How weird - we've only been there for a mere stay of 5 days in Ban Ho Village, but the mere thought of leaving that kind of serenity for city life, where we belong, is just plain profound. For once, I truly felt the kind of bitterness when people leave a certain place where the best memories took place. It's like being torn apart in two - Singapore or Vietnam?
If I had a choice, I'd go back there. However, we didn't have a choice back then. We had to leave under Mr Teng's orders, since it was after all, a school trip.
Before we went off to Lao Cai city, we went to help out at the terraced fields. Same thing - plough the land thoroughly before leaving the place. It was much easier now, because the soil is wet. At the same time, the load was heavier because for one, the soil now comes out in chunks with the hoe, and is heavier. Moreover, since our group was assigned an easy plot of land the day before, we were working on the biggest plot that day.
Gym class is important, and so was the entire training process we had back in Singapore. This time, we were made to put in whatever we had. Soon everyone was muddy and dirty, so there wasn't much of a difference anyway - mud wars started out. Hard work, but everyone did have fun whilst getting the job done.
Soon after the cleaning up, we had to leave that place. I wouldn't say much about the leaving - it rakes up much mixed emotions.
Before we left after lunch, I handed Khnah my green origami plane that all of us were supposed to prepare to give to our tour guides.
"Here, Khnah. Thanks for all the things you've helped us with during our stay here."
"Here, Khnah. Thanks for all the things you've helped us with during our stay here."
"Oh! Thank you very much!" he replied, as he looked a bit... skeptical about the shape of the plane. I folded it the Japanese way, without a tip.
"When I get to medical school, I'll return. I promise."
With that, and all the thank-you notes written down, as well as the appreciation that we showed to the villagers, we set off on our way back to Hanoi. Before that, we went to a minority Dao village.
With that, and all the thank-you notes written down, as well as the appreciation that we showed to the villagers, we set off on our way back to Hanoi. Before that, we went to a minority Dao village.
Setting off to walk the remaining path that big vehicles like buses cannot go through.
Last trek of the entire trip to Vietnam. I like that. And it was here that I took the most pictures with ease and travelling light.
"One shot, one kill." Nice timing, I got a water buffalo looking right at me when I shot this picture.
Crossing the bridge of two completely different lifes - that of the citizen and villager.
This river flow represents the harsh realities of life - one minute your life flows smoothly, and the next moment you crash into endless rocks.
One of the minority Dao villagers' houses, with tourists and travellers like us crossing by.
The houses are old. And I mean, really old. After the brief introduction to the Dao households, we were told that these houses could get as old as 300 years old, passing on from one generation to the next. And, the houses have 3 fireplaces - one for cooking food, the other for cooking animal feed, and the last one for warming purposes. Very nice.
Although the trip was brief, we got to see quite a few things that seemed to invoke a somewhat reflective part of my mind along the way. Just look at the below pictures.
Hmm... We have the luxury of not doing this.
Wow, even tyres can give kids so much fun.
Funny, even as I write this, I can remember vividly what actually happened over there as though it were yesterday. And as we walked on, we saw many more sights of our brief stay at the Dao village area. Priceless sightseeing for a school trip, I'd say.
I mean, just look at this. It's just a bamboo stick cut lengthwise in half, used to transport water.
Wobbly bridge, anyone dare to cross this?
Kids playing on a rocky patch of land.
Well, I'd say it's quite a quiet ending to our trip to Lao Cai, even as we came and went.
Later on, we went into Sapa Town to get our goodies - aka souvenirs. They sell things like lighters, some even bigger than a typical cigarette, and lots of brocades and the like. Man, they even have 4-foot long pipes for tobacco. Cool stuff.
After a while of shopping, unfortunately, I found little things worthwhile buying, and oh. Those kids will try all ways and means to get you to buy their stuff. Irritating, when they start overdoing it despite you telling them you don't want their goods. Well, anyways, can't blame either. It's quite hard for children to make a living out there, especially since they are still at schooling age...
We then set off for Lao Cai Station. Ugh. Pumpkin soup tasted nice when I tasted it for the first time in Ban Ho Village, but the taste grew more and more disgusting by the day, mainly because we've been eating the same thing for a couple of days in a row. Funny, but nobody ever said they find rice, bread or other staple foodstuffs disgusting despite eating it for decades...
Perhaps it's just us.
After that, we set off for our bunks in the train. It's tough penning this down, because everything was in a mess. For example, we were carrying a whole lot more stuff from what we bought for home from Sapa Town, and there was increased specificity about the ticketing - who goes into which bunk, and so on. As for me, I couldn't get out in time to thank Khnah again for seeing us off all the way from Ban Ho to Lao Cai city.
I couldn't thank him enough for what he has done. Bringing us up Mt Fansipan, teaching us the ways of the villager, and even sending us all the way back to Lao Cai train station. It's a real pity I couldn't tell him that before he was gone. Just, poof! Gone.
Even as the train set off, we didn't have time for all that. We still had to prepare for a presentation that we would be presenting to 5 Singaporean entrepreneurs when we got back to Hanoi on the last night.
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