Duong Lam Ancient Village is a place not far from Hanoi, a ancient village likened to a “forgotten ancient town”. That is Duong Lam Ancient Village. Just one day with a motorbike ride or a bus ride of less than 2 hours, you can reach Duong Lam Ancient Village already. Let’s explore Duong Lam Ancient Village in one day with us.
How to go to Duong Lam Ancient Village from Hanoi
Duong Lam Ancient Village is not too far from Hanoi, only about 50km, so we decided to experience it by motorbike. From the center of Hanoi, it takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes to get to Duong Lam. (This time is only applicable for a direct route, without detours).You can also choose other means of transportation such as bus, personal car, taxi, etc., depending on your preferences and budget. I prefer to ride a motorbike for cost-saving.
By Motorbike:
The weather is hot this season, so we decided to wake up early, leave early, and arrive early for good health. They say when it comes to going out for fun, waking up early is a must, it’s like getting a dose of “fun vitamin” right away, it’s totally different.
Route to Duong Lam Ancient Village from Hanoi: From Hanoi Thang Long Avenue Hoa Lac Turn right onto QL21 Go straight to Hospital 105 Follow the signs to Duong Lam Ancient Village.After 1 hour and 30 minutes of travel, we finally arrived at Duong Lam Ancient Village. Completing ticket purchase, parking, etc., took about 30 minutes.
By Bus:
From Hanoi, you travel to My Dinh bus station. From My Dinh bus station, you can take bus number 71 or bus number 70 to Son Tay bus station (remember to ask the driver if this bus goes to Son Tay bus station and remind the driver to drop you off at Son Tay bus station). The bus fare from My Dinh bus station to Son Tay bus station is 20k per person.
It takes about 45 minutes to reach Son Tay bus station. The bus will drop you off on the side of Son Tay bus station. You can take a motorbike taxi from there to the village for about 80-100k. If you take a taxi, it’s about 200k. However, if you ride a motorbike, you will need to pay an additional 20k for entry, while taking a taxi does not require this.
Itinerary for a day trip to Duong Lam Ancient Village by motorbike
- 6:30 AM: Departure from Hanoi.
- 8:00 AM: Arrive at Duong Lam Ancient Village.
- 8:30 – 9:30 AM: Buy tickets and visit the Village Gate and Mong Phu Communal House.
- 9:30 – 11:30 AM: Visit ancient houses, Tham Hoa Giang Van Minh Church, and the ancient well in Duong Lam.
- 12:00 PM: Rest and have lunch.
- 1:30 PM: Visit Phung Hung Temple, Ngo Quyen Tomb, and Mia Pagoda.
- 3:30 PM: Visit the over 1000-year-old Duoi Rang tree.
- 4:30 PM: Return to Hanoi.
What to do in Duong Lam Ancient Village
If you go by motorbike, you’re all set. But if you take the bus, you can rent a bicycle for as low as 30-50k per hour or rent it for the whole day for 100-150k. As I’m currently into walking, I chose to explore on foot for convenience.
- Mong Phu Village Gate: After parking our bikes, we stopped by a drink stall run by an elderly lady right at the village gate to buy a conical hat for photos :). Here, we heard the lady recounting that the Mong Phu Village Gate has been around for about 460 years. Wow, it was surprising to see it still standing. Especially next to the village gate, there’s a very large banyan tree, its branches covering the entire gate. When I asked the lady, she told me that this banyan tree is also about 400 years old.
- Mong Phu Communal House: After passing through the village gate for about 500m, you’ll reach the Mong Phu Communal House. My first impression was the very large triple gate. I noticed the main gate was closed, with only the two side gates open for people to pass through. I was curious, and an elder inside the house explained that only on special occasions is the main gate opened, as in the past, the main gate was reserved for kings, while the side gates were for civil and military officials. It sounded quite interesting, a very useful piece of information for me.
- Ancient Well: Right next to the Mong Phu Communal House, there’s a very large stone well. It’s built with honeycomb stones. I heard the elders in the house say that the water here is very clear, and people often come here to fetch water for drinking or making soy sauce, but swimming is not allowed. For someone curious and fond of exploration like me, these are really interesting facts to learn.
- So, I’ve visited 3 check-in points already. These 3 locations reminded me of the image of “Banyan tree, water well, communal yard” of the ancient villages in the Northern region. Very fascinating, my friends.
- Ancient Houses: Dương Thị Lan’s ancient house, Nguyễn Văn Hùng’s ancient house, Hà Nguyên Huyến’s ancient house,…
The 3 locations we checked in were easy to find, but the ancient houses were really hard to locate. So, we stopped by a drink stall run by a lady next to the Mong Phu Communal House to have a drink and ask for directions. After inquiring for a while, the lady sold us a map with a message: “Wherever you go, just follow the map.” So, we followed the map’s directions.
We visited 3 ancient houses:
- House of Mrs. Dương Thị Lan.
