“I did not expect the Son La mountains of Vietnam to be so beautiful. The zigzag roads in the mist, the long hills of white and yellow flowers, the warm wooden houses… make me flutter. I really like the people here - friendly, nice, especially the owner of this homestay. I found his homestay via Google. It deserves a very good review on this search engine", said Raphael - a Canadian tourist sharing his feelings about the homestay of Trang A Chu - a H'mong who "carried rocks upstream", pioneering tourism in Hua Tat (Van Ho, Son La) - a "opium barn" for a while.

Raphael was impressed with the Mong homestay owner Trang A Chu

A Chu's homestay (born in 1982) is located about 6m from National Highway 300 - the route connecting Hanoi to Moc Chau (Son La). The house has the architectural style of the Mong people with bamboo gates, stilts, wooden tables and chairs, in the yard are plows, mills, pig troughs, corn, pumpkins hanging everywhere. Each season, the house is covered with a color of flowers, when it is stone peach, yellow mustard, white mustard, when it is plum blossom, apricot flower.

A Chu Homestay has become a familiar name, recognized by many companies Travel trust, dear customers.

Mr. A Chu's homestay is crowded with tourists

About 10 years ago, this homestay land was just a mixed garden. Mr. A Chu boldly left the city to return to his poor hometown, quit the familiar corn-growing and rice-growing jobs, and embarked on tourism alone, amid the skepticism of his relatives.

Mr. A Chu said, that day, the couple sold all the corn and rice for only 1 million VND. They "risked" to borrow VND 28 million from their friend with the promise of returning VND 30 million, asking for 1 million VND for their biological parents. With 30 million in hand, A Chu deposited an old house, asked the young man in the village to help repair and build the house, when he had money, he would pay. After nearly a year, the first homestay of Hua Tat village took shape and opened its doors to survey tour companies in September 9.

Up to now, A Chu has become a famous homestay owner throughout the province. But he is still the same, still speaking in a lazy Hmong voice, wearing a traditional linen shirt, wide-leg pants, serving quickly and smiling brightly when welcoming guests.

A rare bachelor of the village, giving up the urban dream of a poor village to start a business

The Hua Tat village is actually called Hua Tat, which in the Mong language means the end of a land. People named it so to mark the boundary of the place where the Mong and Thai people lived in the past. About 10 to 15 years ago, Hua Tat was still a poor village where people lived in poverty, everything was self-sufficient. In the mind of Mr. A Chu, at that time, every house grew opium poppy. Young men smoke opium like young people smoke now. In any house where there is a party or a funeral, the wedding table is a reclining lamp.

In those years, people who could go to school and especially attend colleges and universities counted on their fingers. A Chu's journey to the city to learn "letters" was also interrupted many times because he had to earn money to cover his life. In 2013, when he was nearly 30 years old, Mr. A Chu graduated in Food Technology from Hanoi University of Science and Technology, the first person in Hua Tat village to have a bachelor's degree in Engineering.

 

There was a time when a Mong boy dreamed of a stable life in the city, escaping from a poor upland village. But for a long time, he was like a "lost person in the middle of the city", missing his hometown, longing to return.

It took a lot of effort to grind history to get a university degree in hand, but when I returned to my hometown, there was no job, the profession of a food engineer "didn't have a land to use martial arts". If you put your license to work in the field, the people in the village laugh and scoff: "If you go to university and then come back and still work in the fields like us, what do you learn to do?". At that time, many people also solicited A Chu to participate in "running goods" in the border area, ensuring "light work with high salary"... But the 30-year-old Hmong man at that time decided not to surrender to the situation.

In 2013, he happened to participate in a tourism program in Son La province, for the first time accessing basic knowledge about community-based tourism. “Dear God, not long after that, I met Mr. Duong Minh Binh, a leader of a travel company who is passionate about projects to build community-based tourism models associated with local culture. Uncle said that the location of Hua Tat at that time was very difficult for tourism, and had to be diligent and persistent because the location was far from Moc Chau and the situation of opium and drug trafficking was complicated," recalled Mr. A Chu.

But A Chu still sees the hope of starting a business from tourism. He and his wife followed Mr. Binh to Mai Chau, learning the first lessons about doing community tourism. In the 2013-2015 period, Moc Chau - Van Ho tourism began to have a clear direction. Taking advantage of the time, favorable weather, and human harmony, A Chu's family borrowed money to build a wooden house on stilts and open the door to welcome tourists. At that time, few people in the village believed and supported A Chu, thinking that "he was crazy" when he destroyed corn and rice fields.

Nearly a year, after the house was completed, A Chu and his wife also ran out of money, unable to buy blankets and pillows. Van Ho District Cultural Office at that time also joined hands to support bedding, Internet, Wifi… And the first "homestay" of Van Ho, Son La was built from those efforts.

