Ha Giang, Vietnam – Tour operator Local Vietnam has introduced a series of traditional craft workshops held inside active Hmong and Dao family homes at its Ha Giang Aya Lodge. This effort is designed to funnel tourist spending into the highland settlements along the Ha Giang Loop, a motorbike route that has grown into one of Southeast Asia’s most popular circuits over the last ten years but brings minimal financial benefit to the villages it traverses.
Currently, most of the earnings from this well-known route are collected by operators headquartered in Hanoi or Ha Giang City. To correct this disparity, Local Vietnam’s new offering features six traditional crafts still alive in the area: flax gathering and hand-weaving, beeswax batik using indigo dye, Red Dao embroidery with forest-herb dyes, corn wine distillation over a wood fire with leaf yeast, incense created from forest bark, and hearth cooking. Host families are paid directly for welcoming guests.
Rather than taking place in typical demonstration venues, these sessions occur inside functioning family dwellings, and their availability changes with the local farming schedule. Corn wine is produced only after the maize harvest finishes, and flax processing happens exclusively during its proper season.
“Most craft experiences in Vietnam are designed for the visitor,” said Marnick Schoonderwoerd, co-owner of Local Vietnam, who runs the lodge alongside his wife, Nhung Phung. “A room is set up, someone performs the craft, everyone photographs it and leaves. That is not what happens here. If the season is wrong, the workshop does not run. It sounds like a commercial weakness, but it is the only version that is real.”
Cultural Heritage on a UNESCO Global Geopark
Ha Giang Aya Lodge is situated in Sung Trai, a hamlet located on the Dong Van Karst Plateau. This area holds UNESCO Global Geopark status, a classification that acknowledges both the local community and its geological formations. UNESCO’s framework highlights sustainable tourism and education as essential tools for preserving cultural identity and enhancing local livelihoods in the region.
The geopark is inhabited by 17 ethnic groups, some of which have lived on the plateau for 500 to 800 years. Hmong communities make up over 60 percent of the population, representing the largest Hmong population in Vietnam. Beyond the plateau’s limestone gorges and 550-million-year geological history, UNESCO documents a wide variety of local crafts, oral traditions, festivals, and musical customs.
However, several of these traditional crafts are declining as more young people move to lowland cities for paid work. Local Vietnam’s direct-compensation system aims to make maintaining these time-honored skills economically feasible for local families.
“When a craft earns nothing, it becomes a hobby for old people and then it disappears,” said Duong Phung, co-director of Local Vietnam and manager at Ha Giang Aya Lodge. “When it earns money, daughters learn it from their mothers. That is the whole idea. We are not preserving anything. The families are. We are making it worth their time.”
About Ha Giang Aya Lodge
Ha Giang Aya Lodge opened in early 2026 with 14 rooms and is staffed almost entirely by residents from nearby villages, who receive steady wages along with English and hospitality training. The lodge is located within a functioning village, not a repurposed homestay area. After administrative changes in 2025, the province was incorporated into Tuyen Quang, but the area’s famous travel route still carries the Ha Giang name.
The lodge provides year-round cultural day tours in addition to seasonal craft workshops. Guided hikes through Sung Trai and neighboring valleys are available from April through June and September through November.
For more information, visit localvietnam.com.
About Local Vietnam
Local Vietnam is an independent travel company that focuses on customized and private trips across Vietnam. Founded by Marnick Schoonderwoerd and Nhung Phung, the company has been active in the region for more than ten years and publishes travel guides in English, Dutch, and German. Local Vietnam owns and runs Ha Giang Aya Lodge in Sung Trai along the Ha Giang Loop.
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Media contact
Company Name: Local Vietnam
Contact Person: Marnick Schoonderwoerd
Email: marnick@localvietnam.com
Website: localvietnam.com
City: Ha Giang
Country: Vietnam
