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A popular form of accommodation in some places in northern Vietnam is homestay
with ethnic residents. You live with the locals in their house and you share
absolutely everything. Homestay is popular in Vietnam, especially in villages of
ethnic minorities. However, you can also try a homestay in a city, for example
in Hanoi. It was not allowed for ethnic residents to accommodate foreign
tourists some time ago (except for the controlled tourist homestay, for example
in Sapa), however now it is gradually changing.
• Do you want to know about the daily life of the ethnic population?
• Taste their food?
• Identify some cultural habits?
• Need a local guide?
• Stay on rice terraces or in the mountains?
• Sit with them and drink a rice wine?
• Or talk about anything?
• Do not expect around comfort and luxury?
Did you answered YES? Then surely test the real homestay in a village in
northern Vietnam.
A lot of people from the ethnic minorities in a villages in northern Vietnam
provides homestay in tourist but also in non-tourist areas. These people are
usually not certified guides or employees of travel agencies. It is important
that they know very well the place where they live and show you the right places
and village life. Some of them have the basic knowledge of English, others speak
English very well. They learn the English from the tourists who visit them.
Communication is usually not a problem. If there is a communication problem, use
your hands, or feet, you can also use Google translator.
For a high rate of authenticity it is recommended to try homestay accommodation
with locals. But you must forget for the comfort and luxury around. Do you want
to see the hard work in the rice fields or even try it, see how they kill a pig,
or attend a wedding or funeral, to see how the local people make clothes? If so,
you leave this place and Vietnam with experiences!
It is good to know, you give the money for the residents of the village and not
the agencies and resellers. I participated myself in the New Year’s Eve in the
Hmong village. It was not evening, which we are accustomed, but I took an
unforgettable experience. Another interesting experience was the funeral in a
village of White Thai ethnic minority in
Mai Chau town.
Tourist agencies and offices also offer homestay. These offers differs from the
real type homestay, which offer local ethnic residents. A lot of foreign
tourists use this type mainly due to good facilities and services. The working
people can be from the some ethnic minority, but they have abandoned their
traditions and customs and are employed by the Vietnamese agency.
This offer is often associated with the offer on trekking, after the trek they
will take you to the imitation of true type homestay. But this house is very
different from the true type of house of local residents. Do you think, that
poor ethnic residents have WiFi, european style toilet, shower or even a bar
next to the house? I think, they dont have almost anything. These treks and
trips are managed in group of 6 to 10 people. |
