Duong Lam is an ancient village located 44km far from Hanoi, where is very suitable for those who are looking for the peaceful countryside to rest after the chaos of life. This place also preserves many old architectural houses with brick roads, laterite walls and the cultural features of the northern countryside. Let's right now take note of the Duong Lam ancient village travel experience below!

'

1. Where is Duong Lam ancient village?

Duong Lam ancient village is located in Son Tay district, Hanoi, only 44km from the city center. Duong Lam is the hometown of Ngo Quyen and Phung Hung, so it is called "the land of two kings". Today, Duong Lam village still retains the basic features of a village in the North with village gates, banyan trees, water wharf, communal yard, ... with 956 traditional houses. In 2006, Duong Lam became the first ancient village to be awarded the National Historical and Cultural Relic.

'

2. When is the best time to go to Duong Lam?

You can go to Duong Lam at any time of the year because Duong Lam's location is quite close, you can go back in about half a day. However, the most beautiful season is in the ninth rice season in May or September, at that time all the roads around the village are lined with dry straw after the harvest.

 '

3. How to go to Duong Lam

Located not so far from Hanoi,  the way to Duong Lam ancient village is quite easy. You can get to Duong Lam in the following ways:

Going by bus

There are 3 bus routes moving from Hanoi to Duong Lam ancient village:

Bus 71 from My Dinh bus station to Son Tay bus station, the fare is 20,000 VND

Bus 73 from My Dinh bus station to Thay pagoda, the fare is 10,000 VND

Bus 89 from Yen Nghia bus station to Son Tay bus station, the fare is 9000 VND

From Son Tay bus station, you can take a motorbike taxi or taxi to Duong Lam ancient village.

 '

Going by private vehicle

There are 2 routes for your reference:

- Go in the direction of Thang Long Boulevard, turn right at Hoa Lac junction, follow road 21 through Son Loc to the intersection with street 32, you will see a signpost to go to Duong Lam.

- Take road 32 to Son Tay town, at the intersection with road 21, there will be a turn to the village on the left side.

Specifically: Follow the direction of Thang Long Boulevard (or road 32, depending on the starting point), at the end of the road there will be a signpost to Son Tay, turn right and follow this direction for more than 10km, you will reach the intersection near 105 hospital. From this intersection, you go straight (turn left to Ba Vi, turn right to the center of Son Tay) along the bypass route of road 32, go through this road for a few kilometers to the intersection with road 32 (where there is a very large roundabout), you follow the left direction to go to Trung Ha bridge, right after passing the roundabout, look at the other side of the road, you will see the signpost to Duong Lam ancient village.

'

Going by passenger car

You can choose the car route My Dinh - Phu Tho to get to Duong Lam village with a travel time of about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

'

4. Means of transport in Duong Lam

Walking

Coming to Duong Lam, you can walk around the village to visit, admire the scenery and take photos. In case you take the babies, you should bring a stroller so that the children can sit and rest when their legs are tired.

Bicycle

Due to the increasing travel demand of tourists, today, many owners of old houses in Duong Lam ancient village rent bicycles to serve day trips. With a bicycle, tourists can travel around the village as well as tourist attractions near the ancient village without taking too much time.

Tram

With large groups (especially groups with many elderly people and children), you can hire trams to move around the village for convenience, especially on hot days that walking makes people more tired.

'

5. Visit Duong Lam village

After parking your car at the water stall at the village gate, you buy an entrance ticket (20,000 VND/person) and then walk leisurely to explore the ancient village. In the village, there are many restaurants where you can order lunch from the start of the trip or come back at noon and order food right away.

If you order lunch first, during the time they prepare food, you can go around the village, visit the monument sites, the old houses. Then at noon, return to the place to have lunch and rest there.

Attractions to visit in Duong Lam village include:

Mong Phu village's gate

There are many entrances to Duong Lam, but the only remaining ancient gate of the village today is in Mong Phu. In ancient Vietnamese architecture, the village gate is considered the door of a house.

Mong Phu village's gate is a work in the Duong Lam complex relics which is harmoniously combined with village roads, banyan trees, wells, communal ponds, green bamboo ramparts and immense rice fields. Surrounding the gate is a large and airy space. On one side of the gate is a banyan tree, which is said to be more than 400 years old.

'

Mong Phu Communal House

Mong Phu communal house has the largest scale in Duong Lam commune. It is located right in the center of Mong Phu village. The communal house is located in the position of the dragon's head, then on both sides of the communal house, there are two ancient wells which are considered as dragon's eyes. The communal house consists of two large cult buildings is Dai Bai and Hau Cung, one room and two large wings rooms, and both buildings are made in the style of four roofs with decorative motifs in the shape of rolling clouds and flying dragon. The communal house is roofed with fish-scale tiles.

'

Old houses in Duong Lam

Duong Lam ancient village has 956 old houses, many of which were built in the years 1649, 1703, 1850... These old houses are all made from traditional materials: laterite, oval wood, bamboo, terracotta bricks, tiles... with 5 or 7 compartments architecture.

Duong Lam Ancient Well

'

Mia Pagoda

Mia Pagoda is the place to keep the most artistic statues in Vietnam. There are 287 worshiping statues here, in which there are 174 terracotta statues painted with vermilion, 107 wooden statues and six bronze statues.

Phung Hung temple

Phung Hung temple was built in many places, but the temple in Duong Lam village is the largest temple with unique architecture including Ta - Huu Mac, Dai Bai and Queen's apartment.

Ngo Quyen Mausoleum and Temple

Ngo Quyen mausoleum is about 500m away from Phung Hung temple. Ngo Quyen temple and mausoleum complex was built on Cam hill, in front is a large rice field and Lom valley flowing into Tich river. The temple consists of a place of worship, a Dai Bai, a Queen's apartment, and a stelae house. About 100m away from the temple to the bottom is King Ngo's mausoleum built in the shape of 4 roofs on a high pedestal, surrounded by walls.

. 

6. What to eat in Duong Lam?

Roasted meat

To make this dish, the meat must be delicious, fresh, have thick skin and not too much fat. The marinating is also very important, need to have enough spices such as basil, pepper, onions, salt, fish sauce to make s good taste. One of the ingredients that makes the meat attractive is the taste of chopped young guava leaves marinated for about an hour. The marinated meat is wrapped neatly on a bamboo pole lined with banana leaves inside.

Because of the sophisticated way of processing, this dish is only made on the anniversary of death or the chance that ordered by a big group.

'

Rice cake, black rice cake, Che Lam candy, Peanut Candy

All dishes can be easily bought at the shops right in front of Mong Phu communal house and the Che Lam candy makers in the village.

' 

Mong Phu village's soy sauce

;

Source: Collected