I wrote the following “poem” in an email to my friends and family while I was traveling in Vietnam. I took a three-day tour of Halong Bay, and part of that tour was a two-hour trek on one of the islands. Beautiful scenery, and a great people experience:
Planet Earth.
Southeast Asia.
Vietnam.
Halong Bay. 1969 mostly uninhabitable islands. Limestone rocks covered with green trees, shrubs and plants.
Cat Ba National Park.
Cat Ba Island.
Halong Bay
Subtropical evergreen forest. A two-hour trek. Hot. Humid. Protected from the sun by the trees and plants.
Wildlife. Hawks and other birds flying overhead. Various vibrant colorful butterflies fluttering around.
Sounds. Birds chirping. Crickets humming. Monkeys grunting.
Descending a trail. Rocky ground to walk on. Could be slippery when wet. But not raining today. Plants, spider webs, ants on the ground. A few wild flowers sprinkled.
A lake. Fish in the lake. Fishing nets next to lake.
Fishing Nets
Then…a family. One family of four. The only family around. Living in the forest. Just the family and the forest.
Dogs and puppies bark to greet me. Chickens running around.
A woman. A wise old woman. A grandmother. She smiles at me – a wise smile. I smile back. Hello, good morning, I say. No English. She smiles again.
She offers me bananas. Freshly grown bananas. From her garden. Her garden in the forest. I accept the offer. Small bananas. Half the size of the bananas I usually eat. But, twice the flavor. Thank you, I say. We smile.
The woman is cooking. In a hut. A hut made of wood. Hand made wood from the trees of the forest. A basic and simple hut. A few fresh cooking ingredients inside the hut. A few hand made utensils also inside the hut.
Cooking Hut
The woman is cooking fish. Freshly caught fish. From the lake. The fishing nets from the lake. Frying the fish in a frying pan. Over a small fire. Flipping the fish with chopsticks. I watch her cook. She offers me a small wooden bench to sit on. I accept. Thank you, I say. We smile.
Cooking Fish
The woman takes out peanuts. Freshly grown peanuts. From her garden. Her garden in the forest. She sits and cracks them open. I watch. We smile.
The smell of fish fills the air.
The woman offers me a cucumber. Freshly grown cucumber. From her garden. Her garden in the forest. I accept the offer. Same size as cucumbers I usually eat. But, twice the flavor. Thank you, I say. We smile.
I ask my guide if I could take photos. He translates. Yes, the woman nods. I take photos of the hut, the cooking. Then she looks at me, smiles, and motions for us to be in a picture together. We smile, as my guide takes a picture of me and the woman.
Debby and Thanh
It is time to go. I smile to say goodbye. The woman smiles back – a wise smile. Precious moments with the woman. The woman of a family. A family living in the forest. A family with a garden in the forest.
On Cat Ba Island.
In Cat Ba National Park.
Halong Bay.
Vietnam.
Southeast Asia.
Planet Earth.
Sweet Travels!