Community-based tourism in Sin Suoi Ho village

Located in the border district of Phong Tho, Lai Chau Province, Sin Suoi Ho village, home of the Mong ethnic minority group, has become a tourism attraction thanks to breathtaking scenery. Tourism is improving local people’s living conditions.

Visitors to Sin Suoi Ho village can explore typical cultural identities of the Mong ethnic people.

Sin Suoi Ho border village, at one end of Hoang Lien Son Range, has a cool climate all year round and is famous for its unspoiled natural landscapes.

It impresses visitors with the tidiness and cleanliness of its houses and roads. In front of each house there is a wooden tourist guide board and tables and chairs are placed along the roads for the convenience of visitors.

Vang A Giang, a Sin Suoi Ho villager, says the village has the right climate and soil to grow cardamon, jujubes, and orchids.

The locals have decorated their houses and expanded their cymbidium orchid gardens to welcome visitors. Giang said every villager is learning how to accommodate overnight visitors.

“The growth of tourism has changed the locals’ way of thinking. They support each other and enjoy what they are doing as much as the tourists do. Turning the village into a tourist site has the full support of the Party, State, and local officials,” he added.

The local Mong people use their traditional clothing, brocade products, dances, and music to attract tourists.

Walking along the winding village road, smelling the fragrance of dried cardamom from the previous season, many visitors begin to long for a simple rustic life.

Nature is embellished by the colorful dresses of the Mong girls, which accentuate their simple souls, charming personalities and friendly gestures. 

Tran Thu Ha, a visitor from Hanoi, said, “On the way to the village, I thought the life of the people here must be very difficult to endure and develop. But when I arrived at the eco-tourism village, I saw at once the determination of the local people. The mild climate, beautiful scenery and relaxed atmosphere make me really want to come back again.”

A few years ago, the 103 local Mong families earned their living mainly by growing corn and upland rice. The poverty rate was more than 60%. But horticulture and tourism has completely revived the village.

Last year the villagers earned US$86,000 from selling cymbidium orchids. The village has 24,000 pots of cymbidium orchids as well as other kinds of orchids. Now the village is poverty-free and a third of local families are quite well-off.

Cheo Quay Hoa, Deputy Chairman of Sin Suoi Ho village People’s Committee, said, “Local authorities are teaching villagers to protect the forest which provides a shady canopy for their lucrative cardamom and cymbidium orchids. Villagers now understand that protecting the forest will boost their income.”

Visitors leave Sin Suoi Ho village ith lovely memories of great natural beauty, mist-shrouded rooftops, the aroma of Mong cooking, and cymbidium orchids.

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