Lo Lo Chai - A Fairy Tale Village At The Beginning Of The Fatherland

Lo Lo Chai Village - A gem at the frontier, promises an unforgettable experience with its fairy-tale scenery and distinctive culture. Hãy nghe Trần Thuỳ Thanh Xuân (Đồng Nai) một travel blogger nổi tiếng bật mí .

Lo Lo Chai Village - Ha Giang is still a great place to go on family holidays. The weather is beautiful, the people are beautiful, and the scenery is beautiful. Just hold out your camera and you'll have beautiful photos to take home.

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As a village located right at the northernmost point of the country, Lo Lo Chai is increasingly developing and "changing its appearance," becoming a tourist highlight for anyone visiting the rocky plateau of Ha Giang. For those who have never been here, they might imagine Lo Lo Chai as a small village still facing hardships amid the rocky terrain.

However, that's not the case. Once you set foot here, you will feel the fresh, peaceful atmosphere rich with the cultural identity of the Lo Lo people. Like a pure sound in the land of Ha Giang, Lo Lo Chai is a shining point in the community tourism development of the rocky plateau.

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Located just 1.4 km from the Lung Cu flagpole, Lo Lo Chai exudes a peaceful and poetic beauty, nestled at the foot of Dragon Mountain. Although the Dong Van Karst Plateau has long been famous and loved by many tourists, Lo Lo Chai, the ultimate destination, remains less known and somewhat mysterious to many visitors. In reality, this place holds significant potential in both natural landscapes and cultural values for strong tourism development.

To reach Lo Lo Chai, tourists must undertake a long, challenging journey. From the center of Ha Giang city, you will travel 150 km through mountainous roads to reach the Dong Van Karst Plateau. Even from the very beginning of the journey, the breathtaking scenery of clouds and skies will excite any travel enthusiast. However, to get to Lo Lo Chai, you must continue along a long and challenging mountain pass, with one side being steep cat-eared rocky mountains and the other side a deep valley.

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Although the journey is quite arduous, once you arrive at Lo Lo Chai, a beautiful and poetic landscape unfolds before your eyes, welcoming all travel enthusiasts. At the end of the year, the weather here is very cool, feeling like all four seasons converging with an incredibly fresh atmosphere. From any location in Lo Lo Chai, you can see the Lung Cu flagpole on the top of Long Son Mountain, peeking through the clouds. If you are passionate about exploration and new experiences, Lo Lo Chai is the ideal destination you should not miss.

The village is home to more than 100 households, mostly Lo Lo people, a small ethnic minority, along with Hmong and Dao communities. In the past, the residents primarily lived by farming, but the harsh conditions of the rocky plateau meant they could only grow enough to eat, and their lives remained poor and lacking. However, with abundant tourism potential from its prime location at the northernmost point and its inherent cultural values, this place has gradually changed and developed through tourism, becoming increasingly well-known.

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In the past three years, Lo Lo Chai has undergone significant changes as it gradually embraced tourism development, becoming a highlight in journeys to conquer the northernmost point of Vietnam. Combining its inherent potential with various forms of support, both material and spiritual, the village has successfully established a distinctive homestay model that showcases the culture of the Dong Van Karst Plateau.

The hallmark of Lo Lo people's daily life lies in their earthen houses with yin-yang tile roofs, aged by time. These houses represent a unique cultural feature that continues to exist and thrive among some northern highland ethnic minorities.

With the advantage of earthen houses being warm in winter and cool in summer, the residents have redesigned and renovated their homes into charming, comfortable homestays for visitors to explore. The rooms are usually spacious, allowing large groups to experience the community culture of bonding and sharing, which is as close-knit and rustic as the Lo Lo people themselves. Currently, the village has around 37 earthen houses, most of which have been transformed into special homestays, making Lo Lo Chai a shining example of local community tourism development.

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In addition to the homestay model, residents are also guided to develop diverse and attractive experiential activities. You will enjoy traditional and unique dishes of the rocky plateau, with distinctive flavors that are well worth experiencing.

Moreover, cultural activities such as Lo Lo people's cultural performances at the village's cultural house, campfires, creative activities, and embroidering unique patterns on Lo Lo ethnic costumes are also very popular and loved by many tourists. Recently, trekking exploration models have been tested and are being improved to expand the experiences for visitors, which in the future will attract more adventure and mountain climbing enthusiasts to the area.

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A highlight in Lo Lo Chai that every visitor stops by is the "Cuc Bac Chill" café. This café was established by a Japanese tourist named Yasushi Ogura. During his days in Vietnam, particularly in Lung Cu, he "fell in love" with the nature and people here, dedicating his passion to developing a café right in this northernmost village.

All the facilities, from tables and chairs to drink preparation methods and customer interactions, were meticulously guided by him. This has helped Lo Lo Chai add another highlight to its community tourism model.

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If previously the journey to conquer the northernmost point only involved traveling from the Dong Van Karst Plateau to the Lung Cu flagpole, now, Lo Lo Chai has gradually become known and chosen by many tourists as a place to visit and explore. In the tours of travel companies and volunteer organizations, Lo Lo Chai has become a prominent name, extending the journey to discover Ha Giang and the Dong Van Karst Plateau.

On average, the small village welcomes about 1,000 visitors each month to stay and explore. Especially at the end of the year, coinciding with the buckwheat flower season, the homestays are always fully booked. This demonstrates the attractiveness and extensive development potential of Lo Lo Chai's tourism activities. Nowadays, in journeys to conquer the northernmost point of the country, omitting Lo Lo Chai would be a significant oversight for tourists, missing out on unique and valuable experiences.

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It cannot be denied that Ha Giang is one of the most attractive tourist destinations in the northeastern region of our country, with its majestic and pristine landscapes resembling a fairyland. However, the pace of modern tourism development and the trend of urbanization have been affecting the original beauty of many destinations here, as exemplified by the recent Ma Pi Leng event. Therefore, the question and challenge for Lo Lo Chai is how to ensure sustainable tourism development in the future.

The homestay model in Lo Lo Chai is developing effectively but still needs better coordination among the local households. Infrastructure also needs more investment, especially with earthen houses, so that visitors can genuinely experience the local culture rather than just finding accommodation for their trip.

Although cultural activities are taking place, they are still limited and do not yet create significant highlights or become the main experiences in the tours. If these issues are addressed, Lo Lo Chai, with its foundation of traditional cultural villages, could develop more robustly in the future.

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Thanks to these honest people, Lo Lo Chai Village still retains its unique traditional cultural values ​​to this day. In short, Lo Lo Chai Village is one of the ideal destinations for those who love the simple, peaceful beauty of the rustic countryside. Make plans now!

Trần Thuỳ Thanh Xuân (Đồng Nai)