By Hai Nhi.
OPENING
Healthcare has always been a top priority. With the influence of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, people are paying attention in their own well-being more than ever. As a result, the recent traveling trend, known as "Wellness Travel", not only provide refreshing experience but also help improving our health. Let's find out how special this trend is!
I. What is Wellness Travel?
"Wellness" is the combination of physical health and mental health. Therefore "Wellness Travel" allows the traveler to maintain, enhance or kick-start a healthy lifestyle, and support or increase one’s sense of well being. This form of traveling promotes engagement between people, culture and nature, therefore introduces us to a healthy lifestyle, helps to balance and nourish our spirit, brings us joy and positive thinking.
Inheriting various natural incentives, Vietnam has a lot of potential to develop Wellness Travel. One of the most promising destinations is Topas Riverside Lodge, Sapa, Vietnam - a resort that Nem team had the opportunity to visit recently.
II. What does Wellness Travel have?
1. Beautiful landscape, nature-friendly environment
A prerequisite for a Wellness Travel project is a poetic and peaceful location which is close to nature and have a refreshing atmosphere. Topas Riverside Lodge is located at the most remote region of Nam Cang village, quite far from the center of Sapa town. The resort is surrounded by grandiose mountains, faces a crystal-clear stream that murmurs days and nights. It brings the visitors a sense of relaxation and comfort, especially when you want to leave the hustle and bustle of the city.
2. Environmental sustainability and harmonizing with natural surroundings
Even though “occupy" a completely unspoiled natural scenery, the constructions for Wellness Travel must not disrupt the landscape. Therefore, most homestays and lodges for Wellness Travel limit the modern facilities and instead, make most use of natural materials like rattan, bamboo, ... The disposable products such as plastic straw, tissue paper, … are not welcome.
In order to fit in with local identity, Wellness Travel sites also employ villagers. This not only benefits the local employees but also allows tourists to experience the culture in the most authentic way.
3. Interesting experience while discovering the nature and the self
Besides being extremely close to nature, the most special feature of Wellness Travel is physical activities and health care such as yoga, meditation, hot spring bath, massage therapy, beauty treatment, …
At Topas Riverside Lodge, Nem team has experienced various exceptional activities such as:
- Cultural meeting and exchange: the local guide gave us a lively overview about the lifestyle and culture of the Dao and H’mong people there. We had more understanding about the daily life of ethnic minorities through stories about marriage customs, the responsibilities of the men in the lineages or the role of women in the family. At the same time, we also had a chance to try colorful ethnic costumes and give ourselves some lovely silver jewelries.
- Exploring hiking and enjoy the BBQ in the jungle or learn about traditional herbs: if you are a nature lover, if you enjoy physical challenge and healing sound of a murmuring stream in the middle of cloudy mountains, the experience at Topas Riverside Lodge is the top pick for you. These activities improve our fitness and moreover, help us to gain precious knowledge and survival skills.
- Health care activities: we experience a lot of activities such as herbal foot bath, massage, Dao Do people’s herbal bath, or yoga (organized in batches).
- There are also activities to gather friends and family together such as campfire, enjoying unique Sapa cuisine with fresh ingredients provided by the locals, learning to sow and harvest rice on the terraces ... On the stream, Topas builds a natural swimming pool so you and your family can have some fun or just relax under the crystal-clear water flowing from the ravine. This is also one of the favorite spots of the children in the village since they love to bathe here every day. If you visit Topas in the summer, please don’t miss this experience.
A "Wellness Travel" trip not only brings interesting experiences, but also helps you to calm down, to take a deeper look into yourself, to understand what you really need so you can achieve a healthier lifestyle when you return, or at least reduce the stress in your daily life.
III. Is Wellness Travel suitable for everyone?
Wellness Travel is a type of service that can please "anyone". That “anyone” can be an elderly, a middle-aged man or woman, an office worker, a young child or a random person who wants to nourish his or her body and soul.
CONCLUSION
Modern life is full of pressure, causing us to face many physical and mental health problems. Therefore, don’t just focus too much on work and ignore the voice of your body, balance your life and take a break sometimes to strengthen yourself. If you are feeling tired, try a "wellness" trip!
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