Eager adventurers (known as “Dân phượt”) are very passionate about numerous villages in the Northwest, including Sin Ho. “Sin Ho” in local language means “many streams”. Sin Ho is divided into two zones: Low zone and high zone. The most impressive thing in the low zone is two big springs from Chan Nua commune through Lung Thang, Ma Quai, Nam Tam to the villages along the Black river such as Nam Ma, Nam Han, Can Com, etc., which are now under the lake of Son La hydroelectric power plant.
View of Nam Ma village
Besides, there are many other small streams flowing through the village. Those streams not only nourish the daily life but also promote the spiritual life, crystallize the cultural beauty and express the closeness between human beings and nature. They are places for couples to have a date. They often find for the coolest and most romantic stream which was called: “bathing station”. Young ethnic Thai girls with long hair and fair complexion, ethnic Lu girls with mountain-like wild smile, black eyes, bright red lips and the Lu girls are especially famous for their beauty, full breasts, and skilled in taking care of their husbands. Dao girls are very feminine. Mong girls are good at both housework and cultivation. All together they have built up the reputation of Sin Ho as the region of beauty.
Lu girls bathing in the stream
Following Tao Thi Mang to a bathing station near Nam Tam commune center, I saw a gentle stream decorated with smooth round stones. It is located in the spring near the road to the village which is convenient for farmers to have a bath. They shake off the dust, returning to the natural body fragrance they were born with.
This is also the place for many middle-aged women or students. On moonlit nights, boys and girls together go there in naked, whisper passionate words and fill the forest around with laughter.
As a teenager, Mang is beautiful with forest-fragrant hair. Mang said: “There are many teenagers from other villages. We often get together for a spring shower in the afternoon.”
Thai teenagers
While they choose to stay close to nature, the bathing stations need to be discreet. Young women wear fitting “Coong” clothes to show the slender back and boast the sensual round breasts. As the girls wade into the purifying stream, their dresses (tutu) are gradually floated upward. The dress will be pulled up to the head when the whole body is wholly immersed in the gentle stream. According to Thai and Lu’s notion, a brief peek is not a big deal. If accidentally meet someone when bathing, they simply consider it an act of providence. And that's how they get along with each other. They always see their beauty as close to the mountains, and should be "witnessed" by Mother Nature. It is the comfort, harmony and closeness to nature that make the beauty here. Mang’s friend, Chao Seo Min is also beautiful with a charming outfit. She confided that the more rivers any place has, the more fertile the soil is. People who live there can receive energies from the flows of cooling water, gaining the gentle, loving and perfect skins in the process. “We consider naked bathing (“Tắm tiên”) normal, it is the way to be graceful with nature”, Min said.
Indeed, the people here are incredibly hospitable and willing to share with visitors about the spiritual life, especially the openness, the communication and ready to drink with guests. Images of the girls with a brilliant smile, fair complexion playing in water have made an impression on me. Perhaps, the adventure to explore Sin Ho will never fade away in my mind.
Trọng Văn
Translator: Thu Phương