Spring in the mountains

Whenever I feel my daily life is too boring, I often choose a place to temporarily escape from the hustle and bustle of the city. Sa Pa is one of those options, not too far to go and not too close for an ideal “shelter”. However, this time the trip to Sa Pa was very different when I set foot in the northwestern resort town of this country in the early days of the new year.

Sa Pa is a highland town 38km from Lao Cai city. Now there are tourist buses from Hanoi via the Hanoi – Lao Cai highway, shortening the travel time by half, but I still prefer to take the train. Because after a night's sleep, I arrived in Sa Pa town with a refreshed spirit.

Although I come every year, each time Sa Pa brings me different feelings and interesting experiences. If the drizzling rains and the golden terraced fields in Sa Pa have left an impression on my mind, then in the first days of the year, I can freely immerse myself in the floating fog that covers everything it passes by.

The stone church in the center, which had been flooded with sunlight recently, had almost disappeared, then suddenly reappeared in the rays of sunlight interspersed with clouds. The cherry blossoms on the top of Ham Rong Mountain, which seemed to be flickering in the cold, bloomed in the sunlight amidst the lush green forest, painting a colorful picture of spring before my eyes. That scene must have only been seen in a fairyland, or I had been enchanted by Sa Pa with the most wonderful things.

This season, peach buds of various colors and plum blossoms of pure white have begun to bloom despite the cold. The dew drops still lingering on the branches from the night before make the beauty of the flowers even purer. Spring is the season of new life, of the rays of sunshine signaling the coming of a new year full of vitality.

There is nothing more wonderful than watching the branches of the flowers soar up to the sky, listening to the music of young men and the simple songs of indigenous girls on a spring morning. The love market of the past is no longer as intact as it used to be when life in Sa Pa is developing and modernizing day by day. However, couples in the spring still meet and make love as their ethnic tradition has been through many generations.

Heritage Magazine