22 February 2007 - 10:32
Josh is an American firefighter from Arizona. He works for six months during the summer because there can be fire in the forest only in the summers. He saves enough money to travel to South East Asia during these six months and when winter comes he packs for SEA. More or less like a bear! Six months hard-work and six months leisure! He widely travels around Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia etc… It is a life divided by two different worlds. Work and Fun are distinctly separated. He says being a firefighter is a hard job because they have to climb high hills as fast as possible to control the fires and basically there is work almost every day. Firefighters can not stay at home on Sunday morning or can not enjoy a Friday night party if there is a fire in the forest! After this six months long hard work, he moves to SEA and spends his money here. I imagined myself having a life like this, divided by two but somehow could not put myself into the frame. It is almost impossible for me to stop working for six months. What will I do if I don’t work? Write? I realized that I can write best during the stressful times of my life. I do writing as a way to get out of work stress. If there is no work, then there is no stress and then there is no need for writing. It is this simple. Whenever I say myself “I need some free time to write” and take some time off to relax and write, I basically do nothing, spending my all time on stupid things and produce no work at all. The best stories I have written are all planned/plotted and written during very hectic days of my life. I guess this is the only way for me to keep going. Write whenever I have time and work for the rest of my life to earn my bread.
After the breakfast, we went to travel agency’s office to get our bicycles. There was a Vietnamese guide and I also learnt that Josh is coming with us. There was nobody else who signed up for the tour so only four people were going and two of them were guides. I liked the idea of one guide of one person. We started to pedal uphill towards the cinema. J was better than me in riding bicycle. She went up straight without any problem while I was struggling to understand the gears and brakes of the bicycle. After the short uphill, we went down to the lake. It was around 2 km we rode around the lake and started to climb a steep hill. Then J complained! She said it is too hard for her and stopped the bicycle beside the road. Everyone stopped! We only came two kilometers on a flat road and we did not even start climbing high hills. It was just beginning. She said her heart is pumping very fast and this journey was impossible for her. I told her that she can go back if she wants. Vietnamese guide called the agency and told them sent someone to take J and the bike. Her face was pale and eyes were red. I looked at her and told “My peln rai” with a large smile on my face. She tried and she failed. It was ok because I did not expect her to come all the way. As a person who never exercises, does not play any sports, she has right to stop at that point. Josh stayed with J to wait for the motorcycle and told us that he can catch us. I and Vietnamese guide continued riding uphill. It was hard but I managed to do it. Two things made my job easier: When I ride uphill, I did not look at the end of the hill to see how far more to go. I just looked at the front wheel of the bike and a few meters away from the front wheel. To look at the target and to calculate how far more to go is not a good idea. I did not need it either. Looking at the front of the bike and counting prime numbers or perfect squares is easier. The second thing was the reward of going uphill. Whenever we finished an uphill, we started to go down. It was beautiful because the bicycle can go really fast downhill and there were so many beautiful mountain scenes around. Small colorful houses, graveyards, big flower gardens, tea plants and carrot fields etc…
After around 8 km of riding bicycle I was already exhausted. The biggest problem was the seat of the bike. It hurt my balls very hardly that I could not even sit on it properly. I kept standing on the bike every ten seconds to let some air flowing inside my shorts. The seat was not comfortable at all. We arrived at the outskirts of the Lang Bian Mountain after approximately 40 minutes ride. It was a national park and there was no access to the park with bicycles or motorbikes. The only vehicles which have access were the green jeeps and the business was being run by the government. We bought the tickets and started to walk up. I was thinking it can not be so difficult to climb a mountain because I used to do climbing the hills around my village. However, this was my first climbing to a high peak like this and nothing is easy when it comes to physical challenge for me.
We took a small path to go up. Then we entered an area of high trees. Everything was ok until we arrived to the last 500 meters of the climb. It was very steep and there were roots of trees, leaves, branches on the path. Because many people before us climbed the same route, it was easier to decide where to step next and where to hold. However my energy was going down while we were physically going up towards the peak. Both of the guides were going so fast. At one moment I stopped for breathing. It was frequent and loudly. A sound like small working engine was coming out of my chest. I was soaked in sweat and the peak was not near. I continued climbing and stopped more frequently. I saw more and more people climbing on the same path. Some Vietnamese men with the cigarettes in their hands, some young girls with their red or blue hats on their heads were moving up slowly. Their conditions were not better than mine. They even stop all together and have long conversations beside the path, on the trunks of the trees. There were a father and his 10 years old son climbing as well. When the boy was too tired, his father started to carry him on his back. “What a lucky boy” I said to myself, “having a father like this!” They were also tired and we started to go together. Sometimes I leaded them and sometimes they leaded me. Because they were not speaking English, our communication was only possible with the uniqueness of our target. We wanted to get to the peak, as soon as possible.
