The two-day-one-night tour titled “Turn off the lights” includes accommodations at Duong Lam Homestay, which is located in the heart of Duong Lam Ancient Village (some 45 kilometers away from Hanoi), food and other travel costs for four people. The tour starts in the morning of March 27 and ends on March 28 afternoon.

The “Turn off the lights” tour. Photo: AZA Travel

Tourists will have the opportunity to enjoy the specialties of the Red River Delta such as boiled Mia chicken, roasted pork, fried dried radish, among other dishes; ride a bicycle to visit Mia pagoda, Vam temple, Mong Phu communal house, Duong Lam temple and some typical old houses in the ancient villages as well as experience traditional confectionery. In addition, each traveler will be given a tree to plant in Duong Lam village or bring home.

Interestingly, due to the name “Turn off the lights”, all of the tour’s activities at night will take place under the light of oil lamps and candles. All items related to power consumption, including for personal use,  will not be provided.

This tour is auctioned  with a starting bid of VND499,000 (or $20) for four people. Each subsequent bid must be higher than the previous one by VND50,000 ($2). The auction will be closed at 10pm on March 25 and the proceed will be  donated to WWF's Environmental Protection Fund or to be used for environmental activities organized by AZA Travel.

The “Turn off the lights” tour is an initiative of Nguyen Tien Dat, director of AZA Travel- a tour-operator based in Hanoi. The auction is now conducted publicly on his personal Facebook.

Forty-five kilometres to the west of Hanoi, Duong Lam is among a few ancient villages in Vietnam that still keep the majority of its traditional architectures intact.

Located in the namesake commune of Son Tay town, Hanoi, it charms visitors by authentic architecture of typical traditional houses as well as features of Vietnamese rice culture in every corner of this village.

Most vestiges of Duong Lam heritage were built with the laterite, a traditional material of the area, which is believed to help strongly cement the constructions through the time and has a typical antique beauty.