Built around 1960, these houses are still relatively intact and in harmony with the surrounding landscape.
The Na Reo household group has more than 30 households of the Dao Tien ethnic group living together. The pace of life here is very slow and peaceful. Amidst the quiet space of the mountains and forests, the simple houses are neatly arranged, highlighting the characteristic yellow color of the rammed earth houses.
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The house is made of rammed earth and has a yin-yang roof. |
When we arrived, people were busy working in the fields. It is known that the main occupation of the people here is growing bamboo, arrowroot, corn and raising poultry and livestock. Harvested corn and rice are stored in sheds arranged at the gable end.
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Food storage. |
In the remaining neighborhood, the elderly and children were playing happily along the road. When talking to us, the people were extremely friendly and happy to have visitors from far away.
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Children playing in the neighborhood. |
According to Mr. Chu Ung Tich, the owner of a house in the neighborhood, the house he lives in was built by his parents around 1964, when he was one year old. During his time there, apart from a few times the yin-yang roof tiles were re-covered, the inside has never been repaired.
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Unique yin-yang tiled roof. |
Inside the house, the middle room has an ancestral altar, in the central area is a table and chairs for receiving guests. On the left and right are bedrooms for family members, kitchen area, common living area…
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Mr. Chu Ung Tich received guests in the main room of the house. |
Durable over time, all the earthen houses here are built according to the same architectural model. The outside of the houses are the same, the inside has a different arrangement depending on the household.
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Kitchen utensils |
The whole hamlet has only one row of 9 adjacent houses, the rest are scattered around with the same architectural style.
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The row of 9 townhouses is next to each other. |
The floor is made of thick clay, the roof is covered with ancient green moss-covered yin-yang tiles, the walls are made of thick, sturdy clay… Surrounding the house is a solid stone fence with stone steps going up and down. On both sides of the gable are arched arches, outside the door are many sturdy brick pillars.
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Arched columns and domes. |
Ms. Chu Thi Lien said that so far, only one household in the whole village has moved elsewhere, the rest of the people are still attached to this place. There is little movement or change of households here. When the house next door moved, the house was left unused, so her family broke through the wall and expanded the apartment.
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The wall was broken through to two houses. |
Ms. Ly Thi Un's house is less damp and has more light. Sitting in the kitchen chatting, she said that her family also wants to renovate and improve the house, but the local government encourages people to limit upgrading and repairing, which would change the original structure of the house.
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The kitchen inside Ly Thi Un's house. |
The common point of houses over 60 years old is that most of them are dilapidated, lack light, and are moldy inside.
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Interior decoration of the house. |
The household items are simple, basic and old… showing little impact of modern life.
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Mirror and comb hanging on the wall. |
With an architectural highlight, the local government supported funding to re-surface the broken earthen wall and renovate some degraded items.
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The clay wall panels are preserved intact. |
Mr. Chu Ung Tich shared that recently, many tourist groups have come to visit the rammed earth houses of the Na Reo group of households to learn about the ethnic cultural identity and traditional highland occupations. He and the people have heard about the plan to develop community tourism . However, with the current situation, to do tourism, it is necessary to build toilets and improve the landscape, making the surrounding environment more spacious and cleaner to be able to welcome visitors.
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The rammed earth house and the yin-yang roof are the highlights that attract tourists. |
With its unique architectural highlights, the rammed earth house area of the Na Reo household group, Tam Hop hamlet can connect to other tourist attractions in Nguyen Binh district such as the bamboo garden in Ban Phuong hamlet, Thanh Cong commune; the community tourism village in Hoai Khao hamlet, Quang Thanh commune; visiting the viewpoint on the top of Phja Oac at an altitude of 1,931m...
However, in addition to exploiting cultural resources associated with tourism development, local authorities need to pay attention to preserving residential architecture while improving the living environment of people, contributing to improving the material and spiritual life of people in the highlands.
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