攀龙胜梯田 - 十一月的梦

Went GuiLin & Yangshuo last year in Nov. A bit "retro" but was thinking of sharing today a passage that I submitted to "My Paper". It was a sort of travel diary which captured the thoughts of "travelling" - Not at Home kinda feelings.

山是龙的脊, 田是登天的梯.

十一月广西背包行程中, 我穿插了一游著名的金坑梯田的美梦. 对于从来没有亲身体验梯田的我, 最想拍下在烈日下发光的金黄色的稻田, 希望收割季节还没过, 能圆我的梦. 除此之外, 对与居住在那儿的壮族, 瑶族, 我也好不好奇.

龙胜金坑梯田有三个观景台, 一般得花两天时间攀爬, 沿途欣赏风景. 虽然收割已过, 梯田如链似带, 高低起伏, 小山似螺, 大山如塔, 还是令人难忘. 从高高的观景台望下, 梯田顶所形成的图案, 好像立体星图, 想象力强的背包者可以数数星星, 还可看到月亮. 据我们入宿红瑶族大寨的红瑶族[余阿姨]介绍，那儿叫七星伴月.

在龙胜梯田–吸收了不少新鲜空气,尝到了土生土长的稻米和蔬菜,感觉就好像吃到了刚捕到的海鲜酿成的日本寿司.听[余阿姨]数说耕田的过程与看到红瑶族姑娘们挑水种田的勤奋,令人更能体会[粒粒皆辛苦]的道理.

龙胜的开发,让不懂梯田的人了解梯田,也让生活在梯田的人,以拥有梯田为荣

徒步寒山寺枫桥

张继《枫桥夜泊》

月落乌啼霜满天，江枫渔火对愁眠。

姑苏城外寒山寺，夜半钟声到客船。

【枫桥】在江苏苏州市西枫桥镇　　

【对愁眠】舟中旅人相对难寐　　

【姑苏】苏州的别称

Not very good in Chinese Poems - However, the above poem has been one of my mum's favorite. In a way, got to know it during my CL1 class too. 一直以为寒山寺在高山上... 原来寒山是个人名. Interesting discovery =P, was still worried that the climb to the temple would take much efforts for my family, and it ended up an easy walk.

Tour guide corrected a mis-conception many people have about 江枫. The 枫 is the name of a bridge there, not related to a tree or even "wind" due to the same pronounciation.

My friend's wife J mentioned seeing my collection of Jiang Nan photos reminded her of this poem, as well as JJ's song. Didnt rem clearly the lyrics of JJ's song, so flipped through the web sites to take a look at the lyrics. A few portions did have a stronger impact ~

"风到这里就是粘, 粘住过客的思念

雨到了这里缠成线, 缠着我们流连人世间

....

你走得有多痛痛有多浓, 当梦被埋在江南烟雨中, 心碎了才懂"

JJ walked through several cities/towns before writing his album and this song. I rem at the West Lake Museum, some students were talking about how JJ wrote this song. I cant recall what exactly said, but I can agree that a trip to 江南 will be rewarding for its culture, its history, its romance...... appreciate the beauty of 江南.

Lunar New Year in Jiang Nan, China

江南 - 就想起水乡, 美景. 这次没有背包, 陪同社团, 不用安排, 也可放轻松. 一向不听导游说话, 只顾看风景的我, 这次有点不同.

他讲的故事, 顺口溜非常丰富又有趣 . 一则是有关牵手:

牵到情人的手，一阵温暧在心头。
牵到小姨子的手，后悔当初娶错婆。
牵到老婆的手, 就像左手摸右手，
一点感觉也没有。


Initially, I thought he might "offend" tour group - especially the loving couple. There is actually some rationale or "deep thoughts" behind this saying. "Air" or "Water" that we need - normally is so common or nothing special. But they carry gr8 value in our lives. Married couples, no matter how young or old, may become "common" after some time. However, just like water and air, they are in a way become unseparable or forming a loving and unbreakable bond.

