Stepping onto the steps of the stilt house...

Việt Nam•11/03/2024

The traditional wooden houses of the Co Tu people still retain their traditional staircases. Photo: ALANG NGUOC

Entrance to the house

Since its opening a few years ago, Pơloong Plênh's stilt house in Pơr'ning village (Lăng commune, Tây Giang district) has become a popular tourist attraction. Many people come to experience it and fall in love with it without even realizing it.

Everyone wants to set foot on the steps stained with kitchen smoke.
Mr. Pơloong Plênh said that many people are fascinated by this stilt house because of its old features – traditional cultural artifacts that he always preserves and meticulously displays.

On one side is the kitchen, above which is a rack for storing firewood, along with other items used in the daily life of the Co Tu people. Even more special are the baskets, crossbows, drums, and clothing made from tree bark... placed around the corners of the stilt house, creating a sense of simple, familiar traditional space imbued with a profound philosophy of life.

I climbed the steps of the stilt house, counting each step, feeling as if I were somewhere deep in a valley. Inside, the fire in the hearth was burning brightly. A fragrant aroma wafted through the air.

Every time I've visited, I've been captivated by this stilt house. Even in the clever arrangement of the two wooden staircases, the homeowner has ensured they meet at one point – both leading to the kitchen.

Climbing all the steps and looking up, you'll find the worship space. A portrait of President Ho Chi Minh is in the center, surrounded by other decorative items, including jars, pots, and gongs, adding color to this unique stilt house.

According to Pơloong Plênh, people in the highlands often consider the steps as the main entrance to their house. Except for the later-built single-story houses, all architectural spaces of the community, from gươl and moong to stilt houses and zơng houses (field huts), are built and fitted with steps connecting the base of the house to the wooden platform where people lie down.

"In the past, the Co Tu people only lived in stilt houses. The steps were built sturdily, both increasing longevity and creating a unique character for the house's space," shared Pơloong Plênh.

The other day, I climbed the mountain to a friend's farm hut. Amidst the swirling mountain mist, a charming stilt house stood, its sturdy steps creating a striking focal point at the edge of the forest.

That evening, we stayed at the hut, and during our conversation about the mountains, you expressed your dream of creating a stopover point for experiential exploration and "cloud hunting" in the forest.

Survival value

During our journey up the mountain at the beginning of the year, we woke up in a Co Tu village in the border commune of Ch'Ơm (Tay Giang). The village had recently been built on flat ground near the mountainside. All the villagers' houses faced the communal house (gươl), forming a closed circle.

The Co Tu people build their kitchens right next to the main house, so at first glance, it's easy to mistake them for two separate houses. The kitchen is also quite spacious, designed in the style of a traditional stilt house. A system of steps connects the two houses, creating a unique blend of old and new architecture.

Living along the eastern Truong Son mountain range, the Co Tu people and many other ethnic minorities use steps as "decorative" elements for their houses.

Typically, people make stairs from wood, in two main forms: solid wood and smaller pieces of sawn wood arranged into steps. From round logs, after bringing them back, craftsmen usually use axes to create each step in an arc shape, ensuring the base is flat to prevent slipping when going up and down.

These types of steps are also commonly found in gươl (traditional communal houses) and are quite elaborately carved. In the past, pregnant women were not allowed to climb the steps of the gươl, partly due to the danger, and partly because the gươl was a sacred place, the dwelling place of the gods.

Elder Bhling Hạnh (Công Dồn village, Zuôih commune, Nam Giang district) said that the steps in the houses of the highlanders are not simply for convenient movement. They hold very high value in terms of the community's survival.

For hundreds of years, when building their houses, people in the highlands have considered measures to prevent natural disasters as well as attacks from wild animals. Therefore, the more sturdy the steps of the houses (usually stilt houses), the higher the level of safety.

“Decades ago, people in the highlands raised livestock and poultry right in their villages. Therefore, the elevated houses were designed to ensure hygiene and allow for easy observation. Later, when barns and stilt houses were built, they gradually converted to ground-level houses to suit the new architectural layout,” said elder Bhling Hạnh.

Now, in many highland villages, traditional terraced architecture is no longer intact. The fading is gradually becoming apparent. Many residential buildings have been altered, especially the communal houses (gươl).

Although they may accept new trends, many village elders in the highlands, especially researchers of ethnic minority cultures, express regret whenever the old architecture is mentioned.

Old memories and historical values now exist only in archival images…

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