Chapa express is a special train which operates completely in the darkness of the night. The designers decide to choose the mysteriousness of the black night as the main concept of the train, leaving the most important areas with the twinkling spotlights. While waiting for their departure on the ground of the Hanoi Railway Station, each of the train*s window shines like the flickering light emanating from houses laying halfway down the middle of the mountain. They provoked the curiousity of an unpredictable journey ahead. Each of the train*s cabin acts like a *house*, greeting passengers with warmth, welcome and peace behind its opened doors.
A *house* subdued the atmosphere of the mountainous houses, with rustic black wooden walls, carrying the colour of time. There are pieces of curtain and bedding, carefully selected from the most beautiful brocades which were weaved, drawn with bee wax, dyed, and hand embroided by the hands of the most refined H*Mong and Dao women. The dim light created by hundreds of tiny bulbs simulating a warm fireplace in the middle of a winter night. They are also like a thousand stars in the night sky, twinkling as the train begin to roll slowly to the North, leaving a mysterious black outside of the windows. The designers also payed attention to the smallest details, such as the bedside table, which was a handcrafted product made from natural wood panels and bars. A garbage basket cleverly hidden under the table, expressed the promise of the company to comply with and support all environmental protection campaigns. Each public areas inside the train uses natural wood panels and decorative pieces of stones, carrying the breath of the mountain. Each of the Long skirt, the Nêm drum, and the Khèn was skillfully transformed into subtle and refined decoration.
To create the reminiscent brocade patterns of the ethnic Sapa, the designers created a system of geometric lines as the main theme for the interior of the train. Besides black, the designers make use of prominent colours such as the Vermilion red of the Dao, the Indigo blue of the H’mong, the White of the Kinh to express the desire to blend and integrate the culture of the destination into their design.
The train slowly approachs Lao Cai Railway station early in the morning, when the sunrise is not yet dawn and the faraway mountains begin to show… A long journey starts from stepping onto the train in the middle of the city, following a good nights sleep which brings out a lot of emotion and ends up by opening eyes on the border region. Everything is just a rough sketch preparing for those following days when passengers could experience the wild beauty of the mountains by themselves. The train is not just a mean of transportation, it is the connection between the wilderness of the Northwest of Vietnam and the urban civilization. It is also the sincerest and warmest welcoming of the land of Sapa to the wanderers.
Let emotions speak.
Chapa Express Train.
