For those of us who are stuck working behind a desk all day, at times watching beautifully put together travel features might be our only reprieve from the humdrum of daily routines.
Travelers with eyes for cinematography occassionally treat us to exquisite montages of Vietnam’s breathtaking landscapes. Depending on your travel preference, you can visit the destination of your choice with simply a click: bask in the warmth of Mui Ne, relish Hanoi’s colorful urbanscapes or even traverse the length of Vietnam in a mere minute.
If you’ve been hankering for a visit to Vietnam’s northern landmarks such as Sapa or Ha Long Bay, you’re in luck: this travelogue, which is chockfull of moments from Hanoi, Sapa and Ha Long, is worth your time.
Created by traveling friends Johnson and Zack, Vietnam — Hanoi / Sapa / Halong clocks in at just a bit over one minute, chronicling the duo’s 11 days in the aforementioned destinations. They spent four nights in Sapa, four nights in Hanoi and one night in Ha Long.
For Zack, a first-timer in Vietnam, the wintry landscape of Sapa was hard to resist. “It was my first time in Vietnam, honestly, I felt my heart and mind belong [to] Sapa. It has wonderful scenery, people are genuinely nice and friendly,” he tells Saigoneer via email.
All footages from the trip were shot with a Fujifilm X-T2 and Sony A7ii; the resulting clip was edited by Zack, a Singaporean creative designer. It all started with a trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia when he decided to film some clips of the trip with an iPhone 5s. Since then, it has blossomed into a full-fledged hobby.
“We haven't planned anything to shoot, no storyboard, no guides and stuff,” Zack explains. “We genuinely feel the need to capture local people, essential and interesting surroundings at the point of our travel. The joy of doing it was capturing the shot[s] and edit them with music that suits the mood.”
Throughout the video, Zack and Johnson featured a wide range of Vietnam moments, from train rides to rickety mountain bridges to a misty Ha Long on a stormy day. The inside of a busy embroidery workshop and an oyster farm also made a brief appearance in the middle of the short movie.
At the end of the day, the 11-day trip seems insufficient in Zack’s eyes when it comes to exploring Vietnam.
“I would travel again on July-August to Vietnam possibly HCMC and all the way up to Tam Coc,” he shares. “This time I would travel alone, and would have more time to myself, and take everything slower.”
While we wait for the next installment of the series, have a look at Vietnam — Hanoi / Sapa / Halong below:
Video courtesy of Vimeo user zackhedelic. You can see more of Zack’s work at his official website here.
