Travelling back to peace

by Catarina Fernandes (Portugal)

I didn't expect to find Vietnam

I had never seen anything like this before. Ha Giang is a remote province in the northern of Vietnam, with really special and uncommon features, and which I explored on a motorbike, together with my guide Kiw. He was a man about 30 years old, born and raised in that area, and a natural humorist with a huge heart. I felt constantly breathless, like never before, during this trip: from the imperial and countless hills that made me, sometimes, fear my life (even though Kiw was the best driver I ever met), to the minorities villages spread all over them, each one with it's different costumes, traditions and habits. Most of them with such a primitive routine, based on farming, that makes you feel like you're travelling back on time and you only get back to reality because you find already plenty of motorbikes and cellphones commonly used amongst the people there. In one of the nights we stayed at a homestay in Du Gia, a cosy home from a Vietnamese family, that served us a typical dinner on their lovely tiny bowls, full of diversified vegetables, spring rolls, eggs, meat and, of course, rice. Also, we were rewarded with what they call "happy water", which is a home made whisky made of corn, that they offered us all along that night, always inviting for a toast. From our rooms, we could appreciate the rice fields right next to us, where we would find woman working, as well as a crystal clear river, where they would wash their clothes and, during the morning, a movimented market with vegetables, fruits, picturesque vests and animals. After so many days driving around and feeling the heat, I started feeling tired and at some point, as we were having lunch at a small restaurant nearby, I asked the owner if it was fine if I layed down for a little bit right there to take a nap. As this is a very common and visible practice in most of the country, she said yes without hesitating. For a great while I just slept there peacefully, without any of the concerns that would come up to my mind if I was at my hometown, and when only when I woke up, I realized she even brought me some sheets and pillows and left them next to me. Besides that, a few fellows had joined me, laying a few meters away from me to rest after lunch break. On this moment I just wished that, all over the world, napping anytime and anywhere would be a normalized activity for everyone. But, maybe, the fact that it isn't is what contributes for such places like this to be so singular, special and memorable.