A slower, more peaceful and more enjoyable life in Vietnamese countryside

It’s unbelievable to enjoy true beauty of Vietnamese countryside with pathways, lush green bamboo, organic veggie and the children played hide and seek game on the tiny hamlets.

We left Hanoi and were excited to great authentic experience of a real Vietnam. After 45 minutes driving, we got to the place with tranquil settings and amazing view of lush green paddy fields and organic farms. Our first impression was very strange what we haven’t had it before. I were living in the city. Every morning as I wake up, I see a number of motorbikes, cars on the street. I was so surprised that how peaceful it was. The car stopped at a village gate. We went for a walk and passed by village pond, banyan tree, village pagoda… We were welcomed by a warm hospitality and a big smile on their face. We sat down, drunk a cup of tea and talk to our host family about how a day in their life was. They said that “Wet rice cultivation is a hard work. Sell face to the ground, see back to the sky. We are concerned about weather condition all the time. We all pray for good weather and a fruitful season”. We knew that despite the modern aspects of Vietnamese life in the cities, farming is still a main job bringing major income. Our guide explained Vietnamese tradition and culture to us. We felt a passion on him . We put on farming clothes, shoes and gloves and got ready to rice field.

We felt it wonderful to stand at endless paddy field. Our first practice is how to plough with cow. Our guide gave us some tips that to ask the cow to move , say “Đi”, to stop him, say “Họ”, to ask him turn, say “Vắt”. Our first hands-on experience was amazing but we had problem how to mange it properly. The farmer ,who instructed us, asked us to take our time and easy to manage it. My friend took a plenty of photos as well as recorded a video of me ploughing on the field. We were laughing each other. We took a rest a while and went to talk to a peasant who was working on the field nearby. He was taking care of his veggies. We said we would love to try our hand on farming with him. He gave us a warm smile and said yes. We did some farm works such as : watering plants, hoeing the soil and planting vegetables. We were so happy that the peasant said that we did a good job.

Continue our fantastic trip, we learnt how to use cast and round net to catch fish. Our guide made a joke that “no fishes, no lunch” . It might an encouragement to us. We definely caught some fishes. We carefully looked at our guide who showed us how to work with fishing tools and learnt its techniques. We thought it would be a bit difficult for us. We throwed cast net, hanged on and started loading the net. We were very excited to wait, unfornately, we caught nothing. We decided to try one more time. Wow! We caughted a couple of fishes, we were so so happy, shouted “Hey! Fish Fish” and hugged each other. We were kidding that we only had a little food for lunch.
We got a slow a pace of life and back to the house. Our host family were cooking meals for us. A good taste from the kitchen made us more hungrier. We joined our hand help our host family with cooking. This was the most memorable moment in a day is to enjoy our lunch. Let’s see what we had for lunch. They were all local food : deep fried spring roll – my favorite food, bun (rice noddles), deep fried fishes, banana flower salad, chả lá lốt ( pork tossed with wild betel leaf), honey-glazed grilled chicken. We sat on a round table with our host family, cheered up with a cup of rice wine and didn’t forget a big smile. You can’t imagine how happy we were.

After lunch, we started biking in the countryside, snapped the best photos ever and see how organic farm is with fresh veggies and fruits such as tomatoes, corns, kohlrabi , broccoli and salad. We stopped at a local market and learnt how to “bargain” and bought some fruits. We got back to the house and bid farewell to the host family. We arrived at the hotel at 4.00pm.

We thought we were so lucky to get this unforgettable experience. It was so fantastic that we could travel in our styles with a private tour. It was once in a life time experience. As for us, Vietnamese countryside is the place where you can come to recharge our soul.

P/s : If we had had enough time, we would have stayed at a Eco Homestay with friendly locals