Bathing in Sapa Vietnam
17/09/07 (GMT+7)
Bathing in Sapa Vietnam, if you’ve had a day’s trekking in the hills beyond Sapa (Sapa trek) or just need to unwind the best way to is to soak your bones in a Red Dao ethnic minority herbal bath in Ta Phin village (herbal bath in Sapa), says Duc Hanh
Travel to Sapa Vietnam at the end of summer: The town is green, the air is clear, the sun is shining. Every tourist is having a hearty breakfast before heading off into the mountains to trek from village to village and discover the life of the local ethnic communities. Except me. I’m taking my time over coffee before ambling as far as the nearest xe om driver.
You see, I’ve visited the villages, bought the Jew’s Harp, watched the ethnic minorities dance, sipped on ruou with the old Dao men, walked on stilts and returned home with my H’Mong hat. This time, I’m here to relax. It’s been a long hot summer in the city and my body is aching just from the overnight train trip from Hanoi to Lao Cai.
So I find a local xe om driver called Thang and tell him I’m in need of a bath. Not any old bath, but a Red Dao herbal bath, which I have been told will wash away my aches, pains, worries and woes all at once.
Thang knows just the place he says. Ta Phin village, about 12 kilometres from Sapa Vietnam, where I can enjoy the pleasures of a herbal bath for about VND30,000 to VND40,000 which sounds like a price you wouldn’t argue with.
We freewheel down the winding road. The landscape opens up around us. Rolling hills, terraced fields, at times shaded by the precipitous mountains, at other times basking in the golden sun. The wind is in my ears and already I feel justified – I can enjoy the fresh air and enjoy the views without walking!
Along the way, in human terms, the road is quiet. Few people are seen on the road and seldom do we pass a house. But that’s why we come to the country, to escape the noise, the traffic and the madding crowds.
But near Ta Phin, the local population materialises, trickling down the mountain side, rambling along the roads – Mong and Dao women walk with half a dozen giddy kids orbiting around them. As I pass the women manage a smile despite baskets on their backs brimming with firewood or vegetables, while the barefoot kids dangle colourful strings of cloth bracelets in the hope
I’m in the hunt for souvenirs.
At Ta Phin village in Ssapa, the villagers sell torches for those braving the darkness of the cave, which is dark and narrow and hard to manoeuvre inside.
Thang assures me that it just takes an hour to emerge triumphantly high up on the mountainside. But I mumble my excuses, claiming I couldn’t put myself under any physical strain – doctor’s orders I’m afraid. Love to trek around for hours but I’m here for the dia dao xin, which in Dao language means herbal bath.
Nearby the cave I find my Holy Grail – a rather modest looking wooden house it has to be said, which is divided into three sections by brocade curtains. Inside each section a bathtub awaits.
Ly Kao Sy, a Red Dao man, is on hand to show me the plethora of fresh and dried plants and bark that will be brewed in water upon a charcoal fire for my herbal bath.
After 20 minutes, the air is filled with the thick aroma of these natural medicines. Ly explains that the water is 50 degrees and it’s ready for me to dip in.
“This medicinal bath is very good for our bones and it can treat colds and flu. Sit in it for 20 minutes and you’ll see,” says Thang.
I had already met Exhibit A, Jing-dong, a Korean man, who had just soaked his bones for 20 minutes before I arrived.
“It’s perfect. I feel more healthy and relaxed like I have just had sauna,” he assured me with a blessed-out grin. “This is the second time I have had a bath here. The first time, two days ago, I felt a bit sleepy but after an hour’s rest at the hotel, I felt very comfortable and much healthier. So I returned to have one more bath before leaving Sapa!”
Then just as I’m ready to take a plunge I meet Exhibit B, a Chinese American girl named Mei Lin from New York. It’s also her second time to have a herbal bath after testing the waters a few days ago.
“I love saunas very much and now I am addicted to this herbal bath,” she says while waiting for her bath to be run. “I also had a rash on my leg and now it’s gone!”
Dr. Tran Cong Khanh of the Vietnam Traditional Herbal Medicine Institute concurs that the herbal bath of Dao people in Vietnam has a good record for treating common colds and the flu as well as relieving arthritic pain.
“It’s estimated that there are approximately 120 kinds of herbs, plants and bark used for baths,” he says. “But of that total there are 39 which are popular and about 10 which are indispensable.”
For those who don’t want to travel to Ta Phin village in Sapa or any other of Dao villages, I’m told that you can order a herbal bath to come to your hotel for VND50,000 to VND70,000! Convenient it may be, but I’d urge travellers to head out to experience it in a more rustic and authentic setting.
Also if you feel like bringing the bath experience back to the city the dried herbal medicines are also sold in Sapa Market to the tune of VND20,000 to VND30,000 a pack, though the range of herbs included might not be as abundant as the actual bathhouses in Ta Phin village.
Still I intend to pick up a pack as the odd time when life in the city gets too much and I don’t have the luxury of escaping to the northern mountains, I may very well soak my bones the Red Dao way.
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(Source: Timeout)
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