Last days at Vietnam

Ready to leave Vietnam. Came back from Sapa to Hanoi and had a very bad incident. Got into a quarrel with a taxi driver because he rigged his taxi and charged us S$20 for a 7 minutes ride. He threaten to drive away with our bags if we refused to pay him. Had such a big argument but I have backed down at the end of the day. Hanoi is such a 'Heavenly' place. That very day, a few friends and I got into 2 other scams that we have to pay more money to deal with it that gave us a very bad impression of the place.

Was drinking coffee before leaving Hanoi and was sorting through my mixed feelings about Vietnam. Then I saw this lady peddling her wares in the street and realised that if they have the resources and choices we Singaporeans have, they don't have to resort to scams to make a living. People live the way they know best with all the resources they have. So to me Vietnam is still a wonderful place.

The H'mong in Vietnam

The local people of Sapa are made up of different tribes with the H'mong predominantly. They are dressed in different colours to depict where they are from. The girl in the pic is from the Black H'mong. They are very friendly and lovely people with a lot of smiles. They are very open and sincere. Being with them makes me feel relaxed and safe. Makes me remember my ex-job as a teacher. The politics, the people you have to entertained, smart alec students in school that teachers have to handle everyday. Simple life is b..b...b...beautiful!



There are many different other tribes like the Red D'zao. Found out from the locals that they are having a wedding in one of the tribe and I went down to take a look by hitching a ride from one of them. Wonderful experience. They have chasing the boar game and all those very tribal game. Most importantly, the whole village was there and they are all celebrating with one thought in mind. Happiness for the newly wed. The kind of energy is really amazing.

Night to Sapa

Decide to go to the mountainous area in Sapa. Booked a night train so that I can save on the accommodations for the night. The night was raining badly though. So I decided to take a picture of the scene at the train station. In the train, I met some Vietnamese and we had a good chat where they told me lots of stuff about the history and the current affairs of Vietnam. So, through the night, we chatted a lot and after a brief nap, viola, train station Sapa.





There were a lot of motorbikes there where people are ready to haggle and discuss prices to bring me to places that I want to go to. It like going to the market to buy food stuffs. A lot of shouting and lots of fun.

Rice Terrance

The weather at Sapa is cool! Very very shiok. Clear fresh air with occasional mountain breeze blowing past. Looking out from the windows of the guesthouse, I can see the rice terrance, the scenic is so refreshing, relaxing and calming that I can sit for hours enjoying it.

Took a trek in the morning and walked for about 8 hours into the sunset enjoying the fresh air. The sunset at the rice fields were spectacular. Golden coloured sky, golden coloured rice fields and mountains. There is a gentleness to the whole place with the local natives the H'mong moving at a leisure pace in with their daily work. It is as though time is meaningless in this place, without a need to worry and rush for things and feeling guilty when things don't work out. Paradise and ethopia on earth.

Halong Bay

Halong Bay is beautiful. Went on a junk boat and stayed a night in the boat. Did some kayaking also. It is a blessing to have gotten out of Hanoi and spent some time out on such a peaceful place. Met some Singaporeans on the junk and they even offered me pineapple tart! Wow, a few months out of Singapore and be able to taste pineapple tart is a joy. Anyway, I did some trekking to a few scenic spots to take some pictures and had a good time getting to know some people on board the junk.

Left from Hoian, and headed for Hanoi, the northern part of Vietnam. Due to the Tet Festival, there was a mad rush for buses as I fought with the locals for a seat. There were a lot of pushing and arguments. I nearly couldn’t get on the bus but I was pretty mean this time round as I blocked the way of the locals and pushed my way up. Got a lot of angry stares from that deed.

Hanoi is a very challenging place. There are a lot of scams and extortion around. I met with a number of situations where the locals were out to trick me. They would claimed that the bowl of noodles cost 10,000 Dong (Singapore $1) and then change the price after the food comes to the table. There were a few times that I just walked out of the stall. I have seen fights on the street like every other day at the place which I stayed. Quite different from the rest of Vietnam.
Didn’t really like Hanoi and to skip the crowded mess of Hanoi, I decided to go to Halong Bay, the bay with thousands of rocks jutting out.

Authentic Vietnamese food

It is near to Chinese New Year and in Vietnam, it is known as the Tet Festival. I got to befriend a Vietnamese family in the province of Hoian and they were very generous to welcome us to their place for a family meal. Very traditional Vietnamese food and yummy!

It is almost parting time for me, Melissa and Daniel. We had a lot of fun together but then as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. Daniel has to stay in Hoian to finish his studies here we go, I am on my own again!

Fairy Spring

Today we set off early and went to get some motorbikes again! We then went off to the market for some food and then to the fairy spring. It is a weird place where one can walk on the stream and beside the stream, at the banks, are these tall structures like the Grand Canyon from the States. Brownish and grayish, they stood tall and high up. With the blue sky as a backdrop, the place looks very stunning!

Finally I have the time to do some blogging. Went to the Mekong Delta, a place at the end of the Mekong river with lots of rice fields, islands and very dirty river water. Saw many nice stuff and the best part was to stay with a local family of farmers in the night. There was quite a big group of 8 of us there from all over the world. USA, Canada, Israel, Norway, Germany, Japan and of course, me, the Singapore representative. Had a lot of fun chatting, drinking and cracking jokes. Slept at one of the hardest bed ever, a cloth over bricks. That's how hard life can be as a farmer I guess. The farmers woke us up in the morning and brought us to the rice padi to watch the sun rise, pretty spectacular.

Now I am at this place called Muinee in Vietnam. It is a beautiful beach that stretches out about 2 kilometres in length and lots of people in the sea doing kite surfing. Crazy stuff with people moving through the water at very fast speed using the wind as a guide. Will be trying that out the day after next. Cos tomorrow is sand dune visiting day. They have a very unique structure out here at the beach at Muinee called the sand dunes. It is created by the winds blowing the sad to the land for hundreds of years and it forms Canyon like structure.