Pac Ngoi is the main Tay minority village on the lakeshore, and staying here rather than in Cho Ra town is the right call. The village sits on a flat spit of land between two arms of the lake, and the homestays are in traditional stilt houses — wooden, raised on posts, with communal sleeping platforms under a corrugated roof. It is not glamorous but it is genuine: the families still fish the lake and farm the surrounding hills.
The Tay are the largest ethnic minority in Vietnam, and their culture is distinct from the Kinh majority — different dress, different food, a different relationship with the landscape. At Pac Ngoi you will eat what the family eats: sticky rice, freshwater fish from the lake, vegetables from the garden. In the evenings the village is quiet; the generator goes off at ten.
Boat trips to Puong Cave and Dau Dang Waterfall are easily arranged through your homestay host. The rate is fixed by the park and is displayed at the jetty.