The Homestay Development in Sapa

A visit to the local tour operators in Hanoi revealed that the current tourism development in Sapa is lacking clear structure. Sapa is facing an increase in tourist visitations, but with the lack of facilities and amenities, the region is slowly reaching its capacity and becoming overcrowded. The tour operators in Hanoi have been seeing the rapidly increasing demand for homestays, but as many homes do not meet the criteria of the tour operators, they are not considered for their clients. Simultaneously, some villagers are not motivated to upgrade their homes, because they had yet to witness the influx of tourists in the village themselves; this creates a problematic catch-22 situation.

Meeting with Mr. Hoang Nguyen, HandSpan Travel IndoChina

Mr. Hoang Nguyen, the Vice Director of HandSpan Travel Indochina shared that his experiences working with the local women of Sapa have been positive- but not without its own set of challenges. He has the drive to work directly with the locals there, because it helped him create authentic experiences for his clients, and because it also helped enrich the lives of the local community. According to Mr. Hoang, he felt that enforcing modern living standards and infrastructure in the homes would challenge the truly authentic village experience. To quote him, “the soul of the homestay is important”.  

Late last summer, our CBT Vietnam project linked the Hmong women of Lao Chai with the tour operators of Hanoi, by bringing a small group of women to the big city. One of the women's meetings was with HandSpan Travel Indochina. When they met with Mr. Hoang’s company, the representatives liked the women's proposal and took the opportunity to form a business partnership with them. Unfortunately, he still struggles to meet the demand of his clients, because there wasn’t enough developed homestays. He felt that HandSpan simply required more support from larger tour operators to affect real change. In fact, he has already tried calling the big players to encourage them to work with the locals more, and use local services (like staying at homestays and eating traditional home cooked meals). He believes that those companies can and should assist with the development because they possess a larger client base and expertise.

In the village of TaPhin, Lao Cai, Vietnam

Looking into the future, the homestay owners still need some support from companies to develop the structures and systems needed for a tourist destination to thrive. If both parties can come together and form a synergetic relationship, then the goal can be accomplished and the needs of both parties can be met.

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First Day in the Villages

The train from Hanoi to Lao Cai was quite the experience. We all slept like babies from the rocking of the train. However, at one point I was awoken by heavy swaying and I could have sworn we were going to tip off the tracks. Luckily, though, we did not and slowly fell off to sleep again.

At 5:30 am, we hear knocking on the doors all down the train car letting us know that we are arriving! My first thought of the scenery of this region was that of amazement. The expansiveness of the rolling mountain hills covered in rice patties along the winding roads was pretty spectacular, which trust me it only got better.

When we arrived to Sapa it was the beginning of a national holiday in Vietnam. Right away we could tell that this is a hot spot for the local tourists. It was only 7:00 am and the streets were already crowded with Vietnamese vacationers walking below the french style buildings Sapa is famous for. We dropped off our bags at the beautiful, recently renovated Mountainview Backpacker’s Hostel, and headed up the hill for a delicious breakfast.

After, Chris rounded us up with some Xeoms (motorbike taxis) to take us to check out all of the villages that the CBT Vietnam project has worked with over the years. We had wind in our hair, winding down the steep mountainous roads that overlook one of the most beautiful places. Can’t get much better than that!

The group then pulled into Tavan for our first lunch in a village, and do they ever cook amazing food. Usually, the meals in the villages consists of rice, a few different types of protein and some veggies. As well as, the best spring rolls! 

On this first day we opted to save Lao Chai for the following day as we would be there all week. Tonight was all about Ta Phin and checking out how our most recently completed phase of CBT Vietnam’s project is doing. We stayed at the lovely Ly May Lai’s home with her husband, their 3-yr old baby, along with a few other trekkers. Her and husband built a beautiful new home that can be easily recognized by its bright red roof. We were pleased to see that when they planned the construction of their new home they kept it inline with the traditional Red Dao homes. This shows that they understand the importance of their culture and keeping their home authentic if they want to sustain their tourism business. The evening continued with many laughs and jokes were shared over dinner and plenty of rice wine. 

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The Journey of a Lifetime Continues!

 After 3 days in the busy capital of Hanoi, the CBT Vietnam team has finally arrived in SaPa!

With all of our supplies, luggage, and filming equipment, we hopped on an overnight train from Hanoi to Lao Cai. We all forgot about the rough 10 hour ride once we woke up with breathtaking views, cool weather, and refreshing smell of the mountainous area of Northern Vietnam.  What a change from the humidity of overcrowded Hanoi!

Once we arrived in the town, we checked into the beautiful SaPa Eden Hotel. While we waited for our rooms to be ready, the team headed to the rooftop restaurant for breakfast. It also gave us the chance to finally snap our own photos of this magical landscape!

For the next 10 days, the team will be staying in TaPhin and Lao Chai working on different projects, including homestay training, product development, and environmental training for kids.

We are all very eager to connect with the community and deliver the training we have been working on these past few months. Everyone is excited to stay in the homestays and build lifetime memories with the locals.

Did you know the project now has Instagram? Follow us at http://instagram.com/cbtvietnam!

Stay tuned with the CBT Vietnam blog and social media channels for more details on our work in the villages!

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One day to go until NEW CBT Vietnam video

Tomorrow the CBT Vietnam project will launch its second video. The Capilano University project, funded by the PATA Foundation, had Kyle Sandilands come to Vietnam to shoot a video in the Spring.

Kyle, a Capilano University grad, has said that he is very excited and is planning on working late into the night to have the new video ready for tomorrow.

The music on the new video was composed by Luke Dunn from Capri Studios.

Here is the first instalment, "When the tourists come" filmed and produced by Kyle in 2011.

 Kyle is also working on a third video that was shot on the most recent October trip. Stay tuned!

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