I still remember my childhood with the scorching hot summer afternoons running in the fields, the bare stubble after the harvest, with the pouring rainy afternoons running out to the yard to play soccer with the neighborhood kids, or going fishing in the fields. Those days have always been a part of the most peaceful and beautiful memories of my childhood. That desire made me bring Oc into the forest with my parents, so that he could truly experience what belongs to nature.
Photo: Harry Trung Nguyen
So at the end of February, I went to Cat Ba National Park alone to survey everything. The enthusiastic support, guidance and friendliness of the Park Management Board helped me get a lot of information, peace of mind and assurance for a long trip of experience for Oc.
I returned to Hanoi and the whole family was excited, rushing to prepare everything for the trip. Two weeks before the departure date, we had to prepare many things, because this trip was completely different from the two previous trips. If the two previous trips went to many different locations, required a lot of movement, and needed light luggage, then this trip to the mountains and down to the sea only stayed in one fixed place, but with completely different living conditions.
If the two previous trips went to many different locations, required a lot of movement, and required light luggage, this trip to the forest and down to the sea only stayed in one fixed place, but with completely different living conditions.
Photo: Harry Trung Nguyen
The whole family is fully equipped with necessary specialized equipment from hiking sticks, light bags, windbreakers, hiking shoes, flashlights for hiking in the forest, headlamps, GPS devices, compasses, binoculars, microscopes... Everything is carefully calculated: What is suitable to bring? What to play with? What to help children explore the natural world?...
The Story of the Forest
The first days in Cat Ba National Park were sunny, full of moon and stars, with the sound of birds chirping every morning throughout the forest. Every morning when I woke up and opened the door, I was greeted by a peaceful, fresh atmosphere, filled with the smell of night dew and the scent of flowers and grass. In the distance, on the mountain in front of me were the warm rays of a new day, in the sky were flocks of birds flying by, all around was a peaceful, pleasant atmosphere, with the gentle chirping of birds everywhere from within the forest.
Photo: Harry Trung Nguyen
Trekkingin the forest was a new experience even for me. The first day, I took Oc on the trekking routeshort path into the forest. This is not the main road but just a trail going deep into the forest. Only about 600 m from the Villa area to this road but you feel like you are lost in the world of the forest, with countless birdsongs, all kinds of sounds of nature in the mountains and forests.
The first day in the forest was full of new things for Oc: ants crawling under the carpet of leaves on the ground, termites making a nest in a rotten tree trunk, colorful bugs under the tree canopy, a few birds running on the branches, butterflies flying from branch to branch, and the shimmering sunlight through the leaves.
Snail was very excited when he held a branch with small flowers and blew the petals to flutter in the air. The whole family continued walking along the path into the forest, while Mom was singing: "We go to the forest to pick sim, there is a bird", Snail also started singing along with Mom. I turned on the GPS to locate and mark the necessary points while walking, but when I got here, the phone signal was lost, there was no Google map, and even if Google map was turned on, it would not be accurate. In the middle of the forest, it was really difficult to determine exactly where I was, sometimes I felt confused and a little scared. But when I brought the GPS and marked the route carefully, I felt much more secure and safe.
Photo: Harry Trung Nguyen
Snail was extremely excited about this trip because he got to see, hear, and experience so many new things, even though he didn't understand everything. Snail happily led the way with a compass in his hand, a scout hat on his head, binoculars around his neck, and a walking stick in his hand.trekkingprofessional. Snail asked dad to let him hold the Garmin GPS, he played with it all day without getting bored, then used binoculars to look around here and there. Actually, he didn't understand much, but he enjoyed it, so that was fine.
TripstrekkingLater, my child got used to it and could go on longer routes. There were long routes like the one to Ao Ech, so I had to split up to go on shorter, then longer routes. My child went on the entire educational route, then went up to May Bau peak. The road to Ao Ech was very beautiful and poetic. Every time the sunlight penetrated the forest, the scenery was as beautiful as in any movie you could imagine. The new road to Ao Ech was flatter and easier to go, but the next section had to climb stairs, climb cliffs, and climb rocks, which was much more difficult.
