An increasing number of tourists are heading to Sa Pa， Vietnam. Want to travel wise？ Here’ re some tips for you before leaving for Vietnam.

WHY GO NOW

Restaurants and hotels have been opening at a quick pace in Sa Pa， in part because a new highway connecting the nearby city of Lao Cai to Hanoi opened in 2014. But much of the national park in Sa Pa remains as wild and beautiful as ever.

GETTING THERE

Sa Pa is easily accessible by bus or train from Hanoi. Sleeper bus service takes at least six hours each way， and round － trip tickets cost about $ 40. Round － trip fares on an overnight sleeper train， eight hours each way， begin at about $ 50； a private cabin（隔间） in the train’ s sleeper car costs $ 200 for two.

NOT TO MISS

Mount Fansipan

Many travel agencies offer tours to Fansipan， Vietnam’ s highest mountain and primary attraction in Hoang Lien National Park. There’ s also a cable car（缆车） from Sa Pa to Fansipan’ s top； a round － trip costs $ 30.

Village trips

Sa Pa is famous for its minority villages. Some are connected to each other by walking or hiking paths. Several companies offer trip and homestay packages of varying lengths， prices and difficulty.

Weekend markets

The villages of Can Cau and Bac Ha， both a few hour’ s drive from Sa Pa， host weekend markets selling farm animals， produce and more.

Local dishes

In open－air restaurants around Sa Pa Lake， one popular fish is hot pot served in local salmon（三文鱼） raised in local mountain streams. Another is a plate of fried river fish called ca suoi.

I come from a broken family. After we grew up， my sister and I could go years without speaking. And that is where this story begins.

My sister Jeanne and I were born only 14 months apart， but by the time we were teenagers we had lost touch. By age 19， I had moved away from our home in Wisconsin to live on my father’ s horse farm in Virginia. Jeanne got married at 18， moved to Chicago， and I didn’ t know what. We lived separate lives in separate states， and our connection somehow ended.

Fast － forward about five years. I was 24 and on a trip with my fiancé （未婚夫） to New York City，a place I had never been. During a day of sightseeing， we were crossing a very busy street loaded with people. Everyone was in a hurry. I had laughed at something my fiancé said， and I suddenly heard my name yelled from somewhere behind me： “ Cheryl！ ” I froze in my steps in the middle of the road. Tears welled up in my eyes. I knew without a doubt that it was my sister Jeanne. I yelled back before even turning to look. “ Jeanne？ ”

It was her. I began pushing people out of my way to get to her. The crowd started to part—even by New York standards， we must have seemed crazy. And there we were， standing in the middle of a Manhattan street， facing each other and smiling. I couldn’ t believe it.

I later asked how she’ d known it was me—she never saw me！ She said it was my laugh. I wouldn’ tsay my laugh is all that unusual， but I guess to a family member it’ s infectious（有感染力的） . It hits your heart and goes deep in your mind.

Since that time， my sister and I have never been separated. We both moved back to Wisconsin. Wetalk daily. Many years have passed， and we are now in our 50s. I truly believe God played a huge part in bringing us together. But our meeting by chance wasn’ t just a sign. I see it as more of a lesson， a reminder not to lose touch with loved ones. It is too easy to remain lost. After our sister － to － sister miracle（奇迹） ， I don’ t plan to let that happen again.

Scientist， conservation organizations and government trying to stop the trend of extinction （灭绝） often focus on protected areas such as national parks and wildlife preserves. But with as many as million species（物种） at risk， this plan of action may not be enough to conserve wildlife.

Slowing the mass extinction that now appears to be underway will require more creative means of coexisting alongside wild plants and animals. A new study indicates the effectiveness of some such approaches by examining some lands managed by indigenous groups.

“ We show really strongly that， from a biodiversity standpoint in terms of species richness，indigenous － managed lands are at least comparable to protected areas， ” says biologist Richard Schuster of Carleton University. And in some places， they are better than parks and preserves －even though indigenous communities may use their lands’ resources by hunting or searching for food.

Schuster and his team analyzed more than 15，000 areas in Australia， Brazil and Canada. They found that the total diversity of wildlife was highest on lands either managed or co － managed by indigenous groups， while randomly selected areas with no formal protection were the least bio－diverse. For threatened species in particular， indigenous lands scored slightly higher than protected lands on overall species richness in Brazil and Canada， as well as higher for threatened animals in Australia.

Each country has a different geography， climate and history. Yet remarkably， Schuster says， the best indicator for species diversity is whether a given area was managed by an indigenous community. He pointed out that practices such as sustainable（可持续的） hunting， fishing and searching， as well as burning， are more likely to occur in such areas. Don Hankins， an ecologist at California State University，agrees. “ there’ s probably going to be more of a connection to the land， ” he says， “ and a use of the land for the things that are there， compared to a national park. ”

“ It’ s really important to listen to the people who live on the land and have them drive the stewardship efforts going forward， ” Schuster says， adding that partnering with indigenous communities may enable the world’ s countries to better meet a wide range of conservation goals： “ We really need all the help we can get as a global community to prevent species extinction that we’ re facing right now. ”

I grew up in a Midwestern town where the popular wisdom was to only talk about what was pleasant and to keep secrets， if necessary， to make that happen.

This meant staying mum when someone offended you， rarely expressing unpleasant feelings and smiling slightly more than is necessary. It also meant zero room for airing any sort of dirty laundry，especially not the kinds of personal secrets that keep people up.

Many of us like to believe that hiding unpleasant truths might make them eventually go away. Instead， keeping secrets— especially heavy ones— can spin an even more complicated web of loneliness and deception（欺骗） . So why do we do it？

The truth can hurt. But in many situations， it’ s better to get it out and let the recovery start， rather than allowing it to be more harmful.

The burden of holding in the truth doesn’ t just disappear. It hides in the back of your mind and can cause disorder to your life and health.

“ If the situations in your daily life are regular reminders of the secret， and you find it stressful to keep it， then yes， it can have emotional（感情上的） and physical consequences， ” says Dr. Dean McKay.

“ Some people also find keeping secrets stressful out of a general concern they will ‘ slip’ ， and this frequent thought of the secret can in itself be stressful. ”

This difficulty is especially worse if you feel trapped by the secret， or if it brings up other unpleasant feelings like guilt， shame or anxiety.

If you do decide that your secrets took your joy away and would be better off being let out into the world， and if that secret doesn’ t put other people in physical danger， there are healthy ways to share it.