Thung Nai Valley

Baked fishes & chicken on
the way to Thác Bờ temple
One of the local specialties is fishes
which are caught in the reservoir.

Blog about Vietnam - Friday, 30 March 2012 - My company organized a one day trip, so I traveled with my colleagues to Thung Nai which is located 100km northwest of Hanoi. Thung Nai means "valley of deer" as deer were coming to this valley in the old days. When Hòa Bình hydropower plant was built in the 1980s, the valley became a reservoir. The mountains were partly submerged in the water and they became islands, as a result the landscape is similar to Hạ Long bay. 

We left Hanoi at 7am and back to the city at 7:30pm. When we arrived at Thung Nai commune, we rented a boat (about US$60) and cruised on the reservoir. We visited a couple of temples and I saw some interesting things there. Along the way to the temples, the Mường and Dzao ethnic minority people sold some local specialities such as fishes which were caught in the reservoir, and herbs. The fish or chicken is put between two halves of bamboo sticks and baked over a wood fire.