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I still remember my childhood with those scorching summer afternoons running in the fields, the bare stubble after the harvest, the torrential rain afternoons running out 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 longing led me to bring Oc into the forest with my parents, so that my child could truly experience what nature has to offer.
Photo: Harry Trung Nguyen
So, starting in late February, I went to Cat Ba National Park alone to survey everything. The enthusiastic support, guidance, and friendliness of the Park Management Board gave me a lot of information, peace of mind, and assurance for a long trip to experience it with Oc.
I returned to Hanoi, and the whole family was once again excited and busily preparing everything for the trip. Two weeks before departure, we had to prepare many things, because this trip was completely different from the previous two. While the previous two trips took us to many different places, requiring a lot of travel and light luggage, this trip to the mountains and the sea was in one fixed location, but with completely different living conditions.
While the previous two trips involved visiting many different locations, requiring frequent travel and light luggage, this trip to the mountains and the sea is a single fixed location, but with completely different living conditions.
Photo: Harry Trung Nguyen
The whole family was fully equipped with all the necessary specialized gear, from hiking poles, lightweight bags, windbreakers, hiking boots, flashlights for forest walks, headlamps, GPS devices, compasses, binoculars, microscopes… Everything was carefully planned: What's appropriate to bring? What toys are for the children to play with? What will help them explore the natural world?...
The Story of the Forest
The first few days in Cat Ba National Park were filled with sunshine, moonlight, and stars, and the sound of birds chirping every morning throughout the forest. Each morning, waking up and opening the door, you were greeted by a peaceful, fresh atmosphere, filled with the scent of dew and flowers. In the distance, the mountains stretched before you, bathed in the warm rays of a new day; flocks of birds flew overhead; and all around, a tranquil, pleasant atmosphere prevailed, with the gentle chirping of birds echoing throughout the forest.
Photo: Harry Trung Nguyen
TrekkingGoing into the forest was a new experience, even for me. On the first day, I took Oc on a trekking route.A short walk into the forest. This isn't the main road, but just a trail leading deep into the woods. It's only about 600 meters from the villa area, but you feel like you've stepped into the world of the forest, with countless birdsongs and all sorts of natural sounds of the mountains and forests.
The first steps into the forest were full of new things for Oc: ants crawling under the carpet of leaves on the ground, termites building their nests in a decaying tree trunk, brightly colored beetles under the foliage, a few birds scurrying on the branches, butterflies fluttering from branch to branch, and sunlight shimmering through the leaves.
Ốc was delighted to hold a branch with small flowers and blow on them, sending the petals fluttering in the air. The whole family continued along the forest path, Mom singing the song, "We go to the forest to pick berries, there's a bird," and Ốc joined in. I kept my GPS on to pinpoint our location, marking important points. Once inside, the phone signal was lost, and Google Maps was unavailable, or even if it were, it wouldn't be accurate. Being in the middle of the forest was really difficult to pinpoint our exact location; sometimes I felt a little disoriented and scared. But having a GPS and carefully marking the route made me feel much more secure and safe.
Photo: Harry Trung Nguyen
Ốc was extremely excited about this trip, seeing, hearing, and experiencing so many new things, even though she didn't understand everything. Ốc happily skipped along, carrying a compass, wearing a scout-style hat, binoculars around her neck, and a walking stick.trekkingProfessional. My son asked his dad to let him hold the Garmin GPS, and he played with it all day without getting bored. Then he used the binoculars to look around. Actually, he didn't understand much of it yet, but he enjoyed it, and that was enough.
TripstrekkingLater, my child became more familiar with the route and was able to walk longer distances, including long stretches like the one to Frog Pond. I had to divide it into shorter and longer sections. My child followed the entire educational route and then climbed to the summit of May Bau. The path to Frog Pond is very beautiful and picturesque; whenever the sunlight shines through the forest, the scenery is as beautiful as anything you can imagine from a movie. The initial section of the path to Frog Pond is flat and easy to walk, but the later sections involve climbing stairs, cliffs, and rocks, which is much more strenuous.
