The small coffee shop is located in Yet Kieu area, Hong Gai ward, Quang Ninh province, but inside is a treasure trove of rare and priceless antiques.
One of the most eye-catching artifacts for those who come here is probably a very long dugout canoe, nestled in the depth of the house.
The owner of the shop is a person who is knowledgeable about antiques - Mr. Tran Trong Ha - former Director of Quang Ninh Museum.
The coffee business is done by a nephew, but he wants to bring antiques into the shop – which is also his house – so that people and friends can come to admire and learn about life stories, history, culture... around each antique.
The dugout canoe, according to Mr. Ha, is affirmed by antique collectors as one of the few oldest and largest dugout canoe in the world that is still intact.
When dating using the radioisotope (C14) method, this boat is nearly 2,000 years old and was made from a whole tree about 800 years old.
Each part on this dugout canoe is also a very interesting story, associated with the craftsmanship and function of the canoe in each task.
The stories surrounding the search and transportation of this ancient dugout canoe to Quang Ninh are also very interesting.
The boat is about 10.8m long, the width of the boat's hull is 1.07m, the highest height from the bottom to the flat side of the boat is nearly 40cm. Therefore, when transporting it to Quang Ninh, Mr. Ha had to hire a super-heavy truck but it still crept out more than 3m.
This ancient boat was salvaged by a resident on the banks of the Duong River a long time before Mr. Ha bought it and is used to store miscellaneous items in the house.
Through friends, Mr. Ha bought it in 2012. At that time, Mr. Ha was still the Director of Quang Ninh Museum, so he bought it and drove it straight to Quang Ninh Museum for the purpose of buying it for the museum. However, in the meeting of the professional council, 60% of opinions disagreed to buy this boat, so he took it home and kept it until today.
Some antique collectors have asked to buy the antique dugout canoe at a very high price, but Mr. Ha did not sell it.
