Try leaving Saigon for the Central Highlands: The smell of coffee flowers dispels all sadness | Tourism

I was not born in the Central Highlands, but I spent my entire childhood there. In 2nd grade, my whole family moved from the Central region under the new economic status. At that time, my house was a house in a field, surrounded by green coffee fields, noodle fields blocking the path, and barren and abandoned cashew orchards.

My childhood grew up following coffee trees. Those were rainy days in August. We wore raincoats to fertilize coffee with our mother. During the cold days, my sister and I took each other to pick up coffee branches to use as firewood. During the season, we followed our mother out to pick coffee. While mother spread the tarpaulin and father carried bags of coffee, the sisters were assigned the task of gleaning ripe coffee beans scattered in each tree hole.

I like the coffee watering season best, around December and January of the lunar calendar. At this time, the Central Highlands is in the dry season and the morning is very cold. After just a few days of watering, the whole garden was in full bloom with white flowers and a delicate, sweet scent.

A corner of the Central Highlands

The Central Highlands also has Pa Sy waterfall (Mang Den, Kon Tum), which is known as the second Da Lat.

Waking up early in the morning, the first thing I do is run to the garden to smell the sweet aroma of that pure white flower. I know it’s sweet because the bees spend all day clinging to the white flower and not letting go. Mom said, coffee flowers are as beautiful as snowflakes. And that flower color, that fragrance followed me into every sleep of my childhood.

I have a small habit that when I see a scene or experience something so beautiful, I immediately think of the person I love the most at that time. I was so happy that I cried because I was in that moment, and I wanted my loved one to have the same experience.

The day I had the opportunity to visit home, standing in the middle of the coffee fields, all the memories of my childhood came back at once.

I remember the days in the Central Highlands during the rainy season, the trees and grass grew luxuriantly and beautifully. When the weather dried up, we started leading the cows (my family only had 3-4 cows) up the mountain to feed them thatch grass. I tried to “enjoy” the scenery in front of me, using all my imagination in “shop” games right on the edge of the coffee fields. Sometimes, I boldly lead my cow up the hill and explore new routes.

I love rough, winding dirt roads. Sometimes there are quiet, clear lakes hidden among the surrounding, towering bushes of weeds. Just like that, I grew up alone in my own world. I became a quiet child and liked to watch more. In those days, I wished I could go like that all day, only having to drive the cows home at dusk.

Later, when I grew up and went to school, then went to work in the city, I missed the green color of the mountains and forests of the Central Highlands so much. Every time the bus arrives at the familiar Kon Tum area, my heart skips a beat. Just breathe in the scent of coffee flowers and your worries will disappear. If you don’t believe it, try holding the hand of a loved one and discovering that scent, all the dust and noise of the city will no longer be in your mind.

Maybe because I crave the forest, there was a time when I couldn’t stand it. Every weekend I had to go trekking to Ba Den Mountain, Dinh Mountain or Thi Vai Mountain (near Ho Chi Minh City) to be able to endure it. Many times I think to myself, I am like a tree growing wild, with so many worries piled up, I just need to “smell” the mountain scent and I can “balance” it all.

In fact, the Central Highlands is not only beautiful to me – a child who grew up in a land of thousands. I think for anyone who has the opportunity to set foot in the Central Highlands, they have this kind of affection for it.