Josh already disappeared because he was too fast for us but the Vietnamese guide was with me until the peak. Probably he was feeling responsible for me. At the end, we arrived at the peak. I took my t-shirt off and took photos of the other peaks, myself, Jose, Vietnamese guide, a tall Italian guy, father and son.
It was an amazing moment for me! We were at a very high point and things seem very small when we look from there. There was a strong breeze coming from all directions. The houses were too small and the people are almost invisible. There were other peaks around and we were looking at a large piece of land as if we have just conquered it. More and more people wee coming up to the peak. When I see them taking their last steps on the hill, it reminded me a rabbit moving his head out of the hole. They were popping up slowly. A few Vietnamese young people made a baraka-style tent for themselves and sat under it to protect them from the sunlight. I did not care much about the sunlight because I already got sun burnt and knew that it is going to hurt in next days. The Vietnamese father and son gave me their address and asked me to send their picture to them when I print them. I said “no problem”. We had lunch at the peak and left the point for going down.
Getting back to the entrance of the park was easier of course but also more dangerous. If you can not control your speed, you can easily skip down on the hill. But still we did not get sweat this time. Moreover the sun was not strong any more. The sky was cloudy and we were among the trees. We started to ride our bicycles again at the end of our walking. There was a long uphill and I could not do it on the bicycle because of the seat. It hurt my balls so badly again and I started to walk with the bicycle. I drove some and walked until I get to the end of the uphill. Later on it was easier. We took a short-cut to get to travel agency’s office. I was exhausted but happy somehow. It was a tiring day but definitely worth to try. I went to hotel room to see what J is doing. I took a hot shower and after having another lunch at the restaurant beside the hotel we went to see the Poet and his café.
Josh is an American firefighter from Arizona. He works for six months during the summer because there can be fire in the forest only in the summers. He saves enough money to travel to South East Asia during these six months and when winter comes he packs for SEA. More or less like a bear! Six months hard-work and six months leisure! He widely travels around Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia etc… It is a life divided by two different worlds. Work and Fun are distinctly separated. He says being a firefighter is a hard job because they have to climb high hills as fast as possible to control the fires and basically there is work almost every day. Firefighters can not stay at home on Sunday morning or can not enjoy a Friday night party if there is a fire in the forest! After this six months long hard work, he moves to SEA and spends his money here. I imagined myself having a life like this, divided by two but somehow could not put myself into the frame. It is almost impossible for me to stop working for six months. What will I do if I don’t work? Write? I realized that I can write best during the stressful times of my life. I do writing as a way to get out of work stress. If there is no work, then there is no stress and then there is no need for writing. It is this simple. Whenever I say myself “I need some free time to write” and take some time off to relax and write, I basically do nothing, spending my all time on stupid things and produce no work at all. The best stories I have written are all planned/plotted and written during very hectic days of my life. I guess this is the only way for me to keep going. Write whenever I have time and work for the rest of my life to earn my bread.
