Mai's Travel Journal: Chapter 15 - Binh Phuoc

Monday, 18 October 2004

I came to the village of Đồng Xoài, Bình Phước province, in the early evening. After the long trip, I was very stressed and tired. I looked for a place to rest, and ran over to the post office of Bình Phước province to write thank you letters to people and the soldiers at the border at Quảng Trực. When everything was done, the relaxed feeling was very blissful.

I started to discover Đồng Xoài. Firstly, I was looking for an Internet cafe to continue to write my diary. The Internet was not very good; sometimes it was down. For the first time on my journey, I met older people who also browsing the net. They chatted on the net with their relatives from overseas. What a small world!

I wandered down to the market of Đồng Xoài and looked for a fixer for my slippers. Just a moment later, and I could move around better with the slippers, which were sewed firmly. The worker was very proud of his work, transforming those may-have-been-thrown-away-slippers into new ones. He bragged to me about a pair that he made from the scraps of thrown out slippers, smiled and said: “Everything can be used, only if we know how”. What a pity that I did not bring my camera!

I chatted at a milk store for two hours. The owner had two daughters in high school. She was very worried about their going to university and their graduation, just the same as my parents at home!

Tuesday, 19 October 2004

I was still at Đồng Xoài. This village was long but not wide, and ran along Highway 14. I wandered around all the municipal buildings of Đồng Xoài. They looked new, planned and orderly but the grass could still grow on the brick ground.

In front of the office of the Centre for the Blind, I looked up and was surprised at the old, dark and pale sign. The sign for the Matching Centre next to it and all the surrounding stores seemed to hide the Centre for the Blind, making it hard to spot if people passed by very quickly. I was a pedestrian who liked to look around, and that’s why I still saw it even though I might not be as detail-oriented as some other people.

I saw a bread shop. While eating, I chatted with the sales person. She came from Thanh Hoá and had left school at grade 6. She came here to help with the shop. At Đồng Xoài, there were quite a number of young people, from 15 to 20 years old, who had migrated from the northern provinces to look for a better life. Mostly, they had dropped out of school because the living conditions were too harsh back home. I admired and at the same time loved these young people, who come thousands of kilometers to make a living. The distance between them and their families was too far to receive their care and love but short enough so as to not fall into the gap. I knew that for a fact.

Tonight, I met Vi Thảo, the person who created my story in the Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) newspaper. She was my companion on the phone before I even started the journey. Now she became my real companion at Bình Phước. Meeting an acquaintance for the first time – what changes the information technology era has brought about!

Wednesday, 20 October 2004

Thao and I had been told that the way to get to Bu Dop was to get a bus to Phuoc Long, then we would have to use our ingenuity to find a horse-drawn carriage or trader’s vehicle to continue from there.

The two of us went out to the crossroad at Dong Xoai, and straight away a bus appeared. We rushed onto the bus, as though we were afraid it would disappear and we would be left behind. After not even three minutes on the bus, I became really worried, as the bus had turned back towards Dong Xoai. Once, twice, and more times around it went, really slowly, continuing to welcome passengers.

Then, arriving in Phuoc Long, we had a stroke of luck, as there was a trader’s vehicle that was returning to Bu Dop. Thao and I were the first two passengers, so the bus driver gave us a lottery ticket each. I took the ticket, but didn’t know whether it could really win something special or nothing at all. But as for the bus driver, he was a real ‘win’ for us, with his friendliness and good nature, and for sharing his luck with us.

The road to Bu Dop ran through rows of green rubber plants. I can’t fully and completely describe my feelings as the rows of rubber trees, one by one, passed before my eyes.

In Bu Dop it was the middle of the day, and it was sunny and dusty. I got to know Hung Phuoc village, one of Binh Phuoc’s border villages. I got to Hung Phuoc quickly and so had the afternoon to get familiar with the place, but still it felt new and strange to me.

The teacher’s common room at the school looked directly out on two temporary classrooms, separated by a school yard with few green trees and flowers but plenty of red dust and earth. Shoes were lined up neatly by the door of every schoolroom, that’s how the students and teachers here ensured that the dust didn’t take part in their lessons with them.

