My trip to Vietnam, Hanoi - SAPA

I was initially complaining that the cost of this trip seems a little over priced. Travelling to Hanoi with a total cost of near $800 for a 5 days 4 nights seems expensive.

At the end of the trip, i realized that the money spent was all well worth. Unlike the normal tourist travel, i get to see and experience alot more than the usual tourist get in touch with and also not forgetting about the travelling group of photographers.
Thou there are quite a fair bit of blunders that i created in this trip, i thought it would serve as some wonderful memories for myself and NOOO! i wont share any of them here....:)

This trip is a little tougher than i thought..not the trekking part but the hot weather that got me roasted within an hour under the sun...the little rest time that we get and the 2 nights on train. I was restless and tired throughout the trip.

I didnt quite like Hanoi although it was a place for excellent street photography...
i preferred the quiet SAPA town and a little more down to earth kind of life that the villagers lead.

Greeted by the many rice padi fields of SAPA..the villagers grew them for their own consumption rather than selling them.





Wealth was measured by the number of buffalo the family owned. Excuse me, its not cheap to get a buffalo, i was told by the local guide that it cost USD 1,000 for 1.


One of the village in particular that we went to(which im not going to name as it isn't a tourist spot yet), left me with a deepest impression. The villagers were all so "PURE", i got to describe them that they were the purest soul i have ever met. Not influenced by the ugliness of urbanization, these people live a life of contentment, no stress, no greed, no temptations and non ambitious.

Thou they were poor, no one will ever looked down on them. I was in fact, envious of them...how untainted these people were.

I got invited twice to the villagers house...they were all so friendly...

These 2 little cute sisters who happens to stroll along the mountain area, were all so ready and shy to pose for us...
Look at their eyes..do you sense a little happiness just by looking at them?




These were how the kids get together to spend their time during the day. No fanciful toys...but spending with the nature...






It just set me thinking through the trip...
Ever wonder which kind of childhood, would you prefer your kids to experience? How often can you made the decision?
Are we forced to start having lots of stress the moment you are born? So who is luckier in life? Who is the poor and the rich?

The kind of beauty of this place lies in the soul and purity of these people...its different compared to landscape and structures that can be improved along the way in time...

Im glad that i signed up for this trip, please pardon me if i behaved a little unusual in the coming days(Somehow this trip influenced me abit...)and i really encourage everyone to at least go for one such trip to experience it:) Its definitely going to be more rewarding than visiting a few shopping trips...