With an average altitude of 1,500 m above sea level and the average annual temperature of about 18oC, along with the spectacular natural landscape and well-preserved diversifying ecosystem, Sin Ho highland is considered the second Sa Pa of Vietnam.
A vew of Sin Ho town
Tourists experiencing
new adventures in Sin Ho
Departing from Lai Chau Town on the Provincial Road No.129, with
the badly-equipped motorbikes, we went up slopes by slopes, passes by passes.
The road looked like a wavy silk through the forest and sky-craping mountain
ranges. Each curve, each track, each cliff or abyss brought us the feelings of
losing in a mysterious land.
By the huge sky-craping cliffs, covered
by fog, we felt that we could catch the white clouds flowing behind us. There
are many colorful flowers adorning the romantic painting of the imposing green
forests. The most impressive sight comes from the red wild banana flowers,
immediately bringing back to memory the popular verses that we had all learned in
school:
“Green
forest, hot red banana flowers
High passes with sunshine, knife in the
belt…”
We were indeed surprised by this beauty. Luckily, we came here
in the early summer – the wild banana flower season.
Sin Ho terace fields
Along the road, we sometimes saw
waterfalls, purifying streams refreshing us with the cool water when applying
on our faces. In the far distance, we could see the villages of Dao ethnic
people in the wooden houses or track houses of Mong locals standing peacefully
in the forest. The most spectacular view is the green fanciful wave-like
terraced fields where rice in the prime of youth is cultivated in the
traditional method.
After a 60km-trip, we stopped in a
small town in a valley covered by cloud and enjoyed the cool and pleasant
weather.
"Đá Ô" mountain
After resting in a few minutes, we went
to Sin Ho market. Beside the local products, we were attracted by the local
girls in colorful fabric dresses. People going to the market not only to buy
and sell products, but also to meet and make friends in this Northwest market.
Continuing the trip, we went to Ta Phin
Cave, Da O mountain with full of excitement when seeing the unique natural
landscape. In the evening, after enjoying local cuisines, such as buffalo meat
with “Lốt” leaves, pork, roasted stream fish, sweet-smelling sticky rice etc…,
we were introduced to a woman’s home named Sanh to try the forest leave bathing.
There was a very beautiful orchid garden in Sanh’s house. We had chance to dip
in black hot fragrant water in a Po-mu wooden basin – a so called De Vuong
basin. As Ms. Sanh said, the water was mixed with 10 kinds of leaves in the
forest. After having a bath, I was professionally massaged with acupressure by
a sturdy 60-year-old man. I was totally refresh and relaxed after that. I felt
there are lots of mysteries about that man I have not chance to discover.
The night covered Sin Ho very quickly,
at 10 PM, the whole town seemed to be very quiet. We also went to bed, immersed
ourselves in the highland atmosphere. In the next day we will continue our trip
on the Provincial Road No. 128 to Le Loi Stele, Deo Van Long Residence and Pu
Dao Village, which was nominated the most beautiful destination in Southeast Asia by Gecko Travel from The United Kingdom.
Many interesting things are waiting for us ahead…
Thái Hà
Thu Phương translates