Extracted from a passage I read in a blog ~ 夫妻就像两只手，左手和右手，他们一生朝夕相伴，也许没有浪漫，正如人对空气感觉不到它的存在，可你却离不开它。那是一种亲情的相依，那是一种平凡的美，失去了其中任何一只手，都不会是和谐完整的美，只有相互牵手，才是最美。

夫妻之间手拉手，就像左手牵右手；没有激情有踏实，平平淡淡到永久。

Backpack Journey Part B

It is peaceful & quiet village in Tam Coc, Hanoi. Though the people may have to work under the padi field, I can sense the peacefulness & simplicity in their lives.

My friend told me that kids are spoilt here in our country. In VN, young kids have to help look after family, attend to chores & do farming. Not easy afterall.

I admit that life is more stressful here. However, maybe it is because we travel as a traveller. So, the pressure & relaxation come along when we travel. To live in a place may be totally different. The stress of a good harvest, weather, surviving etc.

The young girl in the photo was helping in the padi field, standing in the midst of "raw rice" [forgot the term & too lazy to check]. She reminded me of my friend's daughter. Hee hee...parents here dote their kids a lot - or pampered. =P Not sure if my friend will do the same but definitely he wont ask her to work on "padi field".

It has been a long time since I last visited cell. The members are mixture of young & seasoned christians. I used to think that visiting cell was tough especially when they come with their spouse/gf. That was my time - 2001. Now, cell functions quite differently. Guys conduct their own cell. I also shared with my buddy K that the topics were not appropriate as they touched on marriage, in-laws. Actually, guys' issues were not focused on such things. We shared our encounter, our struggle with jobs & exams. We also shared soccer and durians [the cell likes to feast on durians]. Jimmy asked when my buddy can join us as he remembered his house is very near to the cell venue. I think it is a very new cell - members are very new except the few of us - haha - in army I will be regarded as "old bird". Gosh, stressful as I think I am as "baby" as the rest.

Backpack Journey - Discovery Part A

Finally back at Home after 8-day backpack :). My journey comprised Hanoi-Ha Long Bay-Cat Ba National Park-Tam Coc-Hoa Lu-Perfume Pagoda-Hanoi. This round was quite fruitful - managed to cover all areas planned except HCM Stilt House due to time constraint. My friend C commented that she suspected that I have a loved one in Vietnam - thats why I kept going to Vietnam...well whatever it is, there are so many things to do in Vietnam....

Decided to devote the blog to several interesting characters I met during my backpack journey. For the Ha Long Bay (My second time to HL Bay), I was told that I would visit another cave - but ended up visiting the same cave. Something different was that I brought along my tripod - so can make sure colourful caves were captured steadily :P.

A chinese irrigation expert (Mr Jin), English girl backpacker (H), a group of Khun Thai, a Vietnamese couple as well as another couple from Europe (cant recall - think they were from France) - were among the group on the Junk.

Mr Jin has been travelling to Hanoi to impart his irrigation skills to local farmers for 12 yrs. He gives lecture while his interpreter does the translation to local farmers. He is already 70, but looks strong and tanned. He has not really have a good rest and he decided to quit teaching as the life is pretty hectic for him. Thats the reason why he is onboard - according to his interpreter - Mr Jin seldom rest. This time it is really a good break for him. "It is always easy to say you want to change your lifestyle. But having been in it for 12 yrs, some things are already buried deep - they become part of your life." - Mr Jin.

H is probably the youngest among us - at age 22, she quitted her job and started backpacking to Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and up to Vietnam, going to Kun ming. I told her that I envied her lifestyle and admired her courage to travel solo. "I don't want to wait until I am old to do all these. There are many things for us to explore and we should do it when we are still young" - H.

Well, at least got a young solo backpacker to talk to during my backpack journey. She is a friendly person and I learnt that she was working as IT/Computer Graphics. Her camera was SLR type - got the professional photographer look despite her young age. My first part of the journey - though we travel quite independently - she was actually on a tour package while I was on my own - we did bump into each other for a couple of times, even when we were back in Hanoi. Ha ha...it is good to know some one else when you are walking and travelling independently......

Thats why I say - Backpacking alone only means travelling on your own to meet people of same interests and getting to know more people.