Western tourists enjoy carrying backpacks, wearing banana leaf hats, and going to the forest to pick 'miracle herbs' in Sa Pa

The route through the forest is about 6 - 7 km long, not to mention there are many insects such as mosquitoes, leeches... but Western tourists enjoy the experience of picking "miracle" leaves in Sa Pa to make bath water.

Foreign tourists enjoy carrying baskets and wearing banana leaf hats to go into the forest to pick medicinal herbs in Sa Pa.

Sa Pa (Lao Cai) is one of the most attractive destinations in the North, attracting a large number of foreign tourists to explore and experience every year, thanks to its green landscape, many unique cultural activities, and blending with nature.

In addition to participating in rice planting, wading in the fields, riding buffaloes... many Western visitors to Sa Pa recently also enjoyed the experience of going to the forest to pick "magic" leaves to make the famous bath water of the Red Dao people in Ta Phin village, located about 15km from Sa Pa town.

Ta Phin village is famous for the "specialty" of herbal baths of the Red Dao people.

Ta Phin village is home to the Red Dao ethnic community and still retains many traditional customs, including the secret herbal bath recipe. They combine medicinal leaves picked from the forest and bring them home to boil into bath water.

This type of water is said to be good for women after giving birth or to reduce feelings of fatigue, pain...

Ms. May Kim (a Red Dao ethnic group currently living in Team 4, Ta Phin Commune, Sa Pa Town, Lao Cai ) said that going to the forest to pick leaves for bathing is one of the experiences that many foreign tourists love and choose when visiting here.

At Ms. May Kim's family accommodation business, each leaf picking and bathing tour costs about 35 USD (nearly 900,000 VND) for 1-2 guests.

When joining the tour, foreign tourists will be guided into the forest by a local guide to pick leaves and introduce them to the types of leaves used for bathing. “Tourists can directly pick fresh leaves or learn more about wild vegetables,” she said.

This woman also said that the number of visitors coming here to experience leaf picking and bathing in the forest mainly come from countries such as the US, UK, France and Switzerland.

They were surprised that Sa Pa still preserves natural herbs that are good for health – which are rare or little known in the West.

According to Ms. May Kim, to participate in the leaf picking, tourists will have to travel 6-7km to the forest. Sometimes, they have to travel to many hills and mountains further away to pick many rare types of leaf picking.

“Many Western tourists who went into the forest to pick leaves to bathe in were bitten by leeches and cried loudly. However, they still liked to go and learn about the types of leaves that are good for their health,” said Ms. May Kim.

Tourists do not hesitate to follow the locals into the forest to find healthy bathing leaves.

She revealed that tourists can experience picking bathing leaves in Ta Phin all year round. The types of leaves that visitors pick mainly help treat bone and joint pain, in addition to some types that can treat coughs and help reduce fatigue and stress.

After going into the forest to pick leaves, they will be instructed on how to boil the leaves to make bath water and use it directly.

Ms. May Kim added that the traditional herbal bath water of the Red Dao people often uses more than 10 types of medicinal leaves, sometimes even more than 30 different types.

The boiled bath water is poured into a wooden barrel. Visitors will soak in it for about 15 - 20 minutes.

According to her, this type of bath water has a fragrant herbal scent and visitors can feel the obvious effect right after the first experience. However, many visitors who are not used to the herbal bath water for the first time may get drunk.

“No matter how strong a person is, they should only soak in the herbal bath for about 15-30 minutes and then get out immediately, because if they stay in the bath for too long, they can easily get drunk,” she said.

Coming to Ta Phin, in addition to the experience of picking leaves in the forest to bathe, visitors can also learn to embroider and cook like the locals.

Ms. May Kim is happy that more and more tourists love the experience of going to the forest to pick leaves for bathing water.

Kayla, a tourist from England, said she was very impressed with the Red Dao people’s herbal bath water in Ta Phin village. She tried this bath water twice and was surprised because “her body was restored in an amazing way”.

“After riding a motorbike for a long distance to Ta Phin village and soaking in the herbal bath, I felt really refreshed, my body felt less sore and painful.

The bath water also smells very nice. I also bought dried leaves to bring back as gifts for friends and relatives,” the female tourist shared.

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/khach-tay-thich-thu-deo-gui-doi-non-la-chuoi-len-rung-hai-than-duoc-o-sa-pa-post388458.html