Discovering the tranquility of Pom Coọng Village in Mai Châu

Pom Coọng Village, near Mai Châu in the rural province of Hòa Bình, is one of the beautiful spots in the north of Việt Nam. 
The village is surrounded by nature, made up of rolling hills, rustic houses and immense rice fields.
Pom Coọng has a very unique name. In the ethnic Thái language ‘Pom’ means hill and ‘Coọng’ means drum. Therefore, ‘Pom Coọng’ means ‘the village of hills on a big drum’, implying a great field. 

The village has over 70 households with more than 300 people. 

Walking around in the village, we saw stilt houses built in clusters. These types of houses are traditional to the Thái ethnic minority and are usually made of bamboo. The floor is about 2m off the ground and is fixed by solid wooden pillars. The house’s roof is made of rattan and palm leaves. In addition, the houses on stilts here often have large windows to take the wind on hot summer days.

Beneath the houses is a place to sell souvenirs for tourists such as handloom cloth, bags, shirts and bracelets, making houses more prominent. Interwoven with the unique houses on stilts are green gardens of local and beautiful terraced fields. Tranquility and coolness are the things that we easily feel when coming to Pom Coọng.

We spent our time walking around the village, taking some photos and breathing in the fresh air, enjoying a really quiet life in a mountainous village which is completely separate from the city.

In addition to the beauty that nature has favored, the village is also really beautiful in spiritual value. People live in solidarity and friendliness with each other. No gambling, drunkenness or theft happens in the village.

At night, people do not need to close their doors or worry about thieves. Perhaps it is the beauty of the charming nature and the real peace in the community that Pom Coọng is becoming more and more known to tourists.

We chose Mai Châu Countryside Homestay to visit the area. The homestay has a view of the field and a small lake. It has bungalows above the lake, creating a feeling of closeness to nature. The price room for two people is VNĐ590,000, including breakfast.

Pom Coọng villagers started up tourism business in 1998 with three households, including families of Hà Thị Chung, Khà Văn Vương and Khà Văn Hưng. Up to now, the whole village has nearly 20 households doing homestay tourism attached to Thái ethnic identity.

According to Chung, visitors to the village are mainly foreign tourists, so they really want to explore the life of the people. Therefore, she organizes activities such as working with farmers in the fields to plant rice; helping poor households in repairing houses and building toilets and cycling around the village to discover the beauty of the mountainous region. Besides, visitors can prepare ethnic dishes by themselves to create closeness and attachment with the locals.
Chung said that her family have linked foreign tourists to locals to build many houses in Pu and Nà Mòn hamlets.
When the sun sinks behind the mountains, night falls, and the sounds of musical instruments emerge. The locals now come out and dance with the tourists.