Wooden rustic house. Off the beaten track. Mountain view. Rocky stairs to the small streams nearby. Hiking tours. Handicraft tours. Dogs and cats. Homemade food. Slow life. Self-reflection. Storytelling. Cultural insights. Oriental philosophies. Holistic education. Tarot reading. Esoteric astrology.
The space
Welcome to our home - Indie Homies home !!!
Why is it called Indie Homies?
Homie is how we call a buddy you would trust and share some bonding experiences, and being indie means being independent in how you think and feel, how you make your own decisions without being driven by outside forces and voices. Therefore, indie homies are a bunch of people who lead their life in their own way and along the journey, they would have a chance to meet each other, forming a bond and sharing their feelings, interests, and experiences. Our job here is to create and hold this space for you guys - indie homies - to come together, to come to us.
How is this home suitable for you?
Everyone has their own purposes and reasons to travel. If you are looking for a good accommodation with amazing views, tasty food, a nice host offering hiking tours and telling you interesting stories of local ethnic people, you can find these things in almost every homestay. Because no matter where you stay, travelling in Sapa is already a special experience due to its beautiful landscapes and exotic culture of ethnic minorities. And most of the homestay hosts are lovely and amazing in their own ways (We’ve been living in Sapa for 1 year, and we have to say it’s hard to find someone not likeable. People are cool and chill just like the way the weather and nature is).
If you are seeking something more, which can be varied based on who we are and who you are at the moment we meet, but something like a connection on a deeper level, deep understandings of cultural differences and issues, thought-provoking topics that challenge each other to grow, we love that too.
Our home may be so much different from your home physically, and we have no intention to make you feel like home (because it's impossible). All we can do for each other while living here is to feel loved, to nurture love and to give love; especially here where we are embraced by mother nature showing unconditional love by giving us water, air, fire and beautiful landscape.
"If you give love and live long, then you'll never be alone,
If you give love and live long, then you'll always have a home." (Indigo home, Roo Panes).
"Nhất kỳ nhất hội" or "ichi-go ichi-e" (one chance, one meeting) is the proverb meaning that every single encounter is unique and unrepeatable. Since we cannot recreate the same encounter the second time or any time later, we should be fully present and aware of the moment with a genuine attitude of love and appreciation. Besides, in our Vietnamese culture strongly influenced by Buddhism, we have this catchphrase “Đủ duyên!” (a sufficient condition), which speaks to the belief that it is not simply a coincidence to meet up with someone, rather it’s all about the arrangement of the universe, about conditions needed enough to come together to make the encounter happen. To meet or to leave, it is just the right time! The convergence of conditions such as time, space, light, mood, thought and circumstance has been acquired for the encounter!
We hope that your once-in-the-lifetime encounter with our home and with us would be sparkling as one of the stars in the sky of our memories.
Other things to note
Apart from your private room, you will share a lot of space with us and other guests, such as living room, dining space, reading corner, kitchen, laundry, bathrooms, and front yards. If our dogs and cats like being around you, we are willing to share them too.
Breakfast is included in the room rate and self-service with bread (oh yes, we do have a toaster), butter, home-made peanut butter and fruit jams. Right in the kitchen, there is a drink station where you can get free unlimited coffee, tea, and water not only for breakfast but also during the day.
If you want to start your day with something else, you can make an order from our menu in advance so that we can go shopping for fresh ingredients.
Every lunch and dinner is like an actual family experience. What we make for lunch and dinner based on what's available in the local market and how creative we are. When you want to join our family meal (lunch or dinner), just give us a note beforehand. Each meal costs 120.000 VND (about $5) for each person. Usually, we have lunch at 12 pm and dinner at 7 pm.
Our wooden house has no soundproof materials. There is no heating, no air conditioning (but fans are available during summer and heating blankets during winter). Showers and toilets are shared. You are surrounded by high-quality nature sounds at night and might be awakened in the morning by roosters, barking dogs and talkative cats (sleeping earplugs are needed if you have trouble sleeping).
Therefore, we will not be the best choice if you are:
- a 5-star hotel person. You might struggle to live rustically
- not really fond of cats and dogs.
- in need of a high level of privacy.
- travelling on a budget and looking for a hostel with a cheap price in every way.
- staying just for 1 night. The road is under construction, with 10km away from Sapa town, it takes you at least 30 minutes to get here. It's not really worth travelling back and forth on bumpy roads just to stay for a few hours.
We can enjoy each other's presence without compromising our own nature, it's ok that you don't resonate with what we wrote and think that our place is not for you. We hope you would find the most suitable place for your adventurous soul :)
There are more than 50,000 people in Sapa, if we have the chance to meet, it's part of the game played by Mr Universe. Let's make it as fun as possible.
Love,
Mai Ha & Ha Ha
