May Waterfall, as beautiful as a white silk ribbon, is a tourist attraction that draws visitors to explore and experience.
This April, with the warm weather, community tourism in Thach Lam commune enters its peak season. The reason for its appeal to tourists is the May Waterfall, which still retains its pristine and majestic beauty. According to legend, May Waterfall is also known as the "Nine Steps of Love" waterfall. Located amidst a primeval forest, the waterfall cascades down from the peak of Thach Lam mountain from a height of about 100 meters, with nine steps overlapping each other, creating gentle streams of water like the undulating waves of a white silk ribbon. In the past, May Waterfall was a calm, clear, and peaceful waterfall. Suddenly, one day, nine fairies flew over and stopped to bathe in the waterfall. While the fairies were bathing, they received a command from the Jade Emperor to return. The nine fairies hastily flew back to heaven, leaving behind nine footprints, which became the nine steps of the waterfall, hence the name "Nine Steps of Love."
In 2019, May Waterfall was recognized as a provincial-level tourist destination by the People's Committee of Thanh Hoa province. In 2022, May Waterfall was one of four famous waterfalls selected by the Vietnam Post Corporation to issue a set of stamps titled "Vietnam Waterfalls" to promote the image of Vietnam's land, people, and scenic landscapes. This is not only an important milestone affirming the potential value of the commune's natural landscape, but also a "foundation" for the locality to boost tourism development.
Based on its potential and advantages, the commune has intensified its efforts to promote tourism at May Waterfall to a large number of tourists from within and outside the province. As a locality with a large Muong ethnic minority population, Thach Lam still preserves many unique cultural features of the Muong people, such as: folk performances, gong music, lullabies, shamanic rituals, and Muong shamanic rituals; folk games such as: stick fighting, throwing the ball, archery, and swinging; distinctive traditional dishes such as sticky rice, hill chicken, buffalo meat with lalom leaves, bitter leaf soup, rock snails, and bitter bamboo shoots; and brocade weaving... In addition, the commune also preserves about 300 traditional stilt houses of the Muong people, some of which are hundreds of years old. This serves as a "lever" for the commune to promote community tourism with many unique experiential activities.
Over the years, the commune has actively promoted and encouraged people to focus on building a new, cultured, and civilized lifestyle to boost community tourism development. Simultaneously, it has publicized and introduced tours and routes connecting with tourist destinations within the commune; encouraged the Muong ethnic group to preserve and promote their traditional cultural values; and actively collaborated with the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to organize training courses on tourism development for local residents. Annually, the commune also actively organizes the May Waterfall Cultural, Sports, and Tourism Festival with many unique cultural and sporting activities reflecting the distinct culture of the Muong people, attracting tourists to visit and experience the area.
Thanks to these flexible and creative approaches, community tourism in the commune is increasingly developing. To date, 20 households in the commune have registered to participate in community tourism. Besides ensuring the necessary conditions and standards for accommodation and meals for 30-40 regular tourists, these households are also developing tours that combine experiences such as gong performances, cultural performances, and folk games of the Muong ethnic group, and taking visitors to directly observe traditional brocade weaving. In addition to community tourism households, many residents in the commune are also focusing on renovating stilt houses and improving their surroundings to create a bright, green, clean, and beautiful rural landscape, leaving a positive impression on visiting tourists.
Mr. Le Van Chien, a community tourism operator in Thach Lam commune, said: “Recognizing the growing development of community tourism in the commune, with many tourists visiting and staying, especially during the summer, my family has invested in renovating our stilt house and grounds to develop community tourism with the hope of increasing income and improving our lives; at the same time, it is also to maintain, preserve, and promote the cultural values of our ethnic group. To attract and best meet the accommodation needs of tourists, my family has focused on improving the quality of services, providing guests with accommodation, food, and drinks at the most reasonable prices. Along with that, we introduce and support guests in experiencing the daily life, work, and learning about the traditional cultural identity of the Muong people in the area.”
Community-based tourism is a type of tourism for travelers who enjoy exploring, experiencing, and learning about the customs and traditions of local people. Participating in this type of tourism, visitors will directly participate in daily life and work alongside the locals, discovering unique aspects of their indigenous culture. Therefore, with its existing potential and advantages, along with its creative, friendly, and hospitable approach to tourism, community-based tourism in Thach Lam commune is sure to be an attractive destination and leave a lasting positive impression on visitors.
Text and photos: Nguyen Dat
Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/kham-pha-du-lich-cong-dong-o-xa-thach-lam-245249.htm
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