Among hundreds of tourism sites around the country, one stands out for what it represents – the original version of what we call the agricultural-based Vietnam – the complex of eco-tourism and craft village Mot Thoang Viet Nam (Passage to Vietnam) in HCMC’s Cu Chi District.
Our dream of establishing the site started in 1991 when Mot Thoang Viet Nam Cooperative wanted to create a place recognizable as a symbol of our motherland of Vietnam, said Tran Thi Tuyet Nga, chairperson of the cooperative. As other sites tend to promote a magnificent Vietnam of great artificial constructions costing an arm and a leg, the owner of Passage to Vietnam aimed to build up a miniature of Vietnam with typical characteristics of an agricultural-based country at a more economical investment. The building of the site was completed at a cost of nearly VND100 billion.
Starting from a war tortured landscape of about 19.6 hectares of wetland with 700,000 cubic meters of debris and sand poured in, the site now includes an 8-kilomter road and 53 buildings alongside thousands of species of plants.
The investors scoured the country for over a decade collecting historical relics showcasing the four millennia history of Vietnam and craftsmen of forgotten traditional craft villages.
All the painstaking efforts have been fruitful with the step-by-step formation of the site including a series of linking sections introducing tourists to the most featured items and displays of Vietnam.
Following a guide to the site, tourists will see relics considered rich as any national museum in the country and traditional craft villages with craftsmen performing their skillful operations in papermaking, pottery, jewelry making and weaving. These villages sell their products at shops that will surely attract visitors on the way to exploring the peaceful, green area. Traditionalists can find authentic houses of each region of Vietnam with their interesting characteristics.
Nga told the Daily she wanted to create a private space with a traditional atmosphere in which young Vietnamese could feel the sacredness of the term ‘fatherland’ and learn how their ancestors sacrificed their lives for the preservation of their culture. The place inspires even foreigners to pay their respects to Vietnam.
Located about 50 kilometers from the center of HCMC, tourists who want to pay a visit to the well-known Cu Chi Tunnels can go 10 kilometers further on the same route to arrive at the green-carpeted site that is worth at least a day of exploring the real Vietnam on a smaller scale.
