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From Ako D'hong village to the storytelling house
Following in the footsteps of travel blogger Vinh Gấu, I visited Ako D'hong village – the "headwater valley" of the Ê Đê people. Decades ago, village elder Ama H'rin, along with some Frenchmen, established the village, opening up a new way of life in this once wild land. The French brought coffee cultivation techniques, and Ama H'rin fostered community cohesion, creating a solid foundation for the village. Thanks to this, Ako D'hong became the first coffee-growing center of Buôn Ma Thuột, while also preserving many traditional longhouses with old tiled roofs weathered by time and sheltered by the shade of kơ nia trees.
Located in the Ako D'hong village, Arul House embodies the rich culture of the Ede people in the Central Highlands.
Walking through Ako D'hong today, I felt like I was transported back in time: the drying yards still carried the scent of coffee, and the sounds of children playing echoed from the long houses hidden behind the trees. In the heart of an increasingly modern city, Ako D'hong remains a living piece of memory. And it is here that Arul House, the longhouse of the Ede people, is told through artifacts and everyday stories, waiting for visitors to listen.
Ede culture in the Arul House space
As soon as I stepped through the gate, facing the distinctive wooden statues of the Ede people, I knew I was about to enter a special space. The warm aroma of coffee permeated the old-fashioned setting: earthenware jars for rice wine, kpan chairs, H'gor drums, dugout canoes, baskets, rice mortars… All were present naturally, not confined in glass cases but blended into the deep brown wooden space of the longhouse. Light filtered through the small windows, illuminating the worn wooden floor, making each object even more vibrant, as if telling the story of the village.
Surrounding the house are wooden statues – a distinctive cultural feature of the people of the Central Highlands.
Ms. Tran Thi Chau Phuong, a woman from Hoi An who studied in Switzerland, fell in love with Ako D'hong a decade ago and has been a companion to Ms. H'len Nie in preserving and spreading the cultural values of the Central Highlands at Arul House. “Mother H'Len is a collector of memories,” Phuong said with a smile, introducing Ms. H'Len, an Ede woman in her fifties with bright eyes and a warm, deep voice. H'Len was born and raised in this very longhouse. After her father passed away, following the matriarchal system, she inherited the house to continue writing the story of her village.
From the house inherited from her parents, H'len has transformed it into a vibrant "museum" preserving the identity of her ethnic group.
H'Len's childhood memories and the way of life in her village motivated her to preserve the space where she grew up. "Seeing the gongs and jars gradually disappearing from the village, the old longhouses becoming fewer and fewer, and the old way of life fading away, I worry that future generations will no longer know about the Kpan chair and the H'gor drum, so I am even more determined to collect and preserve the culture of my people," H'Len shared.
Following her subconscious, she restored the house, collecting every wooden pillar from old houses, every basket, gong, jar, pestle, winnowing tray, kpan chair, H'gor drum, dugout canoe… “Nothing is new in this space,” she said. Indeed, from the chandelier made of dozens of time-worn baskets to the rice mortar repurposed as a plant pot, everything bears the traces of Ede life.
The patterns and motifs of the Ede people are carved on wooden objects in Arul.
The architecture of the longhouse resembles a boat, recalling the ancient origins of the Ede people who migrated from the sea to the highlands. At the northern end of the staircase, a pair of full breasts carved into the wood symbolize the woman – the pillar of the matriarchal family. Beside it is a smaller staircase reserved for men, vividly depicting the lifestyle and gender concepts in Ede culture.
I sat down on the long kpan bench, trying to imagine the scene of the Ede people of yesteryear gathering, men beating H'gor drums, women pouring rice wine, the whole village singing call-and-response songs around the firelight. French music echoed in the space as an interesting touch – reminiscent of the cultural exchange since the French first set foot in this land. Arul House, therefore, not only recreates the past but also tells the story of this cultural exchange, where Ede culture meets outside civilization.
Tourists gather to enjoy a traditional meal with the local people in the traditional Ede longhouse.
A communal meal under the longhouse.
The path leads through small gardens, where purple rhododendrons, yellow bougainvillea, and fragrant lantana flowers blend with native plants, creating a simple beauty like nature itself. When the footsteps stop in front of the longhouse, the evening feast begins.
The feast features dishes with the flavors of the mountains and forests of the Ede people.
In the warm ambiance under the yellow lights, Sruk Y Sol – a close friend of Arul House – introduced me to a long menu full of dishes associated with the traditional cuisine of the Ede people. From bitter gourd and anchovy salad, and sun-dried tilapia and mango salad, to rustic appetizers like Lak Lake crab cakes, shrimp fried with starfruit, or goby fish with chili and salt. The feast was further enhanced with smoked beef and pork, pork belly mixed with roasted rice powder, followed by a rich selection of main courses: grilled sturgeon with chili and salt, grilled tilapia with forest leaves, and grilled local chicken served with sticky rice cooked in bamboo tubes. Interspersed were steaming hot soups such as Djam Lai Ktơr – young pumpkin soup with pork ribs, and Djam Trong – bitter gourd and dried fish soup.
Shrimp stir-fried with starfruit
Grilled perch wrapped in forest leaves
Grilled wild chicken served with bamboo-cooked rice and bitter gourd and anchovy salad.
Among them, Y Sol lingered longer on Yao leaf soup (Djam Kpung Eyao) - a special traditional dish of the Ede people. The soup has a light green color and a sweet, refreshing taste. Yao leaves, a type of forest leaf with a delicate aroma and a shape similar to betel leaves, are the soul of the dish. When cooked with rice flour, green papaya, bitter eggplant, banana pith, a little meat, and spices, the soup becomes a perfect combination of forest flavors and the skillful hands of the Ede people, offering a delicious taste that is both rustic and unforgettable.
Yao leaf flour soup (Djam Kpung Eyao) - a traditional dish of the Ede people.
Arul House is not just a place to preserve artifacts, but also a place where Ede culture comes alive in every story, meal, jar of rice wine, or the rhythm of gongs. There, H'Len didn't create a silent museum, but a space for sharing, where visitors can sip Buon Ma Thuot coffee while listening to memories of matriarchy and community values.
Arul House is like a small flame, keeping the memories of the Ede people burning brightly amidst modern Buon Ma Thuot.
In the heart of the longhouse, young people find a reading nook, while foreign tourists quietly admire and chat, realizing the warmth emanating from the simple things. Arul House is thus like a small flame, keeping the memories of the Ede people burning brightly amidst modern Buon Ma Thuot – a simple yet profound encounter with identity, showing that culture truly lives on when it is preserved and shared.
