Approximately an hour’s drive west of Hanoi, Đường Lâm “ancient village” is actually a group of five hamlets: Đoài Giáp, Cam Lâm, Cẩm Thịnh, Dông Sàng, and Mông Phụ. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the area was home to wealthy mandarins of the Later Lê dynasty. Designated a national relic by Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture & Information, strict building codes have ensured UNESCO award-winning historic preservation. Each hamlet is easy walking distance from the next, and either walking or bicycling is the best way to take in the scenery. The village is surrounded by land mostly in agricultural use, dotted with temples and relics.

So what are the hallmarks of an ancient Vietnamese village? A village gate, communal house, communal well, ancient banyan trees, and traditional houses made from local materials. Each hamlet in Duong Lam has all of these; buildings here have been made of laterite bricks and mud for at least the last 500 years. The houses here are considered the height of Vietnamese vernacular architecture, built and inhabited by local elites when emperors still ruled from Đông Kinh (modern day Hanoi; anglicized to Tonkin). The sayings of Confucius still line the rafters of the descendants of bureaucrats, carved in old Sino-Vietnamese characters; dragons curl down the columns of homes presently occupied by the kin of military leaders long gone.

Though almost a thousand such houses exist in the village, fewer than 10 are open to the public. They are all in Mong Phu hamlet, the largest of the five. In Vietnamese, nhà cổ means “old house,” and a google maps search for the term will reveal a few 300-400 year old houses to visit. Please note these are not museums; they are still very much in use, with many of the older folks using tours to make a little extra cash and alleviate boredom.

You are expected to be exceedingly polite, visit on their timeline, ask before taking any pictures, and buy whatever they’re selling in exchange for experiencing their home. This isn’t a bad thing! If not for trying to get my camera into some interesting buildings, I would have never tried the extremely good local rice wine, soy sauce, mung bean cakes or bánh tẻ (rice with mushroom or pork filling, wrapped in banana leaves). If Mrs. Qua or Mrs. Lan aren’t open or aren’t home or seem busy, don’t act surprised or entitled; this is their real life!

Though each hamlet has its own communal house, some have fallen into disrepair as both the population and median income of the village has shrunken considerably since its heyday. Mong Phu communal house is where the most important community events happen; it is a carefully restored and maintained 17th century structure with wonderful carvings. Mong Phu also has: an active market square where you can rent a bicycle or buy a conical hat or some tamarind for a snack; the only two coffee shops in the village; a minimart; and the only places to stay overnight— perhaps 4 homestays.

Mong Phu hamlet also features the best preservation, with picturesque laterite walls and streets. If you consider Café Lang the center of the village (and who doesn’t need a non-powder coffee some mornings), the rest of the sites and villages are in opposite directions. Heading northwest, you first pass the confusingly named Đền Phủ Thờ Bà Chúa Mía, which (though an incredibly lovely, beautifully maintained, and active 17th century shrine) is not as important as Chùa Mía, the far older shrine just a bit farther northwest.

Chùa Mía is undoubtedly the most historically and aesthetically significant pagoda in the area. Though the Cuu Pham Lien Hoa Tower dates from the 13th century, the temple complex buildings all date from the 1620s-30s. Lovingly maintained over the centuries, everything is original or a necessary replacement made with the original materials and methods. The bell was cast in the 1740s and the gong in the 1860s; the ancient banyan tree is the largest I’ve seen in Northern Vietnam.

Even more significant than the architecture is the collection of Buddhist statuary: 287 wooden, stone, bronze, and gold plated statues fill the shrine, most over 300 years old, and some exceedingly rare. The most famous statues include the 8 Arhats, Tuyet Son, Dharmapala, Vajrapanis, and Guan Yin.

Just next door is the Đình Làng Đông Sàng (Dong Sang communal house), which is also in good repair and current use; if you are interested in doing further temple hunting, even further northwest, but still walking or biking distance, are Đình Làng Cốc Thôn and Đình Cam Đà. The Cam Da communal house is of particular interest if you want to see what pre-renovation 17th century temples look like; it’s totally intact, but not in use.

Going southwest from Café Lang, you can either go through Mong Phu village or bypass it on the way to Đình Đoài Giáp, which is unfortunately terribly dilapidated. Continuing on the same road, the quite small and ancient Miếu Đông Thịnh is used by the community instead. Again continuing southwest, over a bridge and past rice fields, are the tombs of the two kings, Phùng Hưng (761-802) and Ngô Quyền (896-944).

Phùng Hưng famously overthrew the Tang Dynasty colonists in 791, ruled as a local king of the former Annam protectorate for 11 years, and was deified post mortem. Ngô Quyền more permanently ejected the Southern Han Dynasty in 938, founding the Ngô Dynasty. Though his dynasty only lasted for the twenty years of warfare following his death, Annam remained an independent monarchy under various dynasties, repelling Mongol and Champa invasions, before the Ming Dynasty recolonized in 1407. The Ngô Quyền tomb is particularly lovely as it is located on the water, in a park.

Duong Lam village can be done in a day, but I think it’s much more soothing to languish for a few days in the rural quiet, biking around, eating local food, and going to sleep early.