Ta Xua in Bac Yen district, Son La province is considered a famous cloud paradise in the North. Tourists coming here mostly choose experiences such as trekking, sleeping in homestays, admiring the rolling sea of clouds... Few people know about Ta Xua, living with the locals will have countless other memories with pure beauty of the locality.
Accidental trip
The end of the year is a busy time for work but still wanting to have a weekend escape from Hanoi, Ngoc Anh (27 years old), an office worker, chose Ta Xua because it is easier to travel to than far away places that take time like Sapa, Ha Giang...
The cold weather that covers the North from the beginning of December is also the most suitable time to travel to "cloud hunting" Ta Xua. While looking for a homestay and planning an itinerary with the intention of traveling independently with friends, Ngoc Anh was accidentally introduced to a brand new local tour by a homestay owner. The girl shared: "I was immediately impressed with the Cham Tra tour and did not think Ta Xua had such interesting experiences, learning about tea and dyeing indigo by myself. After reading the itinerary, I decided on it without much hesitation and I really had a worthy trip."
This was Ngoc Anh’s first time coming to Ta Xua, bringing with her the perspective of someone who had only seen the cloud paradise through popular images of mountains in the Northwest. Everything before the trip was quite bland and the girl confessed that she did not have much of an impression, saying that “it was like a place I would go to just to know and not think I would come back many times”.
But two days staying at Thong Dong retreat, the host picked her up at home, cooked for her, and experienced life in the high mountains, completely changed the young girl's mind. Ta Xua is much more beautiful, from the scenery along the road, the majestic green mountains to the homestay located far from the center, with a beautiful view and unforgettable peace.
During the day, she watches the sunrise, has breakfast with a million dollar view with the sea of clouds right in front of her and rolling hills, and at night, Ngoc Anh is fascinated by the starry sky in the quiet night, something she never saw in Hanoi.
Tea star, indigo dyed on the clouds
Ngoc Anh did not like to go on tours because she was afraid of being limited in time and “leaving nothing but hasty photos”, the experiences were rigid and crowded, but the Cham Tra tour gave Ngoc Anh a different feeling about traveling. This was a slow trip with many memorable memories, visitors had the opportunity to learn more about the local culture and get to know more about the tourism workers with a passion for preserving and developing Ta Xua.
On the first day, the guests were taken to a small tea shop by the host. The experience with tea began with stories about how to roast delicious tea with bare hands. Although the practice was initially very awkward, after standing for a while, the young girl felt fascinated by the feeling of concentration. Ngoc Anh gradually learned to adjust her hands to be even and knew how to put tea leaves under her hands each time she stirred so that her hands did not touch the hot pan too much. She felt the moderately warm temperature of the tea leaves on her hands, the aroma of the tea leaves when they were fresh until they were dry.
Not only did everyone hear about the tea, they also heard about the different types of tea, their smells and tastes. This was also the first time Ngoc Anh drank tea and felt the mild aroma, not bitter, and realized the difference in taste through each tea week.
On the second day, the girl was even more surprised with the experience of “indigo dyeing in the clouds” - when she was taken to a location so beautiful that she was extremely excited as soon as she got off the car. This is a small indigo dyeing workshop with a direct view of the mountains, valleys, and terraced fields, very pleasing to the eye. The scene that Ngoc Anh will always remember is the frames for drying dyed fabrics that have not yet dried, the fresh indigo fabric fluttering in the wind, very poetic.
Here the workshop owner shares about the origin of indigo, how to make dye, and the differences between dyeing methods. Visitors are shown how to create patterns on fabric with beeswax before dyeing. In the middle of a place where the earth and sky blend together, surrounded by mountains and blue sky, focusing on meticulously drawing patterns on the scarf, dyeing it, dipping the scarf into the indigo vat, until seeing the patterns they created on the scarf, Ngoc Anh feels especially excited.
“I had so many new experiences that I probably can’t describe in words. It was the first time I went on a tour without crowds, without rushing to check in and move between destinations. The trip really helped people understand more deeply, look deeper inside themselves.”
