LAO CAI – Renting a small homestay, Minh Hung’s family enjoys four days together with daily activities, but no busyness bothers them.
Pham Minh Hung (37 years old, Hanoi), is working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Due to the nature of his work, he does not have much time to spend with his family. In an effort to separate himself from the busyness, Hung chooses to travel far away to rest and connect with people.
Minh Hung’s small family consists of a husband and wife and a thirteen-month-old son. Since falling in love with each other, Hung and his wife have been very passionate about traveling. When giving birth, Hung let him go camping and travel near his home to get acquainted. “Every time, the baby always shows great interest when going to a place different from the usual place,” Hung shared.
Children’s joy becomes the motivation for each trip, so Hung’s travel criteria are simple: family get together, change living environment to recharge energy after busy working days. In addition, Hung also prioritizes places close to nature so that his children can enjoy the fresh air.
During the holiday of September 2, Minh Hung chose Sa Pa (Lao Cai) as the place to “change sleeping places” for 5 days and 4 nights (from September 3 to 7). He chose Sa Pa because coming from Hanoi can take the initiative to travel by personal car. Besides, Sa Pa is also a destination with the typical autumn climate of the Northwest, with mountains, ripe rice, sea of clouds and many accommodation options.
The purpose of this trip is just to rest, so Minh Hung considers accommodation the most important. After considering between hotels and homestays in a number of different locations such as the town center, deep in the village or halfway up the mountain, he decided to book a wooden bungalow in Hau Chu Ngai village, Muong Hoa. About 13 km from Sapa center.
The room is located on the edge of the mountain, surrounded by trees with views down to the Muong Hoa valley. The room is 16 m2 wide, including a private toilet, a double bed and full amenities. There is also a small garden. Families can live, play on the premises, enjoy nature and just need to call, and there will be staff to support as soon as needed.
The remaining steps such as preparing clothes, personal items, baby items … are carried out quickly. In addition, Hung also brings camping equipment including: folding table, folding chair, small-sized floodlight, picnic grill, cooking utensils, thermos, food containers… “The whole family is I really like camping, so wherever I go, I always prepare an extra kit so that when I meet a beautiful place, I can chill,” Minh Hung shared.
The trip started with the excitement of the members, especially the son, even though they didn’t really know where they were going. On the first day of arriving in Sa Pa, the Hung family stayed in town for a day to mingle with the atmosphere of the holiday season on September 2. The couple let their son visit the stone church, have coffee, eat…
For the remaining four days, the family fled to the mountains. Driving from the town center to the homestay, the scenery changes with each road. From the sea of people between rows of tall and low houses, sprawling constructions to the mountains dotted with a few villas, villas, green rice fields and finally to the wooden bungalow next to the house. mountain edge.
The small path leading to the room is paved with stone, surrounded by green trees with a front view of the valley of terraced fields and mountains. The average daytime temperature is about 22 degrees Celsius. “The scene here is exactly as I expected, as soon as we step out of the car, the whole family can clearly feel the difference compared to the time in the center, from the air, the light and the light. scene to the rhythm of life”, Minh Hung said.
After checking in, Hung brought his camping gear out and arranged it in the yard to form a small dining area for the whole family. The trip is literally “changing sleeping places”, so both Hung and his wife want all members’ activities to go on as usual, which helps Hung and his wife better feel the impact of the living environment on people. .
Meals will be improved with Sa Pa specialties or cheese hotpot sipped with wine. Food is pre-ordered at the homestay. Minh Hung will take on the task of preparing food while his wife holds and takes care of the children. The whole family just sat and enjoyed the food, watching the mountains and forests, without work and busyness disturbing. In the evening at Hou Chu He, the temperature drops to about 12 degrees Celsius, the whole family sleeps from 10 pm. “The air helps us fall asleep faster and better, especially the baby,” Minh Hung said.
At 4:30 in the morning, he woke up to see the fog covering the mountain ahead. Near morning, the sun begins to rise, the mountains and valley of Muong Hoa appear clearly. “I was stunned at that scene. It’s not the first time I’ve seen it, but it’s hard to describe the feeling, like being grateful to nature and feeling at peace when I’m right next to my wife and son. me”, Minh Hung shared.
The members wake up in turn, then have breakfast and go for a walk, taking pictures around. This board here does not have many activities, instead of visiting this and that, Hung and his wife sit outside in the yard reading books, playing with their children and then chatting with each other. There are stories that have been told a few dozen times and still laugh together.
“The daily life is repetitive in the cycle of work, coming home is confined to the apartment with TVs, smartphones … so changes like this are very necessary. We like you. be recharged when receiving more beautiful natural images and happy memories of each other,” shared Minh Hung.
Ms. Kim Anh, Mr. Hung’s wife, talked more about taking care of her toddler who is learning to walk. Parents who want to let their children go out should prepare car seats for children. Usually, when getting in the car, the baby will sleep, parents put the baby in the seat and rest assured both the highway as well as the steep pass when moving. In terms of eating and drinking, the baby is eating porridge and milk, so bring a slow cooker to take the initiative to feed the child. Arriving at the property, every day Kim Anh will go to the kitchen to get more meat, fish, and vegetables to cook porridge.
Autumn and winter in the highlands often change quickly during the day. The early morning and evening will be cold, and the temperature decreases at night, but the afternoon is like summer. According to Kim Anh, everyone should prepare a variety of clothes for their children: summer clothes, autumn and winter clothes, socks, scarves, and cold clothes, and give priority to bathing during the day.
Photo: Internet