A corner of Kho Muong village.
Five years later, I returned to Kho Muong on a summer day in June. The small village was still the same, simple and rustic with stilt houses nestled under the shade of palm trees. This season, the terraced fields were dressed in a golden coat, sparkling with the color of prosperity.
Struggling to find our way to the Bat Cave, we happened to meet the Party cell secretary and village chief Ha Van Tang, who was sitting and chatting with Mr. Ha Dinh Nech, the owner of Ong Nech homestay. Thanks to this coincidence, we had another companion. The small path cut across the stream, rice fields, the sound of flowing water was cool and refreshing. The cave entrance was over 10m high, opening up a cool space, filled with the smell of primeval rock. Below was a natural system with interwoven rocks and trees. According to geologists, the Bat Cave was formed about 250 million years ago, belonging to the ancient Karst sedimentary limestone mountain system - similar to famous cave systems such as Phong Nha - Ke Bang.
On the way back, Mr. Nech said that before, he heard that Mr. A and Mr. B's families in Don village, Thanh Lam commune were doing community tourism . He thought that community tourism could only develop outside Don village, but how could Kho Muong develop because of the difficult transportation. However, one day, an officer of the Pu Luong Nature Reserve Management Board called him and asked if he could arrange for a group of 10 people to come and learn about the natural landscape, the cultural identity of the people and cook them a family meal. At that time, he was the village chief, so the officer asked him to do it, and he happily accepted. And then, the guests he received for the first time, they often contacted each other via phone, social networks, one person introduced another, and then many other groups of guests came to Kho Muong. Community tourism in Kho Muong was formed from there.
As one of 10 households providing tourism services in the village, the stilt house was renovated by Mr. Nech, the ground floor sells soft drinks, the upper floor is a large floor with enough space for more than 10 people. In addition to receiving guests, he also cooks, guides guests... On average, each year his family welcomes more than 200 domestic and foreign tourists to visit, stay and relax, earning an annual income of over 100 million VND. Many visitors come to visit and learn more, connect with friends, and bring Tet gifts to poor children in the highlands.
Kho Muong does not have luxury hotels or splendid restaurants... the business model of local households is still at a rudimentary level. Guests and owners live under the same roof, work together, cook together and of course can also enjoy delicious dishes from the mountains and forests. For example, Co Lung duck is firm and delicious. In the rainy season, Pu Luong mountains and forests have an additional dish of rock snails. The snails are hand-picked by the locals in each rock cavity, brought back and steamed with ginger or lemon, lemongrass, creating an irresistible aroma that visitors will find hard to forget after experiencing it once. There is also a special spice here, which the locals consider the "tourism ambassador" of Pu Luong, which is the peel of the tangerine. This bark is used as a spice for dishes, soaked in wine or used to make tea, the fruit is soaked in honey... "We do tourism in the simplest way, every stream, every tree branch, or cultural festival in the village is a material. We preserve that precious thing to attract tourists, at the same time preserve it for our children as capital, later when they have the conditions they will develop further. Many people know about Pu Luong, Kho Muong village, this land will be rich", Mr. Nech affirmed.
Thanks to community tourism, the Thai ethnic people here are turning the landscape, culture and local products into assets. On average, Kho Muong welcomes about 1,000 tourists each year, mainly international visitors. To attract visitors to visit and experience, Thanh Son commune has invested in building infrastructure, canal systems, electric lines to light up the village, and the road to Doi cave is made of concrete steps to serve tourists. However, the road connecting the main road to the village is still very difficult to travel, cars cannot enter. Therefore, investing in expanding the road to develop tourism and trade goods for the people here is necessary.
It is known that on October 27, 2020, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 4591/QD-UBND approving the Project to build a model of Kho Muong village community tourism, with the general goal of developing Kho Muong village community tourism into a branded, valuable, and highly competitive community tourism product. The project to build a model of Kho Muong village community tourism will be implemented from 2020 - 2025, oriented to 2030 with a budget of more than 16.7 billion VND. Striving to 2025, Kho Muong village community tourism will welcome about 7,300 visitors, in 2030 welcome about 9,300 visitors, of which 50% are overnight guests and 50% are international tourists; Total revenue from tourism in 2025 will reach nearly 6.9 billion VND, and in 2030 it will reach 14.2 billion VND. Hopefully, the project will be a "lever" to help local people preserve and promote their cultural identity, gradually increase their income, improve their lives, and contribute to promoting the local socio -economic development.
Article and photos: Tang Thuy
Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/kho-muong-son-nu-giua-nui-rung-pu-luong-251611.htm
Comment (0)