The Sen Vang organic farm in Dong Chua hamlet of Residential Zone 9 in Thong Nhat ward, Hoa Binh city, boasts a large area of about 60ha. Applying an ecotourism model, it offers a wide range of interesting activities to visitors.
Tea made from dried "cuc chi” (Chrysanthemum indicum L) flowers is good for health.
The attractiveness of Sen Vang comes from a methodological planned space that still preserves natural beauty, simplicity, and pristineness. The farm is suitable for all visitors, from the elderly who wish to seek tranquility to young people who love to take photos and children eager to play and try new experiences. It is always full of sunlight and floral scent. This season is the time flowers of various kinds there are showing off their brilliant beauty, giving tourists an ideal destination for taking beautiful pictures. At Sen Vang, visitors can also take a rest at simple and naturally harmonious huts after touring the farm.
Spending their time at this organic farm, visitors can also try catching fish and crabs or harvesting wild bamboo shoots. Sen Vang is also home to strawberry and passion fruit gardens where they can enjoy fresh and cool drinks when the fruits are in season. Another interesting thing here is simple but delicious dishes made from locally farmed ingredients like spring fish, hill chicken, and shrimp from the Da River. In addition, hydroponically grown vegetables of the farm are also an ingredient of many fresh and healthy dishes for visitors.
Children try feeding animals at the farm.
The majority of people in Residential Zone 9 are from the Dao ethnic group. Preciously, locals mainly earned their living by doing farm work. The development of an organic farm here has helped change their livelihoods from only agriculture to tourism to raise their income.
Dinh Thi Bich Lien, owner of the Sen Vang organic farm, said her family started investing in this farm, covering more than 10ha at first, in 2019. After four years of strong efforts, the farm has generated initial stable revenue. Now, the Sen Vang agriculture and technology limited liability company has expanded the farm to over 60ha applying organic farming. Coming to this place, visitors can take beautiful pictures, caring plants and animals like sheep, goats, rabbits and chickens by themselves, or joining locals in harvesting medicinal herbs. Besides, it also supplies organic vegetables for the market.
Recently, the industrial promotion centre of Hoa Binh province has provided over 300 million VND (nearly 12,400 USD) in financial support for the farm to equip itself with machinery for producing herbal shampoo and drying organic fruits. Some main processed products of the farm include chrysanthemum tea, rose tea, dried perilla, distilled rose water, and citronella oil.
The farm is providing stable jobs for 10 locals with monthly income of 6 - 9 million VND.
Lien said she hopes that not only workers at her farm but all local residents will also change their agricultural production mindset and cultivate organic crops to form a production zone and improve product value.
In the coming time, the Sen Vang farm will continue expanding its scale and combine the preservation of the Dao ethnic culture with the development of experience tourism to help create jobs for more people and contribute to local socio-economic development, she added.
Hoa Binh province’s rich natural and cultural resources position it as a prime location for developing community-based tourism (CBT). In recent years, support from central and provincial policies, as well as assistance from non-governmental organisations, have encouraged local ethnic minority and mountainous communities to actively engage in the sector.
Van Son Commune, Tan Lạc district, Hoa Binh province also known as "Cloud Valley," boasts a cool climate, stunning natural landscapes, and majestic scenery. Visitors who have been to this place should make a stop at Chien Hamlet to experience a lot of fascinating things and feel the friendly, warmth of the Muong ethnic people.
Thanks to the effective exploitation of natural landscape and the cultural diversity of ethnic minorities, Hoa Binh province has become an attractive destination for tourists seeking experiences and exploration.
The Department of Cultural Heritage has just coordinated with the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Hoa Binh province to organize a training on implementing the model of the cultural heritage connected in the cultural tourism journey in Cao Phong and Lac Son districts.
The Sung village in Cao Son commune, Da Bac district, is endowed with pristine natural landscape, and Dao Tien ethnic minority community in the village preserves rich cultural heritage, including traditional housing, clothing, language, scripts, customs, and daily life practices. Since the community-based tourism model was introduced in the locality, these traditional cultural values have been further preserved and promoted.
