Hanoi girl quits 350 million VND/year job to go to Ha Giang to do homestay

In 2021, at the age of 34, Hanoi girl Pham Thi Lan Anh, who was living comfortably with a salary of 300 million - 400 million VND/year, suddenly made a "unique" decision: Quitting her job to go to the highlands of Ha Giang to start a business. That "turning point" came after Lan Anh set foot in the ancient village of Lo Lo Chai and she realized that "her heart had been placed in this beautiful fairy-tale village".

Recently, we had a spring trip to the beautiful ancient village of Lo Lo Chai (Dong Van district, Ha Giang ) and stayed at Lullaby Ha Giang Homestay. What impressed us about Lullaby, besides the peaceful and poetic beauty of the ancient house located at the end of the village, was the friendly, enthusiastic and lovable hostess. Many people invest in homestays in Lo Lo Chai but they do not stay there but hire the hostess as a manager. Lan Anh is different, she stays to manage the homestay Lullaby, living with the Lo Lo ethnic people.

Beautiful Lullaby Homestay owned by Ms. Pham Thi Lan Anh

Sharing about quitting a job with a fairly high income for a young person, Lan Anh said: Once when I was re-issuing my employee card at the company, looking at my ID photo, I was suddenly startled because my face was lifeless. Thinking about it, I had been easily irritated and angry for a long time. I asked myself, is this the life I want? The life I want is very different, it is a happy, harmonious life, with good relationships... And I decided to quit my job as an admissions consultant. Before taking on the new job, I decided to travel .

After 4 days of slow living in the peaceful and poetic fairy tale village of Lo Lo Chai, Lan Anh "fell in love" with this beautiful village. "When I came to Hanoi to work, on the first day of work, I only had one thought in my mind: I have to go back to Lo Lo Chai! So at the end of the day, I wrote a resignation letter and arranged to go to Ha Giang right after that with great excitement."

Lan Anh fell in love with Lo Lo Chai village because of its peacefulness and poetry.

"People who come to Lullaby homestay often jokingly say that I left the city for the forest, but that's not true. I didn't come to Ha Giang as an escape from some kind of tiredness or boredom, but because of love. I came to Ha Giang as a choice of freedom, not of escape. Here, I can live a carefree life, soaring in a peaceful, poetic space, eat clean, fresh food, breathe fresh air, write poetry, and experiment with homemade food," Lan Anh confided.

Before becoming the beautiful Lullaby homestay, Lan Anh said, the original house was very shabby. The house was small and low, with crooked pillars and beams. In the yard, there were some fences for growing vegetables, some for raising chickens, and some for firewood. "But I still saw that this place was very beautiful. There are 2 peach trees with soft, curved shapes overlooking Lung Cu flagpole. In front of the house is a pear tree, with white flowers blooming in the spring. In the corner of the wall are 4-5 plum trees over 20 years old leaning against the yin-yang tiled roof. From the gate to the house, peaches, plums, and pears are everywhere. I think this place will be very beautiful in the spring. Located at the end of the village, it is not blocked by any house. Stepping out onto the porch, there is sunshine, wind, birds chirping, green fields, distant mountains, and the majestic Lung Cu flagpole. I know that I will be at peace here. After a week in Lo Lo Chai, I asked the landlord to rent this house."

Lan Anh renovated the house and tried to keep all the traditional architecture of the Lo Lo ethnic group.

Lan Anh invited her best friend to visit so that she would fall in love with this poetic house, and so that she could accompany her on the project. "I'm looking for workers, buying materials, to renovate the house to make it more beautiful. I don't have much money to hire a designer. I come up with ideas myself to guide the workers. There are quite a few things to do such as knocking down the front wall, keeping the earthen wall, replacing all the old columns and beams to make the new house more sturdy, adding doors to make the house airy. Expanding the warehouse area to make it a closed room, with a porch to "chill" and drink tea and sit and watch the flagpole. Bathroom area, toilet, gate wall, paving the entrance to the house and garden, making wooden floors, buying furniture. There are days when I have to manage 7-8 teams of workers at the same time. I don't know how I can complete a series of repair items within 1.5 months".

Lan Anh said she had to invest about 1.5 billion VND for house repairs, furniture, and rent for 10 years. "In addition to the money I have in hand of about 500-600 million, I have the companionship of my best friend. In addition, I had to borrow more from friends. I repaired but tried to preserve all the traditional architecture of the Lo Lo ethnic group. The house and gate have earthen walls, yin-yang tiled roofs, wooden stairs, stone fences, stone-paved yards, pillars and beams carved with dragons, fish, and elephants. I am passionate about preserving and promoting the unique culture of the Lo Lo ethnic group to tourists."

Lan Anh invested 1.2 billion VND to repair and renovate the old house into the current Lullaby homestay.

For startups, revenue is extremely important. But for the owner of Lullaby homestay, there are many other things that are more important. "When I told my father that I was going to Ha Giang to do a homestay, he didn't like it very much because the job in Hanoi was good and it was close to my family. Also, because I only rented the land, not bought it, while investing a large amount of money. I have a different opinion. I often tell the Lo Lo people in the village not to sell the land. If we sell the land, this village will become a Kinh village, not a Lo Lo village anymore. Then your children will not speak Lo Lo, will not sing Lo Lo songs, will not wear Lo Lo costumes. What you are selling is not the land, but the ethnic culture. Without culture, what is left of an ethnic group? You have to keep the land left by your ancestors, keep the ethnic culture. So, I only rent it to do tourism, to preserve and promote the culture with the people."

Having been attached to Lo Lo Chai village for less than 3 years, Lan Anh is now a Lo Lo person, with a lot of love for the land, people and culture of Lo Lo.

Having been attached to Lo Lo Chai village for less than 3 years, Lan Anh's love for this land is full. "I love the traditional culture, love the simple, sincere people here. I am now a Lo Lo Chai person. I participate in all the activities of the villagers. I love this peaceful life. This is the life I want. That is, I have time for myself, to do the things I like. In my free time, I make products based on Ha Giang agricultural products such as rose honey, pear, dried radish, lemon honey... In the near future, I will carry out a project of reading books to children, organizing children to draw pictures at schools...", Lan Anh excitedly shared.

Contact: Pham Thi Lan Anh - Lullaby Ha Giang Homestay

Address: Lo Lo Chai village - Lung Cu commune - Dong Van district - Ha Giang

Facebook: Lullaby Ha Giang Homestay

Phone: 0932351883

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/co-gai-ha-noi-bo-viec-350-trieu-dong-nam-len-ha-giang-lam-homestay-20240315200213649.htm