- House of Mr. Nguyễn Văn Hùng.
- House of Mr. Hà Nguyên Huyến.
Review of ancient houses in Duong Lam Ancient Village
Our general impression of these ancient houses is that they have been built for a long time. The oldest house belongs to Mr. Nguyễn Văn Hùng and is about 400 years old. Most of these ancient houses are built with a structure of 5 compartments and tiled roofs. From what we observed, the middle compartment is usually the ancestral altar, while the two side compartments are used for receiving guests. The remaining two compartments are the family’s bedrooms. Outside the yards of these ancient houses, there are many earthenware jars, especially the jars of fragrant rice paste. Almost all the families we visited still keep traditional items such as corn grinders, fish baskets, and other items whose names we do not know.
Notes when visiting ancient houses in Duong Lam:
- When you come here to take photos or visit, remember to ask for permission from the homeowners.
- The homeowners here sell specialties such as lam tea, rice paste, thorn cake, etc. After your visit, you can buy some as gifts.
- If you rent a bicycle, be careful where you park it. Due to the high number of visitors to these ancient houses, caution is needed.
- It’s a good idea to get yourself a map to make it easier to find your way around.
What to eat in Duong Lam
After exploring all these places, it’s time to satisfy your hunger. We went to Đình Mông Phụ to visit the lady selling drinks next to the communal house. While having a drink, we also ordered lunch here, but I can’t remember the name. I will provide more detailed information about the food in the culinary section.
Eating and resting until 1:30 PM, we continued our journey to explore the remaining places here:
- Mia Pagoda: We only passed by this place without going inside. The impression right from stepping through the gate is the very tall Nine-story Tower. Inside, there are Buddha statues sitting very solemnly.
- Ngô Quyền Temple: When we arrived here, we realized that not renting bicycles was a mistake. We moved from Mông Phụ Temple to Mia Pagoda and it already seemed far. It was about 1km, not a short distance. And the weather this season felt like it was draining our energy. But things didn’t stop there, we followed the “heavenly” map and walked, and walked, and walked about 2km (on foot) until we finally arrived. I thought to myself, well, it’s all for the passion, I’m still young – still strong, so that stretch of road was nothing.
- Luckily, there was a drink stall next to the temple, where we sat, rested, drank water, and chatted with the ladies. The ladies told us: “Ngô Quyền Temple and Tomb were built on a high hill called Forbidden Hill, facing East. The temple is built on the upper side, about 100m away from the tomb. King Ngô Quyền’s tomb is built like a roofed house, about 1.5m high.”
- Cổ Ruoi Forest: This forest is right next to Ngô Quyền Tomb. We were told that the ruoi forest here is over 1000 years old. It consists of 18 very tall bamboo trees lined up in a row about 300m long. The bamboo forest is very beautiful, and although there’s not much to see, taking photos there is quite nice. If you’re not afraid of getting dirty, you can bring a mat, lay it on the ground, have a light snack, and take a nap for a peaceful moment. In this noisy urban area, there’s nowhere like that, so you should try it once. Just remember to avoid places where people let their cattle defecate.
Lunch in Duong Lam
As I shared above, our lunch was ordered at a lady’s drink stall. We ordered a meal for 2 people for 200k. The menu included:
- 1 plate of stir-fried meat.
- 1 small chicken dish (about ¼ of a chicken).
- 1 bowl of salted eggplant.
- 1 bowl of morning glory soup.
- 1 bowl of fish sauce, 1 plate of chili salt.
- 2 bananas.
This was our 200k lunch menu for two. For us, it was just right. Not expensive, not cheap. Overall, it was acceptable.
Additionally, you can buy local specialties here as gifts:
- Lam tea.
- Gai cake.
- Doi candy.
- Rice vinegar…
How much does it cost to visit Duong Lam?
- Cost: 170k per person.
- Places to visit, check-in:
- Entrance fee: 20k per person.
- Parking fee: 10k per vehicle
In general, the cost of a day trip to Duong Lam Ancient Village by motorbike is only about 300,000 VND per person, which is comfortable.
Notes when visiting Duong Lam Ancient Village:
- When visiting the Ancient Village, you need to buy tickets at the Mong Phu village gate, ticket price is 20k per person.
- The best way to explore the Ancient Village is by walking or cycling, so you can wander through the alleys of the village without disturbing the tranquility and peace of the ancient houses here.
- If you cycle to the sightseeing spots, make sure to park your bike carefully.
- If you want to have lunch, make sure to arrange it beforehand so you can have a meal right after your visit.
- When visiting the ancient houses, remember to greet the family members and ask for permission politely.
- There are often guards in yellow uniforms near the entrance to Duong Lam Ancient Village, so be cautious.
Above are some information about Duong Lam Ancient Village and a one-day itinerary for visiting Duong Lam Ancient Village. Hope my sharing will help you have an interesting and informative visit to ” Duong Lam Ancient Village.”
