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In early 2021, Pixar's animated film "Soul" was released, creating a huge sensation about the journey of souls searching for meaning (or the "spark of life"), especially Soul 22. Coincidentally, we also arrived at the Libra Valley homestead on January 22, 2020, carrying with us the confusion and anxieties about our current lives.
We believe in coincidences, considering them fate. And the miracle of this "fate" truly brought us new emotions and a worthwhile experience at Libra Valley - a garden house located about 15 kilometers from the center of Da Lat.
Libra Valley and the homestead model
That morning, Thanh introduced us to the Agricultural Team, which included An and Kien. Our morning activities involved tilling the soil, sowing seeds, and then mowing the grass for compost. The work sounded simple, but we struggled all morning just getting used to holding a hoe or using a sickle.
After finishing our work, An took us on a tour of the Libra Valley's farming area. In our impression, An was a genuine and gentle girl from Hue. Aware of her difficult-to-understand accent, An made a great effort to explain and briefly describe to us the work the group had done to improve the soil.
Before the Libra Valley project, the land had been used for coffee cultivation for many years, so the soil was no longer fertile. The steep terrain also made fertilizing and irrigation difficult. Especially during the rainy season, water would wash away all the nutrients and fertilizer. The lush green vegetable plots and the sturdy chayote vines climbing the trellises are the fruits of An and Kien's labor. Ms. Thanh jokingly told them that Kien and An viewed Libra Valley as a giant laboratory where they could freely use their agricultural knowledge to experiment with seed germination and planting.
Libra Valley is a rare accommodation option that operates on a modelhomesteadSimply put,homesteadIt is a type of rural house with a large garden space, andhomesteadingIt's a self-sufficient lifestyle that respects nature. While homestays offer tourists authentic local experiences, homesteads focus on the lifestyle itself.
This model is still very new in Vietnam, and Libra Valley can be considered one of the pioneers. Here, people can get closer to nature, do simple jobs, and live a "basic" life to have time to listen to and understand themselves better.
After a morning of hard work, the two of us realized that the human soul is like this barren land, and of course, our souls were too. Every time the hoe touched the earth, our souls were loosened, waiting to be watered, to have seeds sown so that life could sprout from deep within.
WHEN LOVE SPREADS FROM BARREN LANDS
Besides managing Libra Valley, Thanh also opened a small cafe inside the valley, which also served food and drinks to visitors, called "The Mad Dreamer." There, the two of them continued to meet many other interesting young people.
Besides the Homestead staff, there's also a team of volunteers here. Through conversations, we've also found ourselves reflected in their struggles. City life offers comfort, but the hustle and bustle can sometimes lead to suffocation and pressure.
Like Tri, a young man with a bright face, diligent and amiable. Interacting with Tri, we clearly saw the quality of his "calmness." This calmness comes from self-cultivation and the accumulated experience from his travels far from home. He told us that he used to work for a large corporation, but had to quit because he couldn't connect with his job. He feared the "pollution" of the city: the personalities of people, the noise, and the energy. He then gave up that stability to continue his life journey in peaceful (and temporary) places.
Or take Thanh (a friend with the same name as Thanh), who also achieved good results in her career. Even though we didn't share much about Thanh, we could sense a very specific sense of "patience," and we don't understand why. But how can we express feelings in words? She volunteered for a week, then a few weeks, and by the time we met, it had been over half a year.
As for Thanh, we see a simple yet deeply heartfelt "love," a kind of sanity mixed with madness. She seeks solace in nature, or perhaps she is searching for herself.
The last person we want to mention is Ai, the bartender at The Madman. She's the most unique of the group because she's from right here, Da Lat. Her tough, edgy, tattooed exterior is a stark contrast to the warm heart within. Interacting with Ai is like drinking a glass of wine on a cold day – cold one moment, warm the next!
In the evening, we all gathered around a pot of wine simmered with fragrant herbs. But the wine wouldn't be as good without its most valuable ingredient – the stories of each person, warmed and infused with the wine itself. And that was just the beginning! Ai gave us another set of five special wines she had created herself, and we used them one by one to tell stories about the flavors of our "first love." Ai used her own life story to tell and persuade everyone to open up, drink, and share their stories with each wine. You know, it's hard for anyone to open up and participate in activities like this, but that night we truly immersed ourselves in it and poured out our hearts.
On the way back to our rooms, we told each other that although we had traveled to many places and experienced many similar gatherings, this night was perhaps the most memorable. Because it was a heart-to-heart connection, one person's heartfelt sharing led to another's. There was no boundary between guest and host, only kindred spirits meeting, inspiring and healing each other.
a new way of life
Homestead may still be a relatively new concept in Vietnam, butfarmstayYou've probably heard of farmstays. Farmstays are larger-scale and more integrated, while homesteads focus on smaller houses and gardens. In short, both accommodation models are closely connected to nature and offer a wonderful sense of tranquility. Now, with the growing trend of young people moving away from the city, this house-and-garden model is no longer just a simple accommodation service; it has become a lifestyle.
Both homestead and farmstay models are closely connected to nature and offer a wonderful sense of tranquility.
If you're looking for information on a "back to the countryside" trip, you'll easily find accommodations in Moc Chau, Dak Lak, Da Lat, or the provinces of the Mekong Delta. Because these locations require ample space for combining accommodation with farming and livestock raising, they are often situated near forests, ponds, lakes, and streams. Agricultural products harvested from the gardens/farms are also used to prepare meals for guests.
Due to soil conditions, climate, and agricultural advantages, farmstays (or homesteads) are built in diverse and flexible ways according to regional characteristics. In the Mekong Delta, you might find houses with coconut leaf roofs or bungalows made of bamboo; in the northern mountainous regions, they might be combined with modern resorts or traditional rammed earth houses; you might also find campers or shipping containers renovated and used as bedrooms in Da Lat, and so on.
Chay Lap Farmstay - a unique farmstay model in Quang Binh (photo: Internet)
The agricultural activities organized in farmstays/homesteads are diverse – from catching freshwater fish, picking plums and avocados, to sowing seeds and plowing, depending on the season and the specialties of each region. We've all been in the middle of an avocado orchard in Bao Loc, a lotus field in Dong Thap..., waking up to a fresh, lush green space, or gazing at the twinkling stars at night. While not entirely new, it remains a rare and precious experience in this modern age.
