Meet Dao women weavers who weave & embroider naturally dyed fabrics for the goodwill
Meet Dao women weavers who weave & embroider naturally dyed fabrics for the goodwill
Meet Dao women weavers who weave & embroider naturally dyed fabrics for the goodwill
Why this experience is unique?
Live with the Mao and Sung communities in the region of DaBac. In DaBac, you will witness the local tradition of Brocade: Fabrics are dyed using naturally derived colors, and intricately designed and embroidered by hand. It is a Dao tradition that every girl should know how to weave, embroider, and make their own clothes. Da women grow jute and flax to prepare the fabric. Multiple designs, shapes, and patterns are made on the fabric to represent local culture, to bring good luck to the communities, and to symbolize natural power and the universe.
The experience will involve trekking through the forest, enjoying the art performance by the local tribes, and losing oneself in the hidden natural beauty of the caves and lakes of the region.
On the first day, you will be introduced to the Muong culture in Hoa Binh city and drop into Ke Village with a traditional Muong stilt house in Hien Luong commune. During construction of these houses, each element is considered carefully as they represent aspects of luck and prosperity, from the orientation, the house faces, to the number of steps in the staircase. The day’s activity includes – Visit Homestays and Fish Cage, Participation in water activities including Rafting, Kayaking, and swimming
On the second day of the trip, you will arrive in a 300-year-old Sung village. Here, you will witness the Dao tradition of brocade. Fabrics are dyed using naturally derived colors, and intricately designed and embroidered by hand. Coins attached as decoration to headscarves give the distinction of Dao Tien or “Money Dao.” Enjoy the art performance by the Dao people in the evening and retire to your stay in a local Homestay.
Post breakfast, trek to see the caves known as “Amazing Cave” OR “Surprising Cave”. After visiting, walk through the Shan Tuyet Tea hills and bid goodbye to the Sung village post-lunch in the homestay and travel towards Hanoi.
Guests like to eat our Ladakhi food. They say it is delicious, even when it is prepared by an elderly ama (mother) like me. I always make sure I serve them the cleanest and healthiest food. My husband is a copper artist. When guests leave us, they say ‘Julley’, and hug us. It makes us feel happy.
I became a Mountain Homestay Host in 2018, and I have hosted many travellers since then. Running a homestay has helped me and my family a lot. Not only is the solar set up in our house useful for us, but even travellers prefer to stay in our homestay because of it.
The training we got in astronomy turned out to be a life-changing experience for our village. I felt happy and proud while mapping the position of the planets and sharing the secrets of the universe with the tourists. Tourists told me that even they didn’t know so much about the dark skies!
