Hai Phong Portal

Viet Hai tourist village

Viet Hai tourist village is located in the mid-ocean, covered by high mountains and copsewood of Cat Ba National Park, Cat Hai district, Haiphong. While very few domestic visitors set foot on here, Viet Hai is an attractive destination of many foreign tourists.

Formerly, Viet Hai was nearly isolated from outside world. Because of desolate mountains and forests, whenever the road was flooded during the rainy season, local residents unflinchingly “naked” plunged and swam.  Mr. Hoang, a Cat Ba inhabitant, admits his decision to get married and stay with his wife’s family in this village after such a “naked” time. At that moment, when he was crossing a stream to the village to sell bone-glue, he met a girl in the same “naked” situation like him. The girl felt ashamed, embarrassed and dropped all her clothes and belongings into the water. He then voluntarily lend her his clothes to put on temporarily. Afterwards, they fell in love and became husband and wife. Up to now, Viet Hai residents still maintain the life with formerly primitive features. In the whole commune, there are only dozen of old Chinese motorbikes, owned by reputedly richest families, to be used for running around on the newly paved concrete road. After one completes his riding, the motorbike is put aside along the road with the ignition key still putting on. The other then can take the motorbike for riding as his wishes, and returns it to the same place when finish using it. Houses are opened all days and nights; even when the masters are out for several days, nothing is stolen. When a family has matter, the whole village comes for help without being announced. Also, when there is a home matter, one can use other families’ furniture freely. Consequently, there are only two semiofficial policemen in the whole village to mostly take care of administrative works. Viet Hai is nearly “clear” of social evils.

Viet Hai is currently the remote and most indigent commune of Cat Hai district; however local residents are satisfied with their indigently material but richly sentimental life. They share their life with each other without self-interested intent in the mountainous and oceanic area. Mr. Dinh Van Thuy, Secretary of the Party Committee of the commune confides that, owing to this unique feature of cultural life, there are more and more foreign tourists visiting the village. In recent few years, thousands of tourists crossed streams and climbed mountains to come to the village. They heard of a neglected land within the world’s biosphere reserve area - Cat Ba National Park. Viet Hai residents gradually became clear-headed in doing tourist business. The village decided to send a group to Hanoi and even Ho Chi Minh City to learn methods of doing tourist business which can apply to the village particularly. A “woodlander” tourist company owned by local residents also launched business activities right at this remote mountainous village. Mountain-bikes bought in Haiphong interior have been brought to the village by ferry-boats to serve the village-tour and mountain-riding demand of Western tourists. There are few local residents both doing cultivation and driving motorbikes to take tourists for village-tours.

Several houses on stilts and restaurants were just opened to serve tourists. After coming back from the mountain and forest tour and arriving in these restaurants, foreign tourists will be served with dishes, of which foodstuffs are grown and raised by local residents themselves, such as chicken, duck, fresh vegetables, etc… Many senior citizens and adults in the village volunteer to undertake the role of “tourist guides”. Local senior citizens have already chosen nearly ten boys and girls in the village to send to Cat Ba for “updating” common English. Viet Hai residents are eager to do tourist business with the dream of turning their village into a unique “tourist island” in a near future./.