Abandoning a job with a monthly salary of tens of millions of dollars in the capital, Du and his wife took their children to the highlands to live. Here, he finds the dream-like life he has long secretly dreamed of.
Lying on the bank of a stream in the middle of a great thousand, Du calculated that he had left the capital for the highlands for more than 9 months…
After 9 months, he left Hanoi and returned to Ha Giang to live. Pham Xuan Du adapted to manual labor to settle down with his family in the new land.
Perhaps for Du – Ha Giang is where he belongs. From a person who has lived and worked in Hanoi since childhood, Du has now determined to settle down with his family in this land.
After working from home, on weekends, Du spends her own time immersing herself in the northernmost mountainous landscape. He prepared all the equipment for camping: tent, mini gas stove, sleeping bag, food and drinking water to prepare for his overnight camping day.
Rustic highland holds the soul
The places to go are sometimes pristine forests deep in the remote villages. Sometimes it’s by the stream where there’s no phone coverage. Sometimes Du even attended the unique wedding ceremonies of the indigenous peoples here while camping alone.
I don’t know why I have such a hobby. Maybe it was simply curiosity, wanting to discover himself as well as Du’s affection for the people and nature here.
Du’s wife – Ms. Hau understands her husband’s personality and interests and tries to create the best conditions for him to have such trips. Every time she goes away from home, she advises and prepares medicine and food carefully and fully to ensure the safest trip.
And don’t forget to tell him when camping somewhere to tell me the location to be more secure. Every trip with her husband, Hau often contacted and inquired via text message or phone call. There are places where Du goes because there is no phone signal, which makes her very worried. But when she saw him return with a bright smile, she felt all her worries disappear.
“Each trip my backpack is arranged very neat and tidy. Every time I camp, I need to calculate what tools to take out first for convenience. Calculate the average weight of each trip from 25-30kg. So health is very important because there are places where motorbikes can’t go, I have to walk through the forest, cross the stream, climb the mountain…” Du confided.
Du said one of his fondest memories is the first day he started his camping journey. He went there to be a rather large shallow stream in Cao Bo, Vi Xuyen, Ha Giang.
That day Du started going at 13:00 pm, the weather was beautiful. Crossing the hills, the surrounding dense forests are only green with rather large tree trunks. The air was so fresh, the rays of sunlight passing through the leaves and the birds singing made him very excited.
Arriving at 15:00, Du saw that in the middle of the shallow stream, there was very high ground and gravel and the space for camping was very suitable. But he also wondered because he was afraid of flash floods, so he went to find the people here to ask if it was safe to camp there.
Because this is a place where few people live, it took Du more than 30 minutes to see an ethnic woman in her 40s with a buffalo herd and ask her about the dangers here. She said that if it rains heavily, the water will only rise, but normally, the water cannot reach that place.
It’s quite reassuring because today’s weather is quite favorable with no rain. So Du decided to camp there. The sun and wind at this time are very beautiful and cool. When the camp was almost finished, suddenly a very heavy thunderstorm and rain came. At this time, the mood is very confused, with a little fear.
One hand just kept the tent from the wind blowing because it was not fixed yet, the other hand held a small backpack in which there were phones, cameras, flashlights, power banks… to hug people to avoid getting wet. broken.
At that time, he was very worried because he was in the middle of the stream with only the sound of rain, wind blowing and very loud sound because the water in the stream was flowing and rushing very strongly. In his mind, he thought that the reluctant case was to run away from his possessions to get people to escape to ensure safety. Recalling this time until now, Du still feels a bit scared and thinks that he is also very brave.
Fortunately, while camping, it caused curiosity for the children who were herding buffaloes nearby. You followed him from the river bank. Seeing Du fighting the storm, his friends shouted loudly in the ethnic language, signaling him danger to come.
Du had to move his tent to a safer location. He moved his things to the other side of the stream to avoid the sudden flood. Although he is an adult, when he wades through a fast-flowing stream, he has to go very slowly, step by step.
That day, he still decided to camp to stay, at night he heard the sound of rain falling and he slept when he didn’t know.
Let your soul in with the sunrise and sunset in the north pole
Early morning dawn greeted him by the stream, the air was so fresh after the rain the day before.
Sitting and sipping a cup of tea in such a wonderful place is very relaxing. He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the mountains and forests, the sound of all species calling each other early. In that place, the raindrops still on the leaves reflected in the morning sunlight shimmering like rainbow colors.
The buffalo children the day before were singing and playing with Du. He talked with the children, and together ate instant noodles and pieces of dry food with them. The kids up here must be very strange to see Du alone camping here, not in groups like they usually see.
Following the children to the waterfall deep in the old forest, Du climbs steeply and the trail is covered with trees of the rainforest. Where there is a stream flowing through, the group quickly caught all the big rock crabs, which were bigger than an adult’s hand.
While walking, learning more ethnic languages and discovering beautiful places that have never been commercialized makes Du want to have more interesting trips like this.
Returning to the tent when it was already dusk, he listened to the sounds of wild birds coming to their nests, the sounds of animals calling to the flock… By the fire in the middle of the night, Du found for himself the values of life. all these years he couldn’t get in the noisy and bustling capital.
But the most important thing he found was the value of life through the villagers – the human-to-human feelings of ethnic minorities in the highlands. Just passing by a wedding, you will be invited in as a valued guest, lost you will be given food and a place to sleep. Although still poor, the feelings of the people here are as rich as anywhere else.
“It’s a simple joy to go camping! Discovering your own abilities, being in harmony with nature. Sleeping in the forest rain, listening to the sounds of insects and wild animals. It’s very early in the morning. being pushed into the tent by the clouds, listening to the alarms of forest birds, meeting the villagers, feeling how peaceful everything is and how beautiful life becomes.”
The weekend was over, Du packed up his things, cleaned up the tent and gave the children a few packets of candy – goodbye, he returned to his daily life with his family here.
Du Bao, when people are so familiar with the chaos of buildings, dust and cars, deep down in their hearts, they all want to return to nature – a place without dust and noise. Only the morning sun shines on the young buds that are opening, the night dew remains on the glittering leaves, the fresh breeze blows gently, making our soul feel like letting go of sorrow, bringing a sense of peace. to strange!
After each trip, you will know something more that is difficult to understand in books and newspapers. The best: “The smile of the highlands is as innocent as the inherent simplicity of the children of the mountain”.