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THE HERITAGE JOURNEY
Currently there are several ancient
houses in the village that welcome
tourists for stays. Two to four people
can stay in each house.
Following the steps of an old man,
we walked down a shaded path past
houses separated by Chinese tea trees
rather than walls. Inside one garden
stand fig trees, jackfruit trees, areca,
peach trees and much more.
Ho Van Te’s house, one of the
biggest and oldest, was our first stop.
Built in 1880 the house is a typical nha
ruong made with iron and jack-fruit
wood. The girders, beams, bars and
pillars are shiny while the wooden fur-
niture is intact and glossy and some is
inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Looking at
the moss tiled roofs bending under the
weight of time the need for preserva-
tion is clear.
Smaller than Te’s house, the house
of Ho Thi Thanh Nga is nestled under
bamboo and areca trees. The house
is a classic nha vuong. The surround-
ing garden was designed according to
feng-shui principles and the old brick
yard and ancient well make for a truly
enchanting setting.
Staying with a local family in an
ancient house is not as convenient as
staying at a hostel or hotel downtown,
but the houses are equipped with a
small toilet and bathroom.
As well as wandering around the
grounds, we had the chance to clean
the brick yards with a bamboo broom,
clear weeds in the garden, collect dead
leaves and cook a meal in the small
kitchen with dried leaves and wood.
It was rather hard to cook perfect rice
with local terracotta pots in a narrow
and dark kitchen covered with thick
smoke and dust, but with some help we
prepared a delicious feast.
The morning began early and it
was the first time in my life I had risen
at 5am without an alarm. The house
was full of the aroma of flowers and
felt fresh with a cool breeze. Butterflies
flew around and the sound of bird song
filled the air. It seemed I was in a fairy
tale, absolutely isolated from the out-
side world.
Leaving Nga’s house, we took a
stroll around the ancient village to
its ancient terracotta kilns. The vil-
lage’s terracotta is simple and natu-
rally beautiful. It is mainly used for
domestic containers and the villagers
call it ‘dooc dooc’.
Today, the ancient technique of
making pottery has almost died, with
only a few artisans firing in the old fur-
naces. A centre of traditional ceramics
and terracotta was built in the village,
but it uses the modern techniques of
Bat Trang village in the north.
Leaving Phuoc Tich we travelled to
many other villages around the area,
such as Thanh Tien paper flower village
and My Xuyen wood carving village, but
most of them do not offer homestay
services.
Hue’s homestay service is not as
popular and developed as in Sapa, Mai
Chau or Hoi An, but the city has a quiet,
meditative mood that makes it ideally
suited to this type of travel.