On The Back
October 8, 2026
I write this as I am riding on an overnight sleeper bus in Vietnam, from Hanoi to Ha Giang. I landed not too long ago and ate a street-side Banh Mi before I had to rush onto the bus. I am with fellow exchange students I’ve met and made close ties within Singapore. Amongst the 5 of us, only one of knows Vietnamese, enough to get by, not enough to live.
As I ride into the night and the city lights are replaced with trees and asphalt, I am reminded of the history in which Hanoi sits. While I caught a glimpse into the bustling city filled with motorbikes and more cafes than I’ve ever seen, it also holds the memorial to a time many were still alive for, and the revolution that built the city and the communist country it now sits in today. I am no Vietnamese history expert so I will not comment too much further, but many of the faces I saw here remind me and resemble that of those I see in Shenzhen China. I am thereby reminded that North Vietnam, for the greater part of the millennium prior, belonged to the various dynasties of China. Perhaps the apple really does not fall far from the tree.
I’ve come to question how I’ve ended up on this bus, and Vietnam in general. Against the advice of my parents, I’ve come to one of the more dangerous attractions. Perhaps it lied in my desire to see something new beyond the city streets and lights that fill a hazily polluted sky. Maybe it sits in the opportunity to for once, see a more rural side of a country, one that is rawer. Perhaps in one of its rawest forms. Maybe I was influenced by the videos of Anthony Bourdain rating highly of Vietnam and their food or the fact that the world lies beyond just the Asian tiger cities that lead the world. Maybe it was a desire to be comfortable while uncomfortable. Maybe it was a chance to see the mid-autumn festival in a light that isn’t purely Chinese.
I’ve found this opportunity both daunting and exhilarating to the highest degree, but fortune favors the bold. We will see how I become challenged through the journey and seeing the country both, as unique of a trip it is. I may never get the chance again to do such a thing, and I certainly won’t ever get the chance to travel into the mountains of Vietnam with a few exchange students I’ve only known for a few weeks. All of which, seem to have found the comfier side of their bed and lights have been dimmed. While I only slept 4 hours last night and had an early morning meeting, I seem to still have a churning mind. Perhaps this always stays with me as I enter a new place, but I mean, how could I not be excited? Differ not, I too, think that I will shut the curtains soon and get some much-needed rest.
On one more thought, I’ve found that the connection to society and others have drastically been improved when we are able to leverage it without it becomes our lives. Seeing places rated highly and praised upon is a nice plus in searching for restaurants, but I can’t spend the whole day looking for restaurants. Of course, it is nice being able to share a nice photo you took, but let’s be honest, who even remembers what their close friends posted on their story a month ago? Maybe this trip I will challenge myself to try not to think about that and take photos for the sake of taking pictures of something I actually find beautiful and cool.
*The following is my writing after the trip
Riding through the mountain passes and valleys, not only tested my ass muscles, but also tested my endurance to appreciate. Vietnam is still one of the poorest countries in the world and I feel as though I had the opportunity to see it first hand as I sped past the kids and villages of the north. While my group and many others are amongst the many tourists that fill the landscape, it reminds of such a wide contrast that it troubles me. It almost feels wrong that we are paying these people such a relatively low amount and receiving so much in return. Perhaps this was the fabrication of the global economy we’ve come to appreciate, for this is always suffering and oftentimes a loser when we see a western winner. Not all countries are created equal.
The beauty of the countryside, still stuns me. Developed through hundreds of thousands to millions of years, the rolling mountains shaped like inverse teardrops are a result of the sea floor rising, and the water eroding away the soft limestone mountains into the shape we see today. Both in north Vietnamese lands and in the waters off Ha Long Bay. Many of the mountain passes remain largely difficult to access by vehicles other than motorcycles, with many roads influenced by the recent flooding and land slides, half broken, and severely under maintained. Life goes on. A testament to the strength and endurance of the people.
Still, I’ve found trouble synthesizing this writing and coming up with a coherent format in what to write about. Many of the views I saw of poverty and suffering lie within some of the most beautiful and life giving environment. Perhaps that is the underlying truth that troubles me with the trip and the result of what has become. I was maybe never meant to fully understand it nor come up with a true answer to what I was looking for. Perhaps the conclusion lies in the curiosity that it sparks, forever imprinting a new landscape in my mind. It definitely reminded me how fortunate I am to live and utilize the resources of the west. Maybe we are all plagued by our own problems.
In terms of the city Hanoi, it too, brings a life to the question. The city itself, has a heartbeat, with the blood flowing like motorcycles through the city veins, stores and cafes filling the streets and the endless stream of people populating the arteries. It is once of the most uplifting and nonstop cities I’ve seen, with mystery fluids and meats on the ground staining the streets, but in a beautiful way where plastic stools sit alongside and cheap banh mi carts line the sides. Still, a poverty ridden city that lags behind in many KPI and indicators given to a modern city, but who gives that many fucks? The place was dope. It brings me to question why other cities can’t have the same life to it as this city did, and perhaps it is because they care about those metrics. It had some of the best food in the city, Bun Cha as one of my favorite.
Nonetheless, beautiful boys trip, 10/10 worth doing.
