Of Rice Padi Field, Bai Tu Long & Endless Honking

Our Tiger flight brought us to Hanoi on 18th May 2008 (Sunday) 830pm local time. It didn't take long before we cleared the customs and were on our way to the hotel. Vietnam's cheap accommodations allows budget travelers to pamper themselves with great hotel at low prices. Our 3+ stars hotel in Hanoi only cost USD11 per pax per night. And this comes with free internet access right from our hotel room. How nice!

In our 8D7N trip, we visited Hanoi, Sapa and Halong Bay. We started in Hanoi, made our way to Sapa followed by Halong Bay, before making our way back to Hanoi again.

When we were in HANOI...There were lots of shopping to do in Hanoi. We were all surprised as shopping isn't associated to Vietnam. Things here are really really cheap. They have a large selections of bags, sandals, crafts and silk. You can find "Crumplers", "Roxy", "North Face", "adiddas", "nike" bags here. A decent 30-40L "branded" backpack costs less than S$15. And some are really nice.

While we were in Sapa (North to Hanoi)

Sapa is a mountainous area which is relatively undeveloped. Many tribal people stay in the villages around the town. Their main source of income comes from farming (rice and maize) and from tourism. They weave plenty of stuffs which they go round selling to tourists. You will be easily surrounded if you express the slightest interest in buying.

As part of the Sapa tour, we did some easy trekking around the region. Reflecting back on this trip, the trekking must have been my favourite part. The cool climate means we did our trekking with minimal sweating. Along the way, we had the opportunity to visit the villager's accommodation. It was interesting to see and experience the way they live their daily life. They survive on bare minimum while in contrast we had so much. Despite so, we do not seem to be living a more satisfying life.

Of course we also saw the rice-padi fields. You see them everywhere on the mountain slopes. The terraces are neatly ploughed, watered and seems ready to accept the new batch of rice plants. We even had the chance to trek by the narrow path on the side of the rice field itself. Seems easy, but it was quite a challenge balancing. Well, at least for me. Haha.

We also saw lots of animals. Mostly are farm animals such as buffaloes which help plough the land for rice-planting. The local guide even ask if I want to try. But seeing how big they are and the muddy ground I have to step into, I kindly rejected. I think she might really just let me try if I am on enough.We sure took lots of photos. Some are just for self-amusement sake.

While we were in Halong Long Bay

Like Sapa, we signed on a local tour that would take us to Halong Bay. Consisting of 3D2N, we spent 1 night on a Junk kind of boat and another night in a nearby island hotel. Essentially, we spent half our time on the boat where we cruised round Halong Bay. Oh, and the name of our boat is "Bai Tu Long" which has the meaning of baby of the descending dragon. Halong Bay apparently means descending dragon. We saw several rocks formation along the way, one of which resembles fighting cocks as shown below.

Halong Bay is a UNESCO heritage site. Supposed to be impressive huh. But I tot it was alright. Nothing that spectacular. Just that there are many rocks formation on the bay. Perhaps we were expecting nice bluish water instead of the greenish that we saw. Hah.. In all, Halong Bay did not impress me. But it was some fun spending a night on the Junk itself.

In all, it was nice fun visiting Vietnam for the first time even though Vietnam was not on my travel list previously. Personally, I enjoyed Sapa most. It probably has to do with its cool weather and the vast rice-padi field that you see everywhere. The friendliness of our local guide only makes our experience all the nicer. Like a visit to any developing countries, you can't help but feel the lifestyle contrast when compared to ours. It prompts us to appreciate whatever we have, even for a moment.