After more than a year and a half of changing jobs, from a farmer "back to the land, face to the sky" to a "sild driver" participating in local tourism activities, Mr. Hoang Van Khanh (27 years old, living in Binh Yen town, Quang Binh district, Ha Giang) has noticed positive changes in life.
Coming up with your bare hands
His father passed away early, his mother left, and Mr. Khanh lived with his grandparents in an isolated house on the mountain built many years ago. Pitying his nephew, Khanh's grandfather and grandchild worked hard, saving every penny to take care of the future.
Since childhood, Khanh's daily life has often been associated with the fields and gardens. "Selling the land and the sky" is like that, but his family's economic conditions still face many difficulties.
At the age of 18, the young man of Pa Then ethnic group graduated from high school. At the age of 20, he decided to get married. A few years later, his family had two young friends.
His life was still like that. In addition to farming, he also does other manual labor to support his family's economy.
The house painted with a mud wall, roofed with a canopy roof from the past, was no longer enough to cover the 6 members from the rain and sun. Feeling sorry for his elderly grandparents and children, and especially his young children, Mr. Khanh had a deep desire to find a job to improve his income so that the whole family would not have to endure the situation of "Winter is cold, summer is hot, rain is leaky".
Fortunately, the wish has come true
A friend introduced me to driving a car carrying foreign tourists to Ha Giang with a stable income. For this position, the company only requires an A2 driver's license. After 2 days of interviewing, I received a call to apply, Mr. Khanh recounted.
Although he was happy with his new job, he also encountered many obstacles when getting to know new friends and new relationships. In the first days, carrying foreign tourists in the saddle behind a motorbike, he did not dare to say a word.
Whenever tourists want to say or ask him anything, he asks other drivers who are fluent in English to help him. The first trips are definitely difficult trips that Mr. Khanh still remembers until now.
Being shy and shy about communicating and not fluent in English, he has a fear: Fear of saying things that the other person does not understand and vice versa, fear of the other person asking questions that the other person does not understand.
Mr. Khanh shared: "In the past, I was only used to manual work and didn't know much about the service industry. Therefore, when I started this job, on the road, I could only take care of the driver and take tourists to tourist attractions according to the schedule.
However, for Mr. Khanh, this job is like the light of his life. Although he knew the challenges ahead, he refused to give up.
Every time he falls, stops up, in addition to driving during the day, he takes advantage of all his free time to learn English. He started with foreign language applications to moments on the road, he talked and learned more from his tourists. In addition, he also attended company courses to improve his qualifications.
He said: "The foreign friends are very funny and enthusiastic. When I ask, they always explain constantly so I can understand. Thanks to that, I feel more open; even though I know I am not yet fluent in foreign languages, I always try to cultivate every day".
New steps
Understanding his family's circumstances, Mr. Khanh never thought of "throwing away when it was difficult". Although he often has to ride a motorbike on the bumpy, bumpy, and winding roads, and does not have much time at home, he always sets a high determination to contribute to work to change his life.
"My family is not well off, just farming, to be honest, the family's circumstances are very poor. This new job is not necessarily moresive but has brought a high salary, helping my family a lot. Looking at my children and the future, I have tried my best, Mr. Khanh expressed.
His current income is two to three times higher than before. The male driver revealed that he had paid off all the debts that had previously caused business losses and also bought a new car for his wife, bought a refrigerator, TV, washing machine, repaired the house, and built a road.
Life has changed thanks to new relationships, Mr. Khanh's thinking has also become more open than before. His current thoughts are mostly on his two young sons. Therefore, he will create all conditions for them to study high and fully support their dream of flying far away.
Currently, every morning when he wakes up, Mr. Khanh prepares a ready and excited spirit to take foreign tourists to visit beautiful places in his hometown. He was able to confidently share about the rusticity of stilt houses, the diversity of ethnic dishes or the beautiful scenery along the road...
Assessing that Ha Giang is receiving great attention from many young foreign tourists, Mr. Lai Quoc Tinh - Chairman of the Ha Giang Provincial Tourism Association, said: "In the locality, we have recorded many ethnic minority personnel participating in tourism activities. The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Ha Giang province always creates conditions to open classes to foster skills and knowledge as well as prepare travel handbooks so that students can be confident and professional at work".
In Ha Giang city, there are nearly 30 establishments providing tourism services, including travel, accommodation, motorbike rental and motorbike taxi driver services for tourists. In order to provide a safe and convenient experience, these facilities regularly conduct maintenance and periodic inspection of rental vehicles. After each trip, the motorbike is carefully checked for engine and braking system and cleaned. This is a mandatory process in the process of providing services, to ensure quality and safety for each trip of tourists.
Efforts to improve service quality, especially in the transportation and accommodation sector, have contributed significantly to attracting tourists to Ha Giang. It is the professionalism, focus on safety and customer experience of tourism service businesses that have created the image of a friendly and attractive destination in the eyes of domestic and foreign tourists.
Thanks to that, in the first 6 months of 2025, the tourism industry of Ha Giang province continued to record positive signals when welcoming more than 1.7 million visitors, an increase of 0.86% over the same period last year and reaching 48.7% of the annual plan. Of which, there are nearly 300,000 international visitors and more than 1.4 million domestic visitors. Total revenue from tourism is estimated at over VND 4,600 billion.
