Sapa Mountain Eco Lodge - Ta Phin, Sapa, Lao Cai

Recognising an opportunity to improve her circumstances, Shu worked hard to learn English from tourists and established herself as a trekking guide. At nineteen she became a single mother. Despite this, Shu built the first ethnic minority-owned homestay in her village for her widowed cousin in 2009.

In 2010, Shu set-up our partner, Sapa O’Chau. The initiative was the first of its kind established in the Lao Cai region with the mission to provide local ethnic-minority youth access to free education. Alongside full-time boarding and meals, Sapa O’Chau students receive English lessons from international volunteers and a tour guide license after a course with an NGO.

Following on from the success of the co-operative, Shu established the first minority-owned tour operator with an international tour operator license, Sapa O’Chau Travel. The inspiring journey of Shu Tan and Sapa O’Chau has since been reported by global media outlets such as Lonely Planet and received several international awards including:

In 2017, Sapa O’Chau Travel Social Enterprise was formally renamed to reflect its social enterprise status. Shu has since been commended as a model citizen by the Central Government and earned herself a place on Forbes Vietnam ‘30 under 30’ list.

Xa

In 2016, Xa’s thirteen-year-old daughter was abducted and sold to a neighboring country. Xa was devastated but determined to get her daughter back. Being unable to read or write led to much anger and frustration while trying to communicate with the authorities. Undeterred by the communication barriers, Xa knew that to find her daughter she would need to teach herself Vietnamese. After months of heartache, Xa’s daughter was returned to her.

Through her own self-learning, Xa realised that the people in her local community deserved better education and opportunity. Finding a solution that would empower and uplift the local people became her dream. While Xa owned the land that Sapa Eco Mountain Lodge stands on today, she did not have the skills to start a business alone.

That changed when in 2017, Xa met Shu Tan. Together, using Xa’s land and Shu Tan’s social enterprise experience and knowledge, they decided to build Sapa Mountain Eco Lodge. Their collective vision is to empower the community by leading by example and showing what can be achieved when people work together, not only for themselves but for the entire community.

Phuong and Dzung

DZung and Phuong came to Ta Phin in 2015 searching for a place in nature where they could settle. They have both been actively involved in the management and development of Sapa Mountain Eco Lodge from its conception, offering a wealth of knowledge, expertise and experience.

Phuong’s expertise lies in the kitchen, where she loves to create and dream up new ideas for Lily’s Restaurant. Our very own resident chef.

Phuong’s husband DZung is our very capable and charming General Manager at Sapa Mountain Eco Lodge.