About Nam Cang Village
Nam Cang commune is located in the most remote region of Sapa district, situated 36km (a 90′ drive) outside of Sapa town. The village is inhabited largely by Red Dzao and Black H’mong minority groups, with 267 total household and a total population around 1,578 people.
Prior to 2000, nearly 80% of Nam Cang households lived in poverty with food shortages frequently occurring, and 70% of the population was illiterate.
Nowadays, governmental efforts to support the area, such as 600 hectares worth of cardamom crop production projects, have generated high economic yield, while various Topas initiatives like improving local infrastructure with safe suspension bridges, water tanks, garbage bins, paving roads, renovating existing schools and boarding houses, and building classrooms have contributed to creating safer spaces for the community to use.
Your Home Away from Home
Staying at Topas Riverside Lodge is not like your average homestay or luxury resort vacation. Instead, we invite you into Nam Cang Village to explore its vibrant natural surroundings and quaint streets meandering around family gardens, wooden homes, and women’s sewing circles, petting the village dogs and kittens, high-fiving the children on their way home from school, and learning more about the world through nature excursions and cultural interactions.
Our lodge is built out of completely local materials, and even though it is no longer a traditional Red Dzao home, it still carries many features and characteristics that can be found throughout Nam Cang Village, most notably the large hearth in the kitchen with jungle herbs hanging out to dry and three hand carved wooden bathtubs in the Bath House. Organic vegetable and herb gardens pepper the outdoor area as well as our very own fruit trees which are invaluable in creating many of the delicious items you’ll see on our lunch and dinner menus.
We invite you to come and stay with us, spending your days hiking in the bamboo forests and mountain trails, cycling a rough terrain circuit, learning about unique jobs in the village like silversmithing and herbal gathering, taking an embroidery class, or simply sitting on the river deck with a book in hand, observing life go on.
