Lo Lo Chai: where time stands still

Lo Lo Chai Village in Dong Van District seen from the hill that hosts the Lung Cu flagpole, the northernmost point in Vietnam that marks the border with China.

The village is hidden on the rocky plateau of the mountainous province of Ha Giang.

Visitors to the village can easily spot the flagpole, which is just 1.4 km away.

The main road that leads to the village center.

In the last three years, Lo Lo Chai has become a cultural tourism village with homestay facilities.This place is also the place to display the architecture of Dong Van Stone Plateau.

The homestay is designed and renovated on the existing foundation of the Lo Lo ethnic group with earthen walls, clay roofs and stone fences.

The open area where many cultural activities and performances of the Lo Lo people take place on weekend evenings.

The Cuc Bac Café, meaning the northernmost point café, has become a famous landmark in the village.

Yasushi Ogura, a Japanese man, loves the beauty of Lung Cu, built a cafe to promote community tourism and improve the lives of local people.

Ogura invested in its furniture and invited people to teach Luc Thi Van, owner of the building, basic English communication as well as how to make coffee and drinks.All business activities are currently handled by Van and his wife.

The gate leading to the house, also the café, is lined by stone fences.It has a tiled roof entrance, on which is a shaded peach tree.

The coffee shop presents the traditional architecture of the Lo Lo people, earthen walls, wooden pillars and clay tile roofs.Many tourists are surprised that in this remote area, they can have delicious drinks, even use wifi.

One visitor posed a rhetorical question: "What is more wonderful than enjoying some coffee next to the country's border and enjoying the peaceful culture of Lo Lo Chai Village, and some of the things that are gradually being lost in the Dong Van Plateau because of the tourism boom?"