Around 30 kilometres from Lai Chau City (Lai Chau Province), the cluster of about 30 water wheels in Na Khuong Village, Ban Bo Commune, Tam Duong District, has become a popular tourist destination in recent years.
Water wheels continuously spinning to pump water to a higher place for irrigation of the rice during the growing season.
The water wheels are not only essential agricultural tools of locals but also create a pristine and unique beauty in the mountainous region.
Na Khuong Village is about 9 kilometres from Tam Duong Town and 40 kilometres from the touristic Sa Pa town of Lao Cai Province.
This location is advantageous for developing tourism, as it is convenient for both tour groups and independent travellers.
Water wheels are constructed in many mountainous areas, Na Khuong records the largest number of water wheels with the biggest size.
From the parking lot at the beginning of the village, visitors walk about 500 meters across a bamboo bridge and a dirt path through the fields to reach the banks of the Nam Mu Stream, where the water wheels were constructed.
The best time to visit the Na Khuong water wheels is during the dry season, from October to April of the following year. Notably, around February and March, Na Khuong Village is surrounded by lush green rice fields.
For people of the Thai, Muong, Tay, and Nung ethnic groups living in the northwest, the water wheel is an essential agricultural tool that helps locals deliver water from the lower rivers or streams to the higher fields.
On the bank of Nam Mu River, 30 water wheels, each 4-6 metres high, continuously spin to take water to a higher place for irrigation of the rice during the growing season.
Visitors can try on traditional costumes of ethnic groups in Lai Chau to take photo with water wheels in Na Khuong Village
A water wheel is a product of the skilled hands of Thai ethnic people. To build a water wheel, the Thai in Na Khuong choose a log as its horizontal axle. The log must be light, resilient and water resistant.
Spokes of the wheel are made of straight stems of ‘vau’, a type of bamboo. Rattan woven blades are added to the outer rim of the wheel so that the power of the water can drive the wheel and deliver water higher.
Water wheels are only used before the flooding season. During heavy rainfall and floods, many water wheels can be swept away by the rising and rushing water. When the floods come, water wheels are often carried away by the raging water. After the floods recede, the locals rebuild new water wheels for the next planting.
The water wheels are not only attractive to tourists from Lai Chau City and nearby districts but also those from other provinces.
Visitors to Na Khuong Village can taste specialties of Thai cuisine such as grilled chicken, bitter bamboo shoots, stream fish, and rice cooked inside bamboo tubes.
In addition to admiring the beauty of the water wheels and explore their construction and operation, they can also experience fishing, swimming in the stream, rafting, and try on traditional costumes of ethnic groups in Lai Chau, such as the Thai, Dao, Lu, Giay, and Lao.
They can taste specialties of Thai cuisine such as grilled chicken, bitter bamboo shoots, stream fish, and rice cooked inside bamboo tubes.
The local vendors, all from the Thai community in Na Khuong, offer souvenirs and food services at very affordable prices with warm and genuine hospitality.
The Thai people often compare water wheels to huge pumping machines that bring water to their fields. These structures are not only a symbol, a unique cultural identity of the Thai ethnic minority people in Lai Chau Province but also create a simple but beautiful image closely connected to the local life for visitors to admire and explore.