After the breakfast, we went to travel agency’s office to get our bicycles. There was a Vietnamese guide and I also learnt that Josh is coming with us. There was nobody else who signed up for the tour so only four people were going and two of them were guides. I liked the idea of one guide of one person. We started to pedal uphill towards the cinema. J was better than me in riding bicycle. She went up straight without any problem while I was struggling to understand the gears and brakes of the bicycle. After the short uphill, we went down to the lake. It was around 2 km we rode around the lake and started to climb a steep hill. Then J complained! She said it is too hard for her and stopped the bicycle beside the road. Everyone stopped! We only came two kilometers on a flat road and we did not even start climbing high hills. It was just beginning. She said her heart is pumping very fast and this journey was impossible for her. I told her that she can go back if she wants. Vietnamese guide called the agency and told them sent someone to take J and the bike. Her face was pale and eyes were red. I looked at her and told “My peln rai” with a large smile on my face. She tried and she failed. It was ok because I did not expect her to come all the way. As a person who never exercises, does not play any sports, she has right to stop at that point. Josh stayed with J to wait for the motorcycle and told us that he can catch us. I and Vietnamese guide continued riding uphill. It was hard but I managed to do it. Two things made my job easier: When I ride uphill, I did not look at the end of the hill to see how far more to go. I just looked at the front wheel of the bike and a few meters away from the front wheel. To look at the target and to calculate how far more to go is not a good idea. I did not need it either. Looking at the front of the bike and counting prime numbers or perfect squares is easier. The second thing was the reward of going uphill. Whenever we finished an uphill, we started to go down. It was beautiful because the bicycle can go really fast downhill and there were so many beautiful mountain scenes around. Small colorful houses, graveyards, big flower gardens, tea plants and carrot fields etc…
After around 8 km of riding bicycle I was already exhausted. The biggest problem was the seat of the bike. It hurt my balls very hardly that I could not even sit on it properly. I kept standing on the bike every ten seconds to let some air flowing inside my shorts. The seat was not comfortable at all. We arrived at the outskirts of the Lang Bian Mountain after approximately 40 minutes ride. It was a national park and there was no access to the park with bicycles or motorbikes. The only vehicles which have access were the green jeeps and the business was being run by the government. We bought the tickets and started to walk up. I was thinking it can not be so difficult to climb a mountain because I used to do climbing the hills around my village. However, this was my first climbing to a high peak like this and nothing is easy when it comes to physical challenge for me.
We took a small path to go up. Then we entered an area of high trees. Everything was ok until we arrived to the last 500 meters of the climb. It was very steep and there were roots of trees, leaves, branches on the path. Because many people before us climbed the same route, it was easier to decide where to step next and where to hold. However my energy was going down while we were physically going up towards the peak. Both of the guides were going so fast. At one moment I stopped for breathing. It was frequent and loudly. A sound like small working engine was coming out of my chest. I was soaked in sweat and the peak was not near. I continued climbing and stopped more frequently. I saw more and more people climbing on the same path. Some Vietnamese men with the cigarettes in their hands, some young girls with their red or blue hats on their heads were moving up slowly. Their conditions were not better than mine. They even stop all together and have long conversations beside the path, on the trunks of the trees. There were a father and his 10 years old son climbing as well. When the boy was too tired, his father started to carry him on his back. “What a lucky boy” I said to myself, “having a father like this!” They were also tired and we started to go together. Sometimes I leaded them and sometimes they leaded me. Because they were not speaking English, our communication was only possible with the uniqueness of our target. We wanted to get to the peak, as soon as possible.
Josh already disappeared because he was too fast for us but the Vietnamese guide was with me until the peak. Probably he was feeling responsible for me. At the end, we arrived at the peak. I took my t-shirt off and took photos of the other peaks, myself, Jose, Vietnamese guide, a tall Italian guy, father and son.
It was an amazing moment for me! We were at a very high point and things seem very small when we look from there. There was a strong breeze coming from all directions. The houses were too small and the people are almost invisible. There were other peaks around and we were looking at a large piece of land as if we have just conquered it. More and more people wee coming up to the peak. When I see them taking their last steps on the hill, it reminded me a rabbit moving his head out of the hole. They were popping up slowly. A few Vietnamese young people made a baraka-style tent for themselves and sat under it to protect them from the sunlight. I did not care much about the sunlight because I already got sun burnt and knew that it is going to hurt in next days. The Vietnamese father and son gave me their address and asked me to send their picture to them when I print them. I said “no problem”. We had lunch at the peak and left the point for going down.
Getting back to the entrance of the park was easier of course but also more dangerous. If you can not control your speed, you can easily skip down on the hill. But still we did not get sweat this time. Moreover the sun was not strong any more. The sky was cloudy and we were among the trees. We started to ride our bicycles again at the end of our walking. There was a long uphill and I could not do it on the bicycle because of the seat. It hurt my balls so badly again and I started to walk with the bicycle. I drove some and walked until I get to the end of the uphill. Later on it was easier. We took a short-cut to get to travel agency’s office. I was exhausted but happy somehow. It was a tiring day but definitely worth to try. I went to hotel room to see what J is doing. I took a hot shower and after having another lunch at the restaurant beside the hotel we went to see the Poet and his café.
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder