LUNG CÂM VILLAGE

The cultural village of Lung Câm lies 25 km south-west of the town of Dông Van, on the QL4C road. It is signposted and easy to reach by car, motorcycle or bus (take the bus from Dông Van to Tam Son). The village has 61 households, mainly ethnic Hmông. The village is made up of magnificent traditional mud houses, which have retained all their character, especially the handmade terracotta yin-yang tiles. The village is highly photogenic, and was the setting for the film L'Histoire de Pao, directed by Ngo Quang Hai and released in 2006. Pao, after the disappearance of her adoptive mother, sets out to find her biological mother in a quest for identity, where she discovers her Hmông origins. The film won four Golden Kite Awards from the Vietnam Film Association, the local equivalent of the Oscars. It was also screened at the Vesoul International Asian Film Festival. You can also visit Pao's house (entrance fee). The village is very popular with Vietnamese tourists, many of whom make a photographic stop here, particularly in late autumn, when the buckwheat fields are in full bloom. For the minorities living on the Dông Van plateau, the plant has both food and medicinal uses. It also attracts visitors when, at flowering time, a pink veil ripples over the valley, softening the rugged mineral landscape.