Photo: Harry Trung Nguyen
For adults, going alone is easy, but it still requires strength and training. For children, it's completely different. One kilometer of mountain climbing is equivalent to three kilometers of walking on flat ground; parents always have to sing and encourage Oc to keep going. Most of the time, Oc can walk alone, or hold hands with her parents, except for sections with cliffs where she needs support, pushing, or nudges from her parents. Children are sometimes very enthusiastic and enjoy going on their own, but other times they refuse to go for no reason, preferring to be carried, or being a little... spoiled girl. Although compared to last year, Oc is much bigger, stronger, and more mature, she's still a true little girl. The path to Frog Pond is filled with countless beautiful butterflies, mushrooms, and huge red ants. The forest is a world of endless new and exciting things for Oc.
Photo: Harry Trung Nguyen
The villa area of Cat Ba National Park is located in the middle of the island, amidst a vast expanse of green mountains and forests. From here, you can hike along trails into the forest. Heading north leads to Gia Luan commune and onward to Quang Ninh province, heading west leads to Phu Long commune with its mangrove forests, and heading southeast leads to the town.
In the late afternoon, as the sun set behind the distant mountains, darkness fell quickly. The sounds of birds, monkeys, and nocturnal insects echoed from somewhere in the distance. The whole family hurried home, with Oc shining her flashlight up at the sky. Above were the twinkling stars of the forest night.
The story of the moon, stars, and telescopes.
The first few nights were filled with mesmerizingly beautiful full moons. Just stepping out of the room revealed a night sky bathed in magical moonlight, and even inside the room, the air was filled with the gentle, soft glow of the moon. Oc loved it.
Photo: Harry Trung Nguyen
The whole family opened all the doors to let the moonlight flood into the room, only closing them when it was time to sleep, but even then, they opened all the curtains to let the moonlight in. It felt as if they could sleep outdoors under a thousand stars. Moonlight streamed across the entire villa in the forest, surrounded only by the chirping of birds, crickets, and insects, while the rest was just moonlight illuminating the mountains and meadows. Some nights, lying in bed, they could even see the twinkling stars. Before going to sleep, Oc would hum a tune.“north star, north star, are you near or are you far” ((That North Star, whether you're near or far). Among those stars, which one is the Constellation, which one belongs to Father, and which one belongs to Mother?
In the early days of the moonlit nights, the whole family was fascinated and went outside, bringing all their equipment from telescopes and binoculars to cameras.
Actually, I've only just tried the telescope now. It has so many accessories! I kept assembling it, and there were so many parts, I had to watch the instructions while assembling. My mom helped, and I kept tightening one screw after another, then picking up the eyepieces and trying them on. It took me a whole day to assemble the telescope and tent, and even after I finished, there were still a few things I didn't know where to put!
Photo: Harry Trung Nguyen
Ốc had his own pair of binoculars, a small but high-quality pair, while his father had a larger one. It was Ốc's first time seeing binoculars, and he loved it, constantly asking to see them. His father guided him step by step on how to adjust the binoculars for a clear view. At night, when the sky was clear, looking through the binoculars, thousands of brilliant stars of varying sizes appeared. It was a magical, wonderful world, a bright, distant, mysterious world.
The story of the insects
While adults prefer the hustle and bustle of cities, for children, forests offer countless fascinating and novel experiences that they cannot find in large urban areas.
During my time in the forest, I made so many insect friends; some came to my room, others I encountered along the paths leading into the woods. Before I left, I searched for and bought a special box. It was a clear plastic box with a neck strap, a magnifying lens, a side with many holes for air to escape, and even tweezers. I was overjoyed that my dad had bought me a special box for insects.
Photo: Harry Trung Nguyen
The first day, a very large praying mantis came to the box. My son and I were both fascinated, watching the praying mantis move its two legs inside the box. It was especially clear when we looked through the magnifying glass on the box. My son was completely absorbed in looking at the box and the praying mantis. The next day, the box had new friends: a grasshopper, a beetle, and a butterfly. Another day, a bee came along.
The box transformed into a fascinating world of insects for Oc. Although Oc didn't know much about biology, she was completely captivated by this lovely world of insects. The Western friends she made during her time in the forest were also fascinated and amazed by her box.
Every evening, the snail would greet its gecko friends or whisper to them, "Don't be scared, I'm not a lion."
The story of the sea…
Cat Ba Island is surrounded by many small islands. After days of exploring the forest, I take Oc back to town and we play at Cat Co 3 beach, with its beautiful white sand. Some days it's quite cold, other days it's wonderfully sunny. But no matter the weather, Oc always loves the sea.