Photo: Harry Trung Nguyen
For adults going alone, it is not a problem, but it still requires strength and practice to be able to go. For children, it is completely different. One kilometer to climb the mountain is equal to 3 kilometers of walking on flat ground. While walking, parents always have to sing and encourage Oc to continue. Most of the time, Oc can go alone, or hold her father or mother's hand to go, except for the rocky sections where she needs her parents to support, push, and support her bottom. Some days, children are very excited, very willing to go on their own, but other days, for no reason, they refuse to go, just want to be held, or like to be... soft. Although compared to last year, this year Oc is much bigger, stronger, more solid and mature, but she is still a real soft girl. The road to Ao Ech has countless beautiful butterflies, mushrooms, and huge red ants. The forest is a world with countless new and interesting things for Oc.
Photo: Harry Trung Nguyen
The villa area of Cat Ba National Park is located in the middle of the island, in the middle of a vast green area of mountains and forests. From here, you can walk along the trails into the forest. Going north is to Gia Luan commune to go to Quang Ninh, going west is to Phu Long commune with mangrove forests, and going southeast is to go to town.
In the afternoon, when the sun had just set behind the distant mountains, it got dark very quickly. The sounds of birds, monkeys, and nocturnal insects echoed from somewhere far away. The whole family walked quickly to go home. As they walked, Oc held a flashlight and shone it up into the sky. In the sky were the twinkling stars of the night in the forest.
The Story of the Moon, Stars and the Telescope
The first few nights were full moon nights, so beautiful it was mesmerizing. Just stepping out of the room was a night sky filled with magical moonlight, even inside the room was filled with a gentle and dim moonlight. Snail loved it.
Photo: Harry Trung Nguyen
The whole family opened all the doors to let the moonlight flood into the room, only closing the doors when going to bed, but also opening all the curtains to let the moonlight flood in. It felt as if one could sleep under the stars. The moonlight flooded the entire villa in the forest, all around was the sound of birds, crickets, and insects chirping everywhere, the rest was just the moonlight flooding the mountains and the fields. Some days lying in bed looking out, one could see the stars twinkling. Snail hummed a song before going to sleep.“north star, north star, are you near or are you far” (That north star, are you near or far? Of those stars, which one is the snail, which one is the father's, and which one is the mother's.
On the first moonlit nights, the whole family was fascinated and went out with all the equipment from telescopes, binoculars to cameras.
Actually, I have only just now tried out the telescope. It has so many accessories. I have been assembling and assembling forever, but there are so many accessories. I have been reading the instructions while assembling. Oc's mother also came to help, and Oc kept screwing this screw and that screw, then picked up the eyepieces and tried to assemble them. It took the whole day to assemble the telescope and tent, and when it was done, he still had a lot of things left over that he didn't know where to put them!
Photo: Harry Trung Nguyen
Snail has his own binoculars, a small but good quality binoculars, and his father has a larger binoculars. The first time Snail saw binoculars, he loved them, kept asking to see them, his father also guided Snail step by step to adjust the binoculars to see clearly. At night when the sky is clear, looking through binoculars, the sky suddenly appears thousands of bright stars, different sizes. It is a magical, wonderful world, a bright world, far away, mysterious.
The story of the insects
Adults prefer to stay in noisy, crowded cities, but for children, the forest has countless interesting things, new things that they cannot find in big cities.
During the days in the forest, there were so many insect friends, some came to the room, some were met on the paths into the forest. Before leaving, I went to find and buy a special box. It was a transparent plastic box, with a neck strap, a magnifying lens to enlarge, one side with many holes for air, plus a pair of tongs. Oc was extremely happy because his father bought him a separate box to hold insects.
Photo: Harry Trung Nguyen
The first day a very big mantis came to me, I put it in the box, both father and son were engrossed in looking at the box, watching the mantis poke its two legs in the box. Especially when looking through the magnifying glass on the box, it was even clearer. Snail was engrossed in looking at the box and watching the mantis. The next day the box had new friends, a grasshopper, a barber, a butterfly. Another day a bee came to see it.
The box turned into a fascinating world of insects for Oc. He may not have known much about biology, but he was completely fascinated by the world of small, pretty insects. The Western friends he met during his time in the forest were also very interested and surprised by Oc's box.
Every night, Oc comes out to greet his gecko friends or whispers to them: "Don't be scared, I'm not a lion."
The story of the sea…
Surrounding Cat Ba Island are many small islands. After days in the forest, I let Oc go back to town, to play at Cat Co 3 beach, with its beautiful white sand. Some days the weather is quite cold, some days the weather is beautifully sunny. But no matter what the weather, Oc loves the sea.
