Hello from Ngu and Eloïse, founders of "Inside North Vietnam" !

He is Vietnamese, she is french. They are both very invested in the project.

We are located in Hà Giang province, the northern part of Vietnam, which is about 350km from Hanoi (6-7 hours by bus).

It is a safe region, safer than in a big city like Hanoi, locals are very friendly and respectful with foreigners.

There are no special health requirements for this region of Vietnam.

What is our social project about ?

It is about travelling inside a culture, with its unexpected surprises, and allowing local people to benefit from it without changing anything to their lifestyle and traditions. Besides traveling we are building a homestay to support the locals.

Our project relies not only on allowing travellers to experience the real hill tribe way of life but also to raise awareness about the poor possibilities these people have to make income. For that reason, our project also aims to redistribute the income we get from your stay with us to the local families. This is how we thought it through; The average price of a homestay in Vietnam is 11$ a day (240 000 VND). As you will be staying in one of the members of the family's house, we think it fair to provide them between 2 to 4$ per night depending on the house and the number of people (50 000 to 100 000 VND). We will often head to the market in order to insure 3 meals a day at the price of 2$ a meal, that gives us 6$ per day (144 000 VND). Finally, to make this project viable in the long term, we also keep a part of the income, not more than 4$ a day (100 000 VND) to develop the homestay and the potential it has. 

Our project of building a homestay is going through its beginnings and we would be glad to share some activities with you if you are motivated. 

Our Story 

The project came to life when two people from very different horizons met each other. One had the desire to get away from an already drawn professional path and the other was seeking for a professional life that would suit her values.

The project was naturally thought in a village of his commune, Cao Bo, because of the affect he has for it. Which is a normal thing since the people in the village are members of his family.

The beauty of what they build up here in the mountains and the hospitality they offered overwhelmed me the first time I came.

Cécile, my former colleague and good friend, and I were offered a tea when we first arrived as a sign of welcoming. We then had lunch with the family after which we headed to the fields to help harvest the rice. By that time we realized how their everyday life is about living in the simplest way. The only income these people make relies on rice and corn culture. Beside that, the community is completely self sustainable; they produce their own electricity with hydraulic machines powered by streams that come down from the source of the mountain, use and recycle the water and feed the animals with leftovers of crops. I thought to myself I was a lucky person for discovering a culture and a country the way I did: in the most authentic way. And that’s what it’s all about; allowing travellers to experience a deep culture discovering while encouraging local development in the commune.

What we do ?

Why spend 20$ in a hotel room when you can spend less to stay in a stilt house in a mountain village which will truly make a difference for the local people ?

A place with a project that relies not only on allowing travellers to experience the real hill tribe way of life but also to raise awareness about the poor possibilities these people have to make income. For that reason, our project also aims to redistribute the income we get from your stay with us to the local families. We're thinking this could be a new form of responsible travelling and in the meantime make your stay the closest to reality, in the most honest and friendly way. As volunteers, you get the unique chance to truly be involved in our project and offer your own personal touch to it. I decided to run this social project not because the people desperately need help but to preserve the deep cultural assets of North Vietnam and at the same time allowing volunteers, curious of discovering an ethnic minority every day life, to travel in a responsible way. 

Our Goals 

The main idea of the project is to develop the village in a very ecological way as to keep its authenticity and at the same time protect the culture and tradition it holds. We would like this voluntourism oriented project to be much more; allowing the village to be self sustainable, have their own possibilities of income and the people to choose their professional paths and not to be obliged to follow in their parents footsteps.

Our main goal would be to spread this vision to the entire province and implement sub-branches in a few areas to work effectively and locally.

Our Vision 

The western part of Vietnam, where Sapa is located, has suffered from tourism as the flowing of tourists in the stepped rice field city motivated local people to change their way of life to earn income (children and entire families selling souvenirs on the streets).

My main goal is to try to make a difference in the western part of the North. Ha Giang province is recognized as being the most beautiful region of Vietnam and is soon to be crowded with tourists and the structures that go with it.

I wish for a more respectful way of travelling in order to keep the locals way of life unchanged as that is what makes Vietnam such an attractive destination today.

What we offer

During your stay we will make sure that you discover the real life and traditions of Tay people (local minority) and gain some experience in teaching, crafting, working with bamboo, cooking and many more ... of course we will also show you the treasures that nature holds in Northern Vietnam. 

We work pretty much every day (we try) but we don't feel stressed about the project and neither would we want you to be ! We're always up for a motorbike roadtrip in the north and would be glad to take you there. I can say we're easy people and quite flexible.

Who are we looking for ?

We are mainly looking for invested people. People who are capable of getting involved in the project as much as we are.

This project is very important for us, as it is a life changing for us and the locals we aim to help.

Any professional skills are more than welcomed as we are a professional organisation.

Help us develop this beautiful project full of meaning that will fill you up with the most beautiful feelings in the world.