Most recently I had the honor of visiting the incredible country of Vietnam. Vietnam was one of the places I was most excited about because I had heard amazing things about the food, people and breathtaking sights it had to offer.
Prior to our arrival, my roommate and I had mentally planned our time there and were intending to fly to the northern part of the country to a “natural wonder” of the world, Halong Bay. (Google image it and you will see why we were adamant about going.)
Upon porting the ship in Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon we called the airlines only to find that all of the flights to our intended destination were booked for the entirety of the five days we would be in Vietnam. Even with continued persistence and begging over the phone, we were told there was nothing they could do to help us get a flight to this tiny paradise in the northern coast. We were faced with the question, what now? The one thing we had wanted to do for the entire voyage so quickly became unattainable, and was so close yet so far from our grasp.
We looked at each other; each packed a backpack and decided to go to the airport to try our luck there. After an hour ride there we were determined to get on a flight and with face-to-face persistence, we did. We were so thrilled that our impromptu decision to pack a bag and go had worked. (Although we did somewhat reconsider our decision while sitting on the plane, because we realized we had forgotten a majority of our necessities and had only one outfit to last us three days…)
A few hours later, we arrived in Hanoi, the closest city with an airport to Halong Bay (still four hours of driving away). We found a hostel in Hanoi for the night and luckily were able to book a driver to take us on the eight-hour round trip journey that we intended to explore the next day.
The next morning, we woke up at the crack of dawn (to a rooster outside of our hostel window) and were escorted four hours north to the Bay, where we boarded a junk boat into the bay’s sea foam green waters. We were taken all around the bay, had lunch, and hiked through caves. The best part of the day though, was when they gave us an opportunity to kayak throughout the bay, cliffs, and the caves. Imagine the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean,” when they are in the bay going through the caves. Now imagine that, beautified ten times over. The clarity of the water, the rawness of the caves, the incredible silence all around you — that itself was what stuck with me the most.
It always seems that life flashes before your eyes — you’re in kindergarten then you graduate college. You are a teenager and then you’re a mother or father raising one. We never stop to listen to the silence of life and take in the world around us. Pure silence is stinging — it is something that is rarely experienced, because let's face it, nothing in this world is ever truly quiet. But, kayaking in Halong Bay, hours away from people, becoming one with nature, I experienced this silence. The piercing and almost head-throbbing sound of unfamiliarity — it’s completely overwhelming because you expect something, even the littlest noise, to interrupt it at any time, yet minutes go by and the quiet emptiness still remains.
At first I hated it and found myself breathing louder to distract my mind from the vulnerability of soundless waters and rocks. But after time I realized, when else in my entire life am I going to hear nothing? At home, it is impossible (even if you are by yourself) to completely hear nothing. You will always be faced with that annoying car alarm outside, a dog barking, or something in the distance ruining the moment that could almost be classified as complete silence. Closing my eyes, breathing in the fresh pure air and finding nothing to distract me from appreciating nature was surreal. I found myself not wanting to leave it and almost trying to bottle it up inside of me, so I could capture and treasure it for a later time when I could no longer find silence in my life.
I know its impossible for me to tell you to find somewhere where you too can experience something like this, but truly, if you have time … go out and experience nature. This world that we always take for granted has so much more to offer than we think, and we tend to neglect and overlook everything it provides for us. Whether it’s the firewood to keep us warm, a hunted or fished animal for a meal, or the silence that keeps us sane, take the time to discover something new about it and find the patience to appreciate it. Because, like the silence I experienced, you can’t bottle it up and take it with you. Value it while it’s there and absorb it before it’s gone.
About author:
Marissa D’Amato is a 2009 GMHS graduate. Her column will appear regularly in the Georgetown Record as she travels the globe with the Semester at Sea program.
Prior to our arrival, my roommate and I had mentally planned our time there and were intending to fly to the northern part of the country to a “natural wonder” of the world, Halong Bay. (Google image it and you will see why we were adamant about going.)
Upon porting the ship in Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon we called the airlines only to find that all of the flights to our intended destination were booked for the entirety of the five days we would be in Vietnam. Even with continued persistence and begging over the phone, we were told there was nothing they could do to help us get a flight to this tiny paradise in the northern coast. We were faced with the question, what now? The one thing we had wanted to do for the entire voyage so quickly became unattainable, and was so close yet so far from our grasp.
We looked at each other; each packed a backpack and decided to go to the airport to try our luck there. After an hour ride there we were determined to get on a flight and with face-to-face persistence, we did. We were so thrilled that our impromptu decision to pack a bag and go had worked. (Although we did somewhat reconsider our decision while sitting on the plane, because we realized we had forgotten a majority of our necessities and had only one outfit to last us three days…)
A few hours later, we arrived in Hanoi, the closest city with an airport to Halong Bay (still four hours of driving away). We found a hostel in Hanoi for the night and luckily were able to book a driver to take us on the eight-hour round trip journey that we intended to explore the next day.
The next morning, we woke up at the crack of dawn (to a rooster outside of our hostel window) and were escorted four hours north to the Bay, where we boarded a junk boat into the bay’s sea foam green waters. We were taken all around the bay, had lunch, and hiked through caves. The best part of the day though, was when they gave us an opportunity to kayak throughout the bay, cliffs, and the caves. Imagine the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean,” when they are in the bay going through the caves. Now imagine that, beautified ten times over. The clarity of the water, the rawness of the caves, the incredible silence all around you — that itself was what stuck with me the most.
It always seems that life flashes before your eyes — you’re in kindergarten then you graduate college. You are a teenager and then you’re a mother or father raising one. We never stop to listen to the silence of life and take in the world around us. Pure silence is stinging — it is something that is rarely experienced, because let's face it, nothing in this world is ever truly quiet. But, kayaking in Halong Bay, hours away from people, becoming one with nature, I experienced this silence. The piercing and almost head-throbbing sound of unfamiliarity — it’s completely overwhelming because you expect something, even the littlest noise, to interrupt it at any time, yet minutes go by and the quiet emptiness still remains.
Kayaking (Source: halongdiscovery.com)
At first I hated it and found myself breathing louder to distract my mind from the vulnerability of soundless waters and rocks. But after time I realized, when else in my entire life am I going to hear nothing? At home, it is impossible (even if you are by yourself) to completely hear nothing. You will always be faced with that annoying car alarm outside, a dog barking, or something in the distance ruining the moment that could almost be classified as complete silence. Closing my eyes, breathing in the fresh pure air and finding nothing to distract me from appreciating nature was surreal. I found myself not wanting to leave it and almost trying to bottle it up inside of me, so I could capture and treasure it for a later time when I could no longer find silence in my life.
I know its impossible for me to tell you to find somewhere where you too can experience something like this, but truly, if you have time … go out and experience nature. This world that we always take for granted has so much more to offer than we think, and we tend to neglect and overlook everything it provides for us. Whether it’s the firewood to keep us warm, a hunted or fished animal for a meal, or the silence that keeps us sane, take the time to discover something new about it and find the patience to appreciate it. Because, like the silence I experienced, you can’t bottle it up and take it with you. Value it while it’s there and absorb it before it’s gone.
About author:
Marissa D’Amato is a 2009 GMHS graduate. Her column will appear regularly in the Georgetown Record as she travels the globe with the Semester at Sea program.
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