This year for GAP (a week long trip to another Asian country for activities and community service), I went to Da Lat, Vietnam. It wasn't quite the exotic trip that I had hop ed to go on, but it was a fantastic and beautiful experience nonetheless. Here are a few prints that was from my trip to Vietnam.
This was taken at the base of Lang Biang Mountain, where they offered car rides and hiking guides to escort you to the hiking trail. There were also a significant amount of poor salesmen and women, targeting the area due to the huge flow of tourists who visit the mountain each year. This old woman is selling traditional Vietnamese patterned handbags and wallets. You can tell from her face and hands that years of hard work to support herself and her family has not been very beneficial to her. She constantly experienced the depressions of poverty and tried to make a living through selling. It is also kind of interesting to know that she most likely lived in Vietnam during the Vietnam War, and she and her siblings were probably involved in weaponry production or fighting directly in the war. The whole Vietnam War fascinates and interests me, and if I had more time, I would have asked her more about it (I do recall talking to another old Vietnamese man - when he found out I was American he had a complete change of facial expression and stopped being entirely respectful to me. This is probably due to the American involvement in the Vietnam War).
This photo was taken at the front of a hiking trail on Lang Biang Mountain. This hiking trial led to a cliff where we were to abseil. It was quite a spectacular trail to hike on; we were surrounded with beautiful greenery. Trees, grass, flowers, and all the nature were so overwhelmingly stunning. I took this picture because I thought the house and the trees were a nice contrast to the scenery. The little house stored electrical circuits and boxes to help power the base of the mountain. This modern piece of technology contrasts with the isolated mother nature. It also shows that some countries could still push through hard times.
This photo is of the road that led to the beginning of the trail. As you can see, it is quite a bumpy and underdeveloped road, with some imperfections in the pavement. I also think it represents the effects of the modern world on mother nature and the natural world, as wildlife and modern roads are combined together in this image. It also looks like a pathway to nowhere, like a road to a depressing isolation. Although it looks sort of sad, it also could be a heaven for nature photographers who prefer being alone and connecting with wildlife (like me).
This image was taken on the trail heading towards the abseil cliff. It was a spectacular hike; we were surrounded by trees and wildlife and no other forms of modern technology. There were occasions where we would reach a cliff, and we would be able to look out into the distance at the landscape. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy day so it was quite difficult to see. I even tried to take some photos of the scenery, but the overcast day prevented it from being a nice photo.
As you can see in this photo, the path was narrow and rough. There are two paths in this image, just because it went around the trees. It joined up again later on. It was not quite as rough as the biking trail (see next photo), making it was easier especially since we were on foot rather than on a bike.
This image is scenery photo of our biking trail. It was quite a difficult bike ride - we started out in poor neighborhood, where the pavement was very rocky and underdeveloped. We spent about 15 minutes bumping up and down on the trail, only to face another steep, rocky uphill trail. A simple way to explain the bike ride would be 'rocky uphill, until the last 5 minutes of the bike ride'. The whole ride involved rocky uphill, with about 2-5 minutes of steep rocky downhill every hour or so (we cycled for about 4 hours). It was very tough, but the last 5 minutes were a wonderful, properly paved downhill where we could enjoy the breeze in our hair. This photo was taken on one of our breaks, after a steep uphill where are legs and thighs were burning. Although it was a difficult ride, it was very enjoyable with the beautiful scenery and cool weather. I really enjoyed it and would like to go back to the beginning of the cycle.
As mentioned before, although Da Lat was not as exotic, with beautiful temples and churches, as other GAP locations would've had, it was still a spectacular trip in its own way. Other trips could have stunning photos of Buddhist temples and Christian churches, but Da Lat has stunning photos of its scenery and wildlife. It may get kind of boring to others to see so many photos of trees, but I just loved the wildlife and nature in Da Lat too much to not take photos. It was a really fun GAP trip, and I can't believe it ended so fast. It's sad to know that this was my last GAP trip (I won't be able to go in senior year), but I'm happy that my last GAP trip was really fun.
