morning we had congee made from rice that they milled to remove the husk – what an experience! I would highly recommend this tour with Indochina Junk – one night cruise and one night Yen Duc village. You will not be disappointed with the quality of stay, food and experience. It’s as raw yet “luxurious” one can get
A wonderful day in Yen Duc village led by our host Gi. We loved experiencing traditional Vietnamese culture such as fishing, growing and producing rice, the water puppet show as well as going to see peoples’ houses. Our five course dinner was beautiful. Everything is excellent and we were amazed at the friendliness and welcoming nature of everyone. Thank you so much Gi and Yen Duc village.
We spent a night in Yen Duc Village as part of our three day-two night Dragon Legend tour with Indochina Junk. We arrived and our guide Cuc, who was a fluent English speaker, immediately took us into the village culture. We harvested morning glory with the villagers; we visited an elder in the community and learned about the importance of family in Vietnam; we separated rice from its husks; we even stomped in the mud to hand catch fish! I had a sprained ankle and only watched this activity but it was a hoot! We were treated to a multi-course Vietnamese dinner that was delicious in every menu item. After dinner we had a cooking class and learned to make the traditional floating cake (which we then ate!). Two lovely villagers in traditional costume arrived and gave the four of us who were there a private concert. The village is set up to host eight people. This night there were only four – my friend and I and two other Americans who had made the same choice in schedule. The rooms were comfortable and lovely and we slept well. The next morning we did exercises at the beginning of the day and then went to the village market (after a sumptuous breakfast, of course). We shopped at the market and visited with the merchants. We went to the village temple and at our request visited the cemetery and learned all about Vietnamese burial customs. We visited another villager who makes brooms in the traditional way and we made brooms with her. Then we were treated to another lovely lunch, followed by a water puppet show before leaving to return to Hanoi.
Collection of reviews about Yen Duc village tour, luxury homestay near Ha Long Bay, Vietnam 