The Mong boy and his journey to help people escape poverty

Take advantage of nature's benefits

From Highway 6 (Moc Chau Ward, Son La Province), following 30km of winding road through the mountain slopes, visitors will arrive at Ta Phenh village. At the beginning of the village, Vang A Di was there to welcome guests. He led us on a walk a little further to A Di Homestay located in the middle of a fruit garden - a house imbued with the cultural breath of the Mong people.

Currently, A Di Homestay has 1 communal room, 2 private rooms, enough to serve about 30 tourists. The homestay space is designed with traditional style: the fence is built of stone, the house is rustic wooden, inside hangs daily living items of the Mong people.

Around the house, A Di planted many kinds of flowers, creating a lively landscape for visitors to both visit and immerse themselves in nature. In particular, from the porch, guests can fully admire the magical Northwest mountains and forests covered in mist.

“I want to preserve the traditional features of the Mong people in the homestay to introduce to tourists the traditional culture of my people,” A Di shared.

Every weekend, the homestay becomes more bustling with experiential activities: pounding sticky rice cakes, embroidering patterns on traditional costumes, participating in folk games, enjoying special cuisine , or dancing to the sound of panpipes and flutes in cultural exchanges. Around the campus there are also gardens and fish ponds, bringing fresh air and peace...

The highlight that impresses many visitors is the traditional costumes of the Mong people hung solemnly on the wall - both as decoration and reminders of cultural identity.

Sharing about his entrepreneurial journey, A Di said that when he first got married, he tried many farming models but they were not as expected. During his field trips to find business opportunities, A Di realized that his hometown had natural advantages and unique cultural identity, and could completely do community tourism to develop the economy .

In 2018, taking advantage of the landscape and cool climate of his hometown, A Di started building a homestay and doing community tourism business.

Tourists join hands-on experiences at A Di Homestay.

"Tan Yen commune has an ancient cat-ear stone beach and a "dinosaur spine" mountain that is increasingly attracting tourists. Taking advantage of the natural advantages, I invested 100 million VND borrowed from friends and relatives to start building a homestay with a strong Mong cultural imprint. Every year, I save up to invest more, and so far the invested capital has been more than 600 million VND and has gradually attracted many domestic and foreign tourists."

Mr. Nguyen Van Hai (Hanoi), a tourist who has experienced A Di Homestay, shared: “Coming here, I not only get to live in a space imbued with Mong culture, admire the beautiful mountain scenery, but also enjoy delicious dishes prepared by the host himself. I will definitely come back here.”

Coming to A Di Homestay, visitors can enjoy the beauty of a traditional Mong house.

Bring people along to escape poverty

For generations, the people of A Di village have only been familiar with slash-and-burn farming, growing corn and cassava, so poverty has followed them from generation to generation.

From the initial successes, A Di is gradually mobilizing the people of Ta Phenh village to participate in community tourism. To convince people, especially the young people in the village, he designed many experiential tours such as going down to the stream to catch fish and snails, thereby helping them visualize more clearly how to combine agriculture and tourism.

“The important thing is to change people’s mindset so that they understand that in addition to farming, they can do tourism, both to increase their income and to preserve their identity. I am trying to encourage people to build a clean and beautiful environment, while preserving traditional cultural features to develop sustainable tourism,” A Di shared.

Beautiful cat ear stone beach in Ta Phenh village

Currently, A Di Homestay welcomes more than 100 groups of guests each year, creating jobs for many local workers. Not stopping there, A Di hopes that in the future, Ta Phenh village can be turned into a community tourism complex imbued with Mong cultural identity, connecting with tourist attractions in the region to form a diverse and rich sightseeing route.

“I will continue to diversify tourism and culinary products, to make this place an attractive stop on the journey to explore the Northwest,” A Di affirmed.

Coming here, visitors can "hunt clouds" on the majestic "dinosaur spine" mountain in the middle of the Northwest mountains and forests.

Ms. Dinh Thi Nhung, Secretary of the Tan Yen Commune Youth Union, commented: “Vang A Di is an ambitious young man who knows how to exploit the advantages of geographical location, landscape and traditional cultural identity of his hometown to build a community tourism model. The initial success of A Di Homestay has opened up a new direction for the people here, gradually contributing to hunger eradication and poverty reduction.”