Photo: Harry Trung Nguyen
No longer afraid of the sea like last year, even on rather cold days, Oc would still jump into the sea and come up with all sorts of games to play. Oc liked throwing pebbles, lying down on the sand and crawling out into the sea like a turtle, or playing games like building sandcastles or burying her feet in the sand.
Besides the official beaches, I also rode my motorbike around Cat Ba Island and found a deserted, unnamed beach for Oc. It's located in Hien Hao commune, near the intersection of a coastal road leading to Cat Ba town and a road leading to the National Park.
The whole family went out, fully equipped, spread out a mat, Mom lay down to read, while I and Oc rushed outside to play many games. We built a campfire with dry pine branches on the sand, we searched for puddles on the rocks to catch snails, and we looked for crabs along the shore. This place was a large mudflat, and in the early morning when the sea receded, it left a shallow area with many different species living there. I took Oc far out to play in the mud. It was the first time Oc had ever played in the mud so freely and happily. After getting tired of playing in the mud, the other two dads walked along the beach to find snails, coral, and seashells. I taught Oc to create her own collection about the sea, the forest, and insects.
…And the story of the snail.
In the first few days in the forest, Oc was still fair-skinned, chubby, and pretty, afraid of worms, geckos, and bees. After a month in the forest, Oc had become plump, dark-skinned, and had strong limbs. She began to like the forest, liked the insects, and started to get used to everyone in Cat Ba National Park.
Photo: Harry Trung Nguyen
This 30-day journey through the forest in Cat Ba National Park will be an unforgettable experience for Oc, for her childhood. I know she will always remember the forest, the sound of bees, the calls of geckos, the geckos hunting at night, and the calls of the forest.
Those 30 days will be a part of my childhood memories. The whole family accomplished most of the goals of the trip; I enjoyed camping, and I went by myself.trekkingIn the forest, I loved climbing mountains, I loved gazing at the moon and stars, and I started to enjoy playing at the beach. I experienced everything that belonged to this natural world. I learned countless things without even realizing I was "learning."
Photo: Harry Trung Nguyen
After the trip, my daughter's English improved a lot because during the days in the forest, she met many Western friends. Each time, she was able to confidently greet, strike up conversations, and chat for hours with those Western friends without any help from her parents.
Back in Hanoi after a month, my parents focused on work again, and their next plan was to find a Chinese language tutor for Oc to prepare for their trip to Mongolia, China, and Japan later this year – another long journey exploring Northeast Asia with them.
Photo: Harry Trung Nguyen
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Additional information:
Experiences exploring the forests, seas, and islands of Cat Ba.
+ Transportation:
+ Accommodation
There are many places to stay in Cat Ba town, with prices to suit every family. But to truly experience the forest, you should choose a villa in Cat Ba National Park. Contact the National Park Management Board in advance to make a reservation.
+ Cuisine:
There are many dining options in Cat Ba town, but the communal dining area run by the Garden is the most convenient choice within the villa complex. If you travel about 1.2 km further, you have other options such as restaurants at Hoi Farm Lake or in the Ecologic area near Trung Trang Cave.
+ Schedule
The family chose a month-long trip, however, the most reasonable itinerary for a family would be a week. If you don't have much time, arrange at least four or five days because young children need rest and reasonable travel.
+ Costs:
+ Travel time:
+ Travel experiences with children in the forest
- Prepare a full supply of insect repellent and first aid kits, as well as basic medications or any specific medications prescribed for your child, depending on your household.
- For the best experience when hiking in the forest, you should bring hiking poles, hiking boots, and specialized flashlights for the whole family to ensure safety. Children should have their own hiking poles, as they will help them maintain better balance while walking and climbing. Adding other equipment like binoculars or GPS will make the experience even more enjoyable.
- A hat that covers the back of the neck, sunglasses, and sunscreen.
- Bring cookies or chocolate to cheer up your child when they feel bored or tired.
Always bring plenty of water for your child.
- Teach your child which plants they can touch and which they can only observe. The same applies to insects; teach them which ones they can safely handle. There are many kinds of mushrooms, trees, and strange flowers in the forest. If you don't know what a particular type is, it's best not to let your child try it or put it in their mouth, because due to their curious nature, they might immediately put it in their mouth to try it.
- Play with your child, tell them stories about nature, trees, the sea, the moon and stars.
- Instruct your children not to litter in the forest, not to light fires, and not to cut down trees that harm the forest.
