Visions of Vietnam: The Children #3

I pulled out the journal that I had written while I was in Vietnam, and found the following two entries that I wrote about the children:

“It was the children, however, that made my experiences that much more colorful. They would not only greet me with smiles, but they would wave and say ‘hallo,’ or better yet, instead, most would say ‘bye bye’ as a greeting. It was completely adorable. Perhaps ‘bye’ is easier for them to say than ‘hallo?’ Or perhaps that is what they were taught? I don’t know. But no matter what the reason, to be greeted with ‘bye bye’ made me smile and laugh with joy.”

“The children were also very enthusiastic when it came to taking pictures. All I had to do was show them my camera, and they would immediately gather together, look at the camera, and give their biggest smiles and giggles. And waves and peace signs. Adorable.”

Hammocks seemed to be a favorite place for the children.

An older child taking care of her younger sibling, by carrying the baby on her back was precious to see.

I also found these entries in my Vietnam journal. The first was written early in my travels, the second was written in the middle of my trip, and the third was written near the end:

“For every picture I took, I probably could have taken 6 more…”
“For every picture, there is at least a dozen more…”
“For every picture I took, I can take 6, no 12, no 24 more…”

Especially of the children.

Sweet (and precious) Travels!

In Vietnam I had a few personal interactions with some children, more than just asking them for a picture while they posed with a huge smile.

In the Mai Chau region of Vietnam I went on a guided 3-day walk. At the end of the journey, my guide and I needed to wait for our ride to my next destination. As we sat, two children, a girl and a boy, randomly and curiously came up to me. They smiled, sat down next to me, and seemed quite interested in my journal, as I had been writing to pass the time. While I could not speak Vietnamese, and they did not speak English, I motioned for them to write something in my journal, offering them the journal and a pen.

At first they didn’t seem to understand what I was trying to ask them, so I wrote my name on a piece of paper to demonstrate, said my name and pointed to myself. Then each of them then wrote their names, to which I read them out loud as best as I could. We smiled at each other, as if the formal introductions had taken place.

Then the boy took my pen again and copied my name in his own writing. I did my best to copy their names. The exchange continued. We began to draw pictures. I’m not the most artistic person, so I actually let them do most of the drawing. Smiley faces and happy people.

After the drawing session, they showed me how to blow bubbles from some plant that happened to be right where we were sitting. No kidding. It was quite fascinating. If you split the stem in a certain way, you can actually blow bubbles, like a child’s toy of a bottle of bubbles and a wand.

Then they went off to go climb a tree.

After a while, our ride showed up, and I needed to say goodbye to the children. What a fun time I had with them!

Sweet Travels!

“Hallo! Hallo! Hallo!” I hear the children enthusiastically say to me as I hike in the Mai Chau and Sapa regions, or bike in the Mekong Delta area of Vietnam. They are excited to see a tourist, as they happily waive or show the peace sign. The smiles are abundant as I stop and ask them if I can take a photo.

I thought I would travel from my “Excerpts of Europe” blogs to a series of blogs about Vietnam. Unlike the Europe blogs, which were based on my journal writings, these Vietnam blogs will be based on photos I took. I shall start with the children.

These two little girls in their colorful clothes seemed to pose like models.

This group of children was enjoying playing a game of pool.

A water buffalo carried these two children through the fields.

And this little girl was having fun climbing in a tree.

More children of Vietnam photos in my next blog.

Sweet Travels!