Stoves, upkeep, driver · at Nhà Sương since 2022
Đỗ Quang Vinh, who lights the stoves and drives the car
If the lane is too slippery, I call you first. I would rather you heard it from me than found out halfway up in the car.
Lights the stoves from 18:00, fixes the timber house, drives the airport and cloud-hunting runs.
Vinh has worked at Nhà Sương since 2022. He lights the fires, keeps a timber house on a slope standing through the rainy season, and drives whenever the house sends a car.
What he does at the house
At 18:00 he goes round the stoves. Three rooms have a wood stove behind glass: Lò Sưởi (Fireside), Phòng Sương (Mist Suite) and Nhà Vườn (Garden House, where the stove is in the living room). The lounge has one too. Staff light them, guests do not, and they burn until 22:00. Each stove room gets one basket of wood a night, included in the rate. He is plain about the thing people often get wrong: the stove heats the room, not the house.
In the daytime he fixes things. A wooden house on a hill needs someone who notices a sticking door, a creaking board or a loose step. He also carries the bags: 46 stone steps from the gate to the lounge, then 12 to 30 more to your door.
What guests ask him
- Can a car get to the gate? Cars with up to seven seats can. After heavy rain, if the lane is too slippery, he calls ahead to agree where to meet you and carries the luggage up.
- How does the airport pickup work? He drives the Liên Khương airport pickup: 450,000 VND per car, up to four people and four suitcases, with 12 hours’ notice.
- Will I definitely see clouds? No. The sunrise cloud-hunting car is 350,000 VND per car and leaves the gate at 04:45. Whether there are clouds depends on the wind that morning; on a morning without them you are still back for breakfast at 07:30.
What he has written
- Cloud hunting in Đà Lạt: what time, where, what to wear
- Đà Lạt homestays with a fireplace: wood or electric, who lights it, is it safe
- Hillside homestays: how many steps, how far the car goes, who should pick another
The rest of the house is on the team page.
A day at the house
- 04:45On cloud-hunting mornings the car leaves the gate; back in time for breakfast at 07:30.
- 09:30Repairs around the timber house: hinges, floorboards, garden steps. On wet days he checks the lane.
- 14:00Carries arriving guests' bags from the gate up the 46 stone steps and on to the room.
- 18:00Lights the stoves in Lò Sưởi, Phòng Sương and Nhà Vườn: one basket of wood per room a night.
- 22:00Last look at each stove. If a guest has told us they will arrive late, he opens the gate.