Trang An, Vietnam: The Joy of Not Knowing

It takes a bit of research actually learning about Vietnam, especially if you’re travelling without a tour guide. In Trang An, our tour guide left us with the boatman – he knew absolutely no English. He never talked to us, except for those (not so) rare times he had to tell us what not to do.

In a way, it made the experience more serene. Most of the time when we’re visiting a new place, we want to know its history – its how’s and why’s and why not’s. But sometimes we want to just sit back, observe and wonder. Sometimes it’s not knowing that makes things beautiful.

Along the way, we come across unusual surprises.

A picturesque scene.

A local on a humble boat – with a dSLR camera and… (surprise surprise) a photo printer powered by batteries. People make a living in the most unusual ways.

People, they ask me about these photos – what’s this, what’s that.

And sometimes, unfortunately (or fortunately), I don’t know what to respond.

Aside from the fact that it was a wonderful sight.

And that I was able to take some photos I could share.

And that, in the end, it was a glorious experience to remember.