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For Thanh Ngoc, each journey is not simply about walking through a land, but also about experiencing her own emotions. Therefore, when choosing Sapa for her trip with her mother, she wasn't simply looking for a beautiful destination, but a place that encapsulated multiple layers of meaning – majestic nature, rich culture, and a slow pace of life, enough for the two of them to pause and connect with each other.
“My mother has never set foot in the northern mountainous region. Being from the South, she only heard stories about the cold, the fog, and the terraced rice fields. I wanted to take her to a truly special place. And Sapa was the easiest choice, offering both convenience and still retaining the pristine beauty of the mountains and forests,” Thanh Ngoc shared.
Sapa is not just a destination, but the quiet heartbeat of the mountains and forests, hidden behind patches of mist.
Sapa – not like what you imagine, but even more beautiful in a different way.
Her luggage was packed with mixed feelings of excitement and apprehension. In her imagination, Sapa was a misty but bustling, urbanized, noisy, and somewhat commercial town. But reality presented a much gentler picture: "Just a short distance from the center, you'll encounter villages hidden in the early morning mist, gently winding terraced rice fields, and the clear laughter of children echoing across the mountain slopes."
And there, amidst the mist and silence, there was a moment that seemed to make time stand still – the moment Ngoc set foot on the summit of Fansipan, known as the "roof of Indochina".
It was an incredibly joyful feeling to witness the red flag with a yellow star fluttering proudly at an altitude of 3000 meters.
Speaking to a Travellive reporter, Ngoc recalled: “Mist surrounded me, a gentle breeze blew, and clouds drifted below. I stood there, amidst the vastness of the sky and earth, feeling both empty and peaceful. When the red flag with a yellow star fluttered in the wind, I suddenly felt small but incredibly happy to be witnessing that sacred moment – at an altitude of over 3,000 meters.”
Faces that we will remember forever.
Sapa is not just about mountain peaks, villages, or mist-covered roads, but also about the kind, genuine faces of its people. On the way down to Cat Cat village, Ngoc came across a group of children huddled together playing cards with scraps of paper, drawing each other's faces with soot. Ngoc recounted: "No phones, no modern toys, just imagination and friends. That moment transported me back to my childhood."
Where the dew touches people's faces, there are smiles with flushed cheeks that ignite a fire in the cold.
Or, while stopping at a stall selling traditional brocade, Ngoc chatted with a Hmong woman holding a small child. The woman recounted the days when snow covered the mountaintops – beautiful, but freezing cold, adding to the burden of making a living. “It’s tough, but seeing tourists happy because of the snow makes me happy too. I hope tourism develops so my children can have a better life in the future,” she smiled, her hand warming the still-red baby in her arms.
What Ngọc retained within her was not the scenery, but the feeling – the slow, rustic feeling of the misty city.
A slow but profound pace of life.
Highland cuisine is also a rich and flavorful culinary experience. For Thanh Ngoc, grilled chicken with mắc khén spice is an indispensable part of every return to Sapa. "The chicken skin is crispy, the meat is tender and incredibly fragrant; with just one bite, it's like hearing the wind blowing from the mountain slopes," she describes.
Not the bustling Sapa seen on social media, but a gentle, poetic Sapa, with its own unique character.
But if she could only keep one thing after the trip, Ngoc would unhesitatingly choose the quiet, unhurried pace of Sapa. "I want to keep Sapa as it is, peaceful, pristine, and gentle, just like the clouds and mountains here," Ngoc said.
Not the noisy Sapa seen on social media, but a Sapa rich in culture in the villages, with rosy-cheeked, smiling children; a Sapa that is unique, deeply rooted in memory, sweet and gentle like the morning dew of the old villages.