Afternoon came, and the students took it in turns to carry out tasks. Some fetched water, some watered the plants, some earnestly and diligently swept the school yard, just like workers. I was reminded of my own sessions working in the schoolyard and the lines I’d had to write when I was still a primary school student.

The afternoon students’ shift was finished, and the school was quiet for a few hours before the evening shift, intended for general students, began. The teachers hurriedly prepared their lessons for the new shift.

Thursday, 21 October 2004

I’ve got another new friend to admire, to learn from and to ask for guidance. This is Chiem, a young person who’s been volunteering in Hung Phuoc for nearly a year. Chiem has a passion that I’ve always dreamed of: Chiem dares to think of and act on his dreams.

Chiem is testing out a way of growing mushrooms, to help the people of Hung Phuoc to have more opportunities. I went to Chiem’s mushroom house, smelled the warm straw used to cover the mushrooms, and saw the tiny little mushrooms trying to break out of the piles of straw. Chiem lives with the straw and the mushrooms, keeping an eye on their growth every day. Chiem hopes his model will succeed and expand.

I followed Chiem to the villages, listening as he talked about the everyday life of the people in a careful and deeply knowledgeable way. Chiem is like a friend to the families in the villages, as everyone shares their troubles with him; about the pepper trees, their children’s studies, their family troubles, and asks him for help. Chiem is the villager’s best advisor, across every sphere of activity.

Chiem, Thao and I were down in the pepper tree forest when there was a traffic accident up in the village. Everyone called for Chiem to come and see how it was. Chiem was on the scene quickly, acting as a conciliator.

Friday, 22 October 2004

Thao and I left Hung Phuoc. When saying good-bye to the teachers, we paid attention to catch the sound of any coach coming but we missed the one to Bu Dop. So we were walking, hoping that we could find someone to beg a lift from or could catch a motorbike. The teachers understood our situation so they quickly came to drive us to the bus station. We were to say good-bye to the teachers one more time when the owner of the bus taking us from Phuoc Long to Bu Dop the previous day waved to call us. It was nice to be loved in any place you come to.

We quickly found a coach going directly to Binh Phuoc crossroads in Binh Duong province. From there, I would not have to come back Dong Xoai before going to Da Lat and Thao would go to Ho Chi Minh city. Then, I was to travel alone.

The coach ran through the districts of Loc Ninh, An Loc and Chon Thanh, through rubber forests, town streets and fields. I felt asleep while watching the sights outside the window.

After a moment, I started at the sound of someone screaming. Thao shook me hastily: “Mai, get out!” I was half asleep yet half vigilant, replying: “we’re not there yet”. Almost at the same time, I understand what was going on – a breakdown. The two back wheels of the bus had become loose and were going to say good-bye to the bus itself in just one or two turns. Fortunately, nothing serious happened and nobody was hurt or injured. However, all the people in the bus were driven into a state of panic. I joked: “Thanks to this breakdown I can find a drink. I am thirsty.”

We were waiting for a moment before knowing that we had to change buses because they couldn’t manage the repairs. The new bus was crowded, yet it was better than no bus at all. Then we continued our interrupted trip.

Thao and I said good-bye to each other in a hurry at the Binh Phuoc crossroads. I got the bus to Da Lat. Just like the other buses; it went round the town to pick up more passengers before really beginning its trip. I affirmed my experience: “Travel is the same every time”. Yet, as I went further, I realized this was the most terrible time, concerning both bus changing and road accidents.

Finally, I got to the place. A “Welcome to Da Lat” signboard welcomed me at 7pm. Beautiful but too cold.

Chapter 15 - Binh Phuoc - Photo Gallery

Photos: Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai
(select image to enlarge)

1. A rubber plantation

2. A well pepper garden
3. Make gutter for pepper
4. pepper is lack of fertilizer

5,6. well for watering to pepper

7. learning feats
8. Chiem and I at the ending signpost in Ho Chi Minh road