Backpack Journey Part B

It is peaceful & quiet village in Tam Coc, Hanoi. Though the people may have to work under the padi field, I can sense the peacefulness & simplicity in their lives.

My friend told me that kids are spoilt here in our country. In VN, young kids have to help look after family, attend to chores & do farming. Not easy afterall.

I admit that life is more stressful here. However, maybe it is because we travel as a traveller. So, the pressure & relaxation come along when we travel. To live in a place may be totally different. The stress of a good harvest, weather, surviving etc.

The young girl in the photo was helping in the padi field, standing in the midst of "raw rice" [forgot the term & too lazy to check]. She reminded me of my friend's daughter. Hee hee...parents here dote their kids a lot - or pampered. =P Not sure if my friend will do the same but definitely he wont ask her to work on "padi field".

It has been a long time since I last visited cell. The members are mixture of young & seasoned christians. I used to think that visiting cell was tough especially when they come with their spouse/gf. That was my time - 2001. Now, cell functions quite differently. Guys conduct their own cell. I also shared with my buddy K that the topics were not appropriate as they touched on marriage, in-laws. Actually, guys' issues were not focused on such things. We shared our encounter, our struggle with jobs & exams. We also shared soccer and durians [the cell likes to feast on durians]. Jimmy asked when my buddy can join us as he remembered his house is very near to the cell venue. I think it is a very new cell - members are very new except the few of us - haha - in army I will be regarded as "old bird". Gosh, stressful as I think I am as "baby" as the rest.

Backpack Journey - Discovery Part A

Finally back at Home after 8-day backpack :). My journey comprised Hanoi-Ha Long Bay-Cat Ba National Park-Tam Coc-Hoa Lu-Perfume Pagoda-Hanoi. This round was quite fruitful - managed to cover all areas planned except HCM Stilt House due to time constraint. My friend C commented that she suspected that I have a loved one in Vietnam - thats why I kept going to Vietnam...well whatever it is, there are so many things to do in Vietnam....

Decided to devote the blog to several interesting characters I met during my backpack journey. For the Ha Long Bay (My second time to HL Bay), I was told that I would visit another cave - but ended up visiting the same cave. Something different was that I brought along my tripod - so can make sure colourful caves were captured steadily :P.

A chinese irrigation expert (Mr Jin), English girl backpacker (H), a group of Khun Thai, a Vietnamese couple as well as another couple from Europe (cant recall - think they were from France) - were among the group on the Junk.

Mr Jin has been travelling to Hanoi to impart his irrigation skills to local farmers for 12 yrs. He gives lecture while his interpreter does the translation to local farmers. He is already 70, but looks strong and tanned. He has not really have a good rest and he decided to quit teaching as the life is pretty hectic for him. Thats the reason why he is onboard - according to his interpreter - Mr Jin seldom rest. This time it is really a good break for him. "It is always easy to say you want to change your lifestyle. But having been in it for 12 yrs, some things are already buried deep - they become part of your life." - Mr Jin.

H is probably the youngest among us - at age 22, she quitted her job and started backpacking to Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and up to Vietnam, going to Kun ming. I told her that I envied her lifestyle and admired her courage to travel solo. "I don't want to wait until I am old to do all these. There are many things for us to explore and we should do it when we are still young" - H.

Well, at least got a young solo backpacker to talk to during my backpack journey. She is a friendly person and I learnt that she was working as IT/Computer Graphics. Her camera was SLR type - got the professional photographer look despite her young age. My first part of the journey - though we travel quite independently - she was actually on a tour package while I was on my own - we did bump into each other for a couple of times, even when we were back in Hanoi. Ha ha...it is good to know some one else when you are walking and travelling independently......

Thats why I say - Backpacking alone only means travelling on your own to meet people of same interests and getting to know more people.