A local official on an old Honda Dream has become one of the most unlikely travel ambassadors in Vietnam. Pham Duc Nam, chairman of the People's Committee of Dong Van Commune in Tuyen Quang Province, started filming short videos of his weekend rides into remote mountain hamlets — and viewers across all 34 of Vietnam's provinces responded from his very first upload.
His format is disarmingly simple. Wearing a collared shirt, rubber sandals and a green pith helmet, Nam opens each clip with the greeting now recognisable to strangers in his local grocery store: 'Hello everyone, I am Pham Duc Nam, Chairman of Dong Van Commune.' Then he documents the plateau's daily life — Hmong villagers stacking dry-stone walls without mortar, traditional hemp weaving, steamed cornmeal 'mèn mén' being prepared for a meal. He narrates it all himself, records the voiceover, and lets a young team handle the edits.
The rides themselves are a feat. Hamlets sit ten kilometres apart across jagged peaks, linked by narrow concrete tracks and dirt trails that turn to slick mud after rain. Nam has worked in Dong Van for 35 years and still spends weekends travelling from hamlet to hamlet, handing out sweets to children and chatting with residents from morning until dusk.
The videos have a practical edge too. Back at the commune office, Nam uses what he sees to push crop and livestock changes — moving farmers off low-yield maize towards ginger, yacon and fruit orchards, and brokering off-take deals with lowland companies. His rides also double as scouting trips for community ecotourism, and his digital push aligns with Vietnam's Resolution 57 on science and digital transformation.
For travellers, the pitch is raw and unvarnished. Dong Van sits at the heart of the Dong Van Karst Plateau UNESCO Global Geopark, and Nam says the area still holds countless pristine landscapes most visitors have never seen. Think buckwheat flower fields, ethnic minority villages, vertiginous passes and folk crafts — plus a local chairman whose videos work as an honest, first-person guidebook. Roads are improving through a mix of state funding and community co-financing, though conditions remain rough enough that his companion recently punctured a tyre on sharp rocks. Go now, and you'll be among the early wave Nam hopes to welcome.
