Mo Hra-Dap village still preserves many cultural values typical of the Bahnar people in the Eastern Truong Son region. The villagers still maintain the communal house - a space for community activities, organize many festivals, traditional religious rituals along with the art of gongs and xoang; many people practice handicrafts such as weaving, brocade weaving...
Community tourism based on unique cultural values
In 2019, the “Connecting Heritage” project sponsored by the British Council brought a turning point to the village of Mo Hra-Dap. With a total investment of more than 1.3 billion VND, the local people were instructed on how to do tourism based on their own cultural values.
They established service groups for cuisine , weaving, brocade weaving, performing arts and welcoming guests. The first “test tours” not only helped people learn how to serve but also received feedback from businesses to perfect community tourism products.
By 2024, the village will continue to receive an investment of 14.5 billion VND to become the first OCOP product on community tourism in Gia Lai . Many new items will be built such as communal houses, community living spaces and restoration of traditional festivals. Step by step, Mo Hra-Dap will be awakened, becoming a "muse" in the middle of the tourist route in the East of Truong Son.
Ms. Tran Thi Bich Ngoc - Civil servant of the Office of the People's Council and People's Committee of To Tung commune, who has accompanied the village's community-based development projects since the beginning - said: In November 2024, nearly 40 villagers were able to study the community-based development model in Vi Ro Ngheo village (Quang Ngai province).
“After the course, the village’s service groups operated quite systematically. In addition to the gong team, cuisine, weaving, and fabric weaving, the village also had elders who were knowledgeable about the culture and knew how to tell stories so that visitors could better understand the life of the Bahnar people,” Ms. Ngoc shared.
Currently, Mo Hra-Dap has only one household running a homestay and is calling on other families to join to meet the accommodation needs of visitors from afar.
The village's communal house is considered a "miniature ethnographic museum", displaying hundreds of artifacts, from farming tools, traditional musical instruments, gongs to traditional handicrafts... All tell cultural stories through each generation.
The village currently has 5 gong teams, including 3 adult teams, 1 women's team and 1 children's team, always ready to perform when guests arrive. The formation of these gong teams is thanks to the merit of the Hmưnh Meritorious Artist.
After 75 farming seasons, Mr. Hmưnh is considered the "soul" of the village, the village storyteller, bringing visitors witty and profound stories about Bahnar beliefs and customs.
Participating in the first days of the village operating the community-based tourism model, the Hmưnh village elder concluded: “We teach children and women to play gongs and perform rituals such as the water drop worship ceremony, the new communal house worship ceremony, and the closing of the rice granary… so that the culture is not lost. From that heritage, we can develop tourism and make visitors love to come to the village.”
The young generation in the village continues that spirit, becoming the core in tourism: guiding tourists, performing arts, and introducing traditional cuisine.
Experience the richness of the highlands
Coming to Mo Hra-Dap, visitors are immersed in a magical land with a vibrant cultural space - blending in with the rhythm of the sinus, the sound of gongs echoing in the night, weaving baskets, brocade weaving or enjoying a traditional Bahnar meal right at the communal house with grilled stream fish, steamed rock snails, fern... prepared simply but with the rich flavor of the mountains and forests.
The village's landscape is very rustic and pristine, surrounded by sugarcane fields, clear streams, mountains, and further away are forests, creating a unique charm for visitors looking for authentic experiences.
Recently, famous photojournalist-travel blogger Ngo Tran Hai An (from Lam Dong) and photographer Nguyen Linh Vinh Quoc (Gia Lai) visited and recorded images of life here.
Artist Vinh Quoc shared: “What impressed me most was the neatness of the village and the solidarity and friendliness of the people. The elders are truly the “wise men” of the village, have a deep understanding of the culture and are very talented, playing many traditional musical instruments such as the goong, ting ning, kní…
Meanwhile, the young generation is dynamic and flexible in service. Handicrafts such as brocade weaving and knitting are preserved almost intact, sophisticated and aesthetically pleasing. To experience the original values of Bahnar culture, lifestyle and character, this is a very potential destination.
The UK also believes that attracting people with strong tourism inspiration like Ngo Tran Hai An here will help promote the image of this Bahnar village in the middle of the Truong Son-Tay Nguyen mountains and forests to the "traveling community" across the country.
“Mo Hra-Dap should promote, especially beautiful images of natural landscapes and unique cultural values on social networking platforms, which will certainly create a stronger effect in attracting tourists,” he said.
Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/mo-hra-dap-diem-du-lich-cong-dong-hap-dan-post570845.html
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