vaga #1/6 tourist

   Part VI

I will comment on two things;  The big advantage of travelling alone, and travelling as a woman: Old, grey and overweight .... hahaha ..... all these things are points of great relevance in regards to making contact with the locals. I feel that they are not afraid to approach me, I am not a threat if I talk to them. I think it is curiosity that I provoke. Once in Ta Van, Vietnam in a "homestay" place where you share the house with the family. I ran into some young English people and we ate together every day, there was nowhere else to go…. I showed them pictures with the friends I had taken the day before, two women from the H'omg ethnic group and they came to pick me up every morning. They asked me in surprise how I met them, they had been there for 4 days and had not exchanged a word with anyone .... Of course I assume that no woman is going to talk to men unless they are trying to sell them something. it is worse if they are blond and have blue eyes, they feel less comfortable with them unless they can speak perfect English which also makes them feel somewhat uncomfortable. I clarify in this area the men do not communicate with me at all, even when we are having lunch together at their homes.

I am spaced out.  Without a map, without a phone to find the quickest way to my destination … ..the wonder of having all the time in the world, apart from the visa expiry date…… I have the luxury of spending my time being spaced out, I am in no hurry...... and I take the time to talk to the locals.

All photos are from Inle Lake, Myanmar

When the locals greet me, I smile and the conversation begins, they are catching that my English is not native, that I make every effort to make them understand, always with a lot of laughter ...... and I have been learning tricks to make them continue talking. When they are women, I ask about their children, their ages and I tell them about mine, I have photos to show them, and they relax and see me without apprehension ... ..... I am not a threat at all ... ... I am a mother and what most attracts their attention is that I do not have a husband …… .they are surprised ……… I say divorced… ..then I say !!! FINALLY FREE    !!! ……… ... and we laugh ……… ... from then on a friendship starts, that lasts, sometimes for a few hours, days, weeks or forever like my Guatemalan friends who regularly contact me ……… ………… Many others help me without being asked because they see me as defenceless, .... !! poor old lady !! .... !! you can see that she is confused !! , ..... !! lost !!, ..... !! She does not understand anything !! …… I am old ……….They do not have the concept of how Europeans and Americans who, at 60 are in their prime, here they are grandmothers, and do grandmotherly things, period…… They never leave their environment ……… .and for that reason their impression of me is that I am an extraordinary woman, and they are curious, they can’t comprehend my lifestyle… .maybe if I was an older man, it would not attract their attention or curiosity ……. they always want to know more about the kind of life I lead, it is so alien to theirs. I have had many experiences  that I will tell you about and it gives more flavour to my journey, almost more than the temples, it is their lives and if I can share their homes and their families, so much the better, THE EYES OF THE VAGABOND are happy.

The second thing;  Something strange happens to me I don’t know how to explain it, because I am usually a social and fun person, but I avoid all and every tourist, sometimes I hear English or French being spoken, I understand both languages, but I walk away, even more so, when I hear Spanish, because it could be very entertaining…. NOPE ... I walk away, I continue alone in silence enjoying what and where I am. When I have no other choice because they are eating in front of me or they are next to me in a bus I will talk... I hate the conversations ... ... Where are you from? How long will you be here? Where are you going now? And so on, and I feel bored... I don’t talk about my journey, I say NOTHING. It is weird because I tell YOU everything ...

In the last 8 months, I have had three entertaining conversations with tourists; one with a 34-year-old Israelite that I met in a village, in a restaurant and she was alone, we started talking about motherhood and how her biological clock was ticking, she didn’t have a partner, it turns out that I had shared the same doubts she had, I had my son Rafa at 35 and I shared that experience, all my doubts and fears from that time. She told me she didn’t want to lose the freedom to travel ..., I answered yes, but I had already done it in my youth and in full ... the experience of being a mother is fantastic and after raising my kids, I went back to my old habit and love of travelling continued …... She was grateful to hear a story close to her reality and hopefully I addressed all of her doubts… . it was a pleasant conversation, and we said goodbye with a big hug and we both continued our journeys through life. Another time, I had to sit next to an older couple, this is the story about that day, an hour and a half by bus to get to the national park, she was about 60, Irish ....  and very nice, we didn’t have the usual smalltalk ... where did you go and where are you going, etc... ... we talked about why I'm travelling, and about my life decisions. Another English woman, I met her in another town, it was below zero degrees during the day, I had to take refuge in a restaurant with a wood-burning boiler, there was nowhere to sit, so we shared a table, she was also about 60 and travelling alone on her vacation, she's a nurse. I had a huge bag filled with "lego" for Laa's children, it caught her attention, I told her what they were for, she had been in Massai Mara for two weeks in a village with the Massai to collaborate with the locals and the topic was ........ How to help them, …? It was so interesting to meet someone who likes the same things I do, to discuss what it was better to buy for them, ...... shoes, sanitary napkins, food, clothes ...... WHAT? and we shared the same doubts. When we said goodbye, she threw herself around my neck and gave me a tremendous hug and kiss, ..... be careful, she is the Anglo-Saxon, I know them and I maintain my Latin composure out of respect for the Anglo-Saxon hahaha

And finally I met a 72-year-old Israeli man, a fat man, we were in a small town and there were no other tourists, we ended up eating together, it was pure laughter and non-stop chaos, he had travelled as much as I and we almost had a competition who had the most amusing anecdote ...... I confess that we were on a par and we laughed more ... and as this blog is about the life of the Vagabond, I forgot to tell him a great anecdote so far that happened in his country; ..... it was in the Dead Sea, in Israel, I ran and dived into the water and came out blind for 20 minutes ....... no one else would think of sticking their head under the sea full of salt and opening their eyes ....  what a shame that I forgot to tell him....... he would have laughed more than anybody hahaha. I do not give my email to anyone apart from my Group and my family.

Travelling alone, with grey hair and out of season, are pure advantages

As I had already commented before, I do not travel in high season, for example, this wonderful lake would have been full of tourist boats, I would say that in season, about 300 boats would arrive, with noise from their engines ..... they are a plague ...... I like this Silence and calm waters, the Vagabond is in heaven.