Location
Pac Ngoi Village has more than 40 traditional stilt houses locating on the slope of mountains which surround Ba Be Lake, emphasizing the beauty of this famous ecotourism destination. The village belongs to municipality of Bac Kan province.
Surprisingly, while the traditional stilt houses have almost been eradicated in many other provinces, the antique, unique and original houses of ethnic groups are still highly valued and preserved in Pac Ngoi despite the presence of modern architecture.
Historical and Cultural Importance
According to the local government, it is not the lack of money that keeps the inhabitants from building new and convenient houses but the love for their ethnic heritage. They strive to preserve and protect those cultural values from disappearing forever, because without these beautiful stilt houses, Pac Ngoi Village is no longer Pac Ngoi village.
Visitors coming to Pac Ngoi are not only entitled to witness with their naked eyes the most wonderful scenery of Northern Vietnam: a plethora of austere yet interesting stilt houses blending themselves with the glimmering mist and the shinning Ba Be Lakes, but also to stay in the rhythm of the Tay culture.
This claim can be easily proven by the fact that visitors have to remove their shoes once they step the very first steps on the staircase of a stilt house. Inside the house, ethnic people gather around the gleaming fireplace, forgetting themselves in the sophisticate stories about the economy or the politic.
They create a world that shares nothing in common with the big cities where electronic lights and high buildings are ubiquitous. They are just there, in their beautiful social center, waiting to share their most interesting stories about life with you.