A lover of art, A Chu uses her artistic eye to make beautiful decorative arts by herself, which are displayed everywhere in the house. Buffalo mules, thick cake pounding trays or aluminum pans, fish baskets are all used to become lampshades, wash basins, faucets in homestay…. Toothpicks, trash cans, bathroom mirror brackets, picture frames are all made from bamboo and wood. These items make domestic or international tourists feel interesting and curious about the origin.

During the first time as a homestay, Mr. Binh still supported and taught A Chu and his wife little by little, from communication, cooking, living habits... From a straight-forward, "hot and horizontal" Hmong boy, A Chu gradually became calm, knowing how to respect and satisfy difficult guests. After nearly 10 years, now, he and his wife can confidently attribute the personality of European, Asian, and American guests, understanding what they like to eat, how to drink coffee, how to talk. With domestic guests, you also skillfully serve to fit the taste of Southerners and Northerners.

Up to now, after many years of renovation and expansion, the homestay has 10 private rooms and two spacious communal houses on stilts, which can serve about 60 guests per day.

Before the epidemic, on average each month, Trang A Chu's "homestay" attracted about 400-500 visitors to visit, relax, and participate in activities to experience the unique culture of the Mong people. Particularly on holidays, his "homestay" is always full. In 2019, "homestay" welcomed nearly 7.200 guests, not to mention the number of guests who came to order food without staying.

(Photo: NVCC)

Immediately after Covid-19, while many homestays "give up" or struggle to find a way to attract guests, A Chu Homestay is still a destination trusted by businesses.

“A Chu has kept the traditional and typical features of Hua Tat and has modern facilities to serve the needs of visitors. Most importantly, he is very professional, knowledgeable, has quick access to new trends and requirements”, commented a representative of a travel company specializing in the French tourist market in Hanoi.

A Chu is also famous for keeping his credibility when, for many years, he "says no" to the type of tourist business, every weekend, holiday, and New Year, the price suddenly increases, without informing partners and tourists. He said, this homestay always publicizes the price for travel agencies 6 months in advance and keeps it that way, ensuring the same price during the week and weekend, and limiting surcharges for long-time customers.

From the "opium barn" into a tourist version

Mr. A Chu recalls that in the early years of doing tourism, the couple faced countless difficulties, even wanting to give up many times. That day, Hua Tat village still had drug problems. All night, the couple slept in a hammock right under the stilt house, both serving and looking after the guests. The long restless sleep makes them sick and tired all the time.

“In those days, we could not afford to buy refrigerators and freezers. Therefore, on rainy and cold days, I regularly drive motorbikes to Moc Chau town to buy food, cow's milk... from 4 am. My wife is at home, butchers chickens and makes breakfast," said A Chu.

He admitted that during those hard days, the couple often quarreled and quarreled with each other. It took a long time for them to find a common voice, gradually understand and encourage each other to overcome.

Now, his homestay has become a favorite address of tourists. At the end of May 5, A Chu homestay was also honored to be visited by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on his business trip to the Northwest.

To create such a famous homestay, A Chu plays many roles at the same time, from receptionist, housekeeping, artist, guide and sometimes directly into the kitchen to cook for guests.

Coming to ANH's homestay, visitors will learn about the life and activities of the Mong people through activities to experience the lives of the people such as: harvesting peaches and plums, making thick cakes, pounding rice, playing traditional games, farming... A Chu also creates a space for tourists and villagers to get closer together with cultural and exchange activities performed by the young people in the village and the couple. They perform traditional music, play the flute, the Hmong flute, the lip lute, etc., recreate traditional crafts such as painting beeswax on canvas.

Not only is he the first Hmong in Hua Tat village to pioneer community tourism, but over the years, Mr. A Chu has also guided and helped his brothers, relatives, relatives in the village and other villages to develop this model together. Hua Tat now not only has A Chu Homestay but also A Cua, A Senh…

Many youth groups in the northern mountainous provinces have come to A Chu homestay to learn. He is always ready to share his entrepreneurial experience, encourage and support them to do sustainable community tourism.

Mr. A Chu was awarded many certificates of merit and certificates of merit from all levels, departments and branches as a recognition for A Chu's efforts and contributions to tourism in Van Ho and Son La. Trang A Chu was also voted as one of the four successful young faces of Son La. In the book "Stories about Vietnam's tourism" released by the World Tourism Organization, "Homestay A Chu" is mentioned as a must-visit place, a typical eco-tourism destination.

However, A Chu has never been satisfied with what he has achieved. He is still concerned with the difficulties and obstacles in the development of community-based tourism in the locality such as the policy of planning the purpose of using agricultural land, procedures and banking policies to borrow money for homestay. He is also worried that many households have not really focused on tourism, still have the mentality of "craving and getting bored".

A Chu is rekindling a plan such as building a museum displaying daily life utensils, costumes, and farming tools of the Mong people, thereby preserving and spreading the cultural identity of their people.