Foot and Fire

When one is past her infancy in travelling, she learns to choose her steps carefully because time has more meaning now than before. It is not about ticking off the number of items in the list anymore. It is more about retracing the steps taken and carefully trailing the steps to be taken because space takes on a different dimension now than before. April of last year, Osmena Peak of Dalaguete, Cebu colored my summer. The first thing you will learn while going up the Peak is that Dalaguete is not pronounced as Dumaguete. It is silent E as in palette. But of course, when you reach the peak, the first things you will experience are: Fresh air, summer breeze, ocean salt feel, grassy hills, rocky cliffs, pretty karsts, short and long climbs, provincial scenery all conspired to evoke country songs in my mind and the paintings of Amorsolo of fields and golden colors. While taking in everything, you will also think of a thousand enormous and tiny karsts of Halong Bay as well as Tam Coc ...

BYE, BYE. Mr. Son gave his all smiles after I told him to pose as I will bring his smile to the Philippines. We went boating in Tam Coc after a heatstroke-inducing tour to the Hua Lu Temple and Pagoda. We were separated because there are small boats only that can bring 2 persons. And the three of us were accommodated in a boat. We were so happy that Mr. Son was the one who rowed for us as he can row and take photos at the same time. He could even use a Dslr with ease. He also have an "eye" for the right background and view... Here is my video of the talented Mr. Son.

Tam Coc, about a two-hour drive from Hanoi, is another place which showcases the karsts or limestone formations in multitude. If Ha Long karsts are by the bay, Tam Coc karsts are by the river. One more fascinating thing about Tam Coc aside from the karsts is that one can see closely that the river is  actually  planted with rice. One can also row by the swimming ducks and pass by many temples, even in the center of the river. See our favorite spot in Tam Coc in the above photo, courtesy of our talented rower Mr. Son. (He rows with his feet while taking our photos.) A community of rowers with hundreds of boats... Rowers, ready to row. Fellow travellers went in while were going out.  Tam Coc sampling Mr. Son Karsts with rich green trees... Ducks, peacefully enjoying their swim by the growing rice plant. Quack, quack, quack... Ducks in serene mode. Buddy Bads with her Vietnamese seatmate.. Mr. Ten, you are thumbs up...