Photo: Harry Trung Nguyen
No longer afraid of the sea like last year, on some cold days, Oc still jumped into the sea, and thought of all kinds of games to play. Oc liked to throw pebbles, lay down on the sand and crawl out to sea like a turtle, or build sand castles or bury his feet in the sand.
In addition to the official beach, I also rode my motorbike around Cat Ba Island and found Oc a deserted beach with no name. It was located in Hien Hao commune, near the intersection between a coastal road leading to Cat Ba town, and a road leading to the National Park.
The whole family went out there, brought all the things, spread the carpet, Mom lay down to read a book, and Oc and I rushed out to play many games. We lit a campfire with dry casuarina branches on the sand, we looked for puddles on rocks to catch snails, we looked for crabs along the shore. This place is a large alluvial land, early in the morning when the sea recedes, it leaves a shallow water area with many different species living. I took Oc Tit out to play in the mud. It was the first time Oc had played in the mud so comfortably and happily. When he was bored playing in the mud, the other two dads went along the beach to find snails, corals, and seashells. I taught Oc to make his own collection of the sea, the forest, and insects.
… And the story of Snail
The first few days in the forest, Oc was still white, plump, and pretty, and was afraid of worms, geckos, and bees. After a month in the forest, Oc became round, black all over, with strong arms and legs. He began to like the forest, liked his insect friends, and began to get acquainted with everyone in Cat Ba National Park.
Photo: Harry Trung Nguyen
This 30-day journey in the forest at Cat Ba National Park is an unforgettable experience for Oc and for his childhood. I know he will always remember the forest, the sound of bees, the chirping of geckos, the lizards hunting at night, and the call of the forest.
Those 30 days will be a part of my childhood memories. We have completed most of the goals of the trip, I like to go camping, I went by myself.trekkingIn the forest, I like climbing mountains, I like watching the moon and stars, I start to like playing at the beach. I experience everything that belongs to this natural world. I learn countless things without knowing that I am “learning”.
Photo: Harry Trung Nguyen
After the trip, my English improved a lot, because during the days in the forest, Oc met many Western friends. Every time, Oc could confidently greet, talk and chat for hours with those Western friends, without any support from his parents.
Returning to Hanoi after a month, my parents focused on work again, and the next plan was to find a Chinese teacher for Oc to prepare for the trip to Mongolia, China, and Japan at the end of this year - another long journey to explore Northeast Asia with my parents.
Photo: Harry Trung Nguyen
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More information:
Experience of going to the forest, sea, and island of Cat Ba
+ Travel:
+ Accommodation
There are plenty of places to stay in Cat Ba town, with prices to suit every family. But to really experience the forest, you should choose a villa in Cat Ba National Park. Contact the National Park Management Board in advance to book a room.
+ Cuisine:
There are many dining options in Cat Ba town, and in the villa area, the communal dining room managed by the Garden is the most convenient option. If you go further, about 1.2 km, you have other options such as the restaurant at Hoi Farm Lake or in the Ecologic area near Trung Trang cave.
+ Schedule
The Oc family chose to go for a month, but the most reasonable schedule for the family would be a week. If you don’t have much time, arrange at least four or five days because young children need to rest and move at a reasonable level.
+ Cost:
+ Travel time:
+ Experience of traveling with children in the forest
- Prepare full range of insect repellants and first aid kits, basic medicines or medicines specifically prescribed for children depending on each family.
- When going to the forest, it is best to have hiking sticks, hiking shoes, and specialized flashlights for the whole family to ensure safety and the best experience. Your child should have his or her own hiking stick, which will help him or her balance better when walking and climbing. If you have other equipment such as binoculars or GPS, you will have a more enjoyable experience.
- Hat with neck cover, sunglasses, sunscreen.
- Bring cake or chocolate to cheer up your child when he or she feels bored or tired.
- Always bring enough water for your child.
- Guide your child on which plants they can touch and which ones they can only observe. The same goes for insects, which ones they can eat safely. In the forest there are many types of mushrooms, trees, and strange flowers. If you don't know which ones, it's best not to let your child try them or put them in their mouths, because they are very likely to put them in their mouths to try them out due to their active nature.
- Play with your baby, tell him stories about nature, trees, the sea, the moon and stars.
- Teach your children not to litter in the forest, not to light fires, and not to cut down trees to damage the forest.
