Lo Lo Eco House - Experience Living in the Village of the Lo Lo Ethnic People

Hello everyone, how are you today?
Today I want to share with you an interesting place where I had a fascinating experience during my recent trip to explore the northernmost region of Vietnam. That is the experience of living with locals at Lo Lo Eco House, in Lo Lo Chai village, a village of the Lo Lo ethnic minority in the northernmost part of Vietnam and bordering China. During my travels, I like to stay with local people because I can learn many interesting things about the customs, culture, history, people and food of the place I go. For me that is what travel is.

Lo Lo Eco House is a small homestay located in the heart of Lo Lo Chai village. From here, I was able to easily get around to explore Lo Lo Chai village, Lung cu Flag Tower and Vietnam's Northernmost Landmark. Located in Dong Van Karst Plateau Geopark and about 160km from Ha Giang city, the road to Lo Lo Chai village is quite tough, but it is worth a try because of the breathtaking scenery on both sides of the road. I left Ha Giang city at 6 am, but it was not until 7:30 pm that I arrived here. Because I visited a lot of beautiful places on the way here such as Quan Ba ​​Heaven Gate, Yen Minh Pine Tree Hill, Tham Ma Slope, the legendary house in the movie "Pao's House and H'mong King's House. I even missed many other beautiful places along the way because I didn't want to come to this remote village too late at night.

Although I arrived quite late, plus it was freezing cold (the temperature dropped to 7 degrees Celsius at night) and I was quite tired after a motorbike journey, I felt warm because of the friendly welcome from the people of the homestay. Actually, I got lost on the way here because it is a remote area and the google map display was not accurate. However, the owner of the homestay herself came to the place where I was lost to lead me to the homestay. I even found out that I got over 10 missed calls from her when I checked my phone. She was quite worried because I was traveling alone by motorbike and I was late.

I was the only guest of Lo Lo Eco House at that time because of the effects of the epidemic and the cold weather. However, I was warmly received like a king. My first impression of this homestay is its friendliness with its surroundings, as its name suggests. It consists of soil houses nestled among green trees and surrounded by stone fences. Even furniture such as tables, chairs, beds, cabinets, shelves, sinks and bathrooms are made from 100% natural materials such as soil, wood and stone. As a nature lover, I really love this place.

After arriving, I took a shower while the homestay owner prepared dinner for me. Luckily, there's a hot shower here, I definitely wouldn't have taken a shower without warm water in this freezing cold weather. After taking shower, I had a wonderful dinner with delicious dishes like warm rice, braised pork, fried sausage and egg soup cooked with local vegetables. And especially, I really liked corn wine, the typical wine of ethnic minorities here, it helped warm my body a lot. There is nothing better than a dinner like that after a long tiring trip and in cold weather.

After a full dinner, I had a very interesting talk with the homestay owner with warm cups of tea. She told me a lot about the people, culture, history and customs of the Lo Lo ethnic group. I was really captivated and learned a lot through her stories. And also through these stories, I can feel how much love she has for this land. And she is trying her best to preserve its cultural and historical beauties. We were so engrossed in this topic that we ended up chatting at almost 12 o'clock at night. After that, I went back to my cozy room to rest. I liked everything about that room from the layout, decoration, colors and materials. Although I was alone there, I felt very cozy. And what I like most about that room is the scent of honey locust fruit. The homestay staff burned honey locust fruits to warm the room and create a pleasant scent before I went to bed. Thanks to that, I had a very good sleep here.

After a good night's sleep, I woke up quite early to explore the surrounding area. Actually, I don't know if I was awakened by the sound of the flag, the crowing of the rooster, or the excitement. This homestay is located so close to Lung cu Flag Tower that I can see and hear the flag flying from the balcony of my room. I heard that this flag has an area of ​​54 square meters. Then I went for a walk to explore the village. Although it was not sunny on that day, I enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere in the morning and the beautiful surroundings. It is a small village surrounded by rocky mountains with terraced fields and small houses built of soil on the cliffs. And I will not forget the smiles of the friendly and honest Lo Lo ethnic people here.

After about an hour of walking around, I went back to Lo Lo Eco House to have breakfast prepared for me. Only then did I have the opportunity to go around that homestay to explore every corner of it because I got here too late the night before. During the day, it looks even more rustic and eco-friendly. The whole structure of the homestay is built of soil, wood and stone. Wood is used to frame the house, while soil is used to build walls, roof tiles are also made of soil and stone is used for fences and in bathrooms and toilets. And throughout the premises of the homestay, there are many different types of plants, which makes a nature lover like me very excited. After exploring this beautiful homestay, I continued my journey to new lands, but I will never forget the wonderful time I had here. I hope to have the opportunity to return here soon one day. See you soon Lo Lo Eco House.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I wish you a good day!