{"id":25788,"date":"2026-07-28T09:37:52","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T02:37:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvpalm.com\/?p=25788"},"modified":"2026-07-28T10:24:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T03:24:07","slug":"in-some-places-the-most-precious-thing-is-silence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvpalm.com\/fr\/in-some-places-the-most-precious-thing-is-silence\/","title":{"rendered":"In Some Places, the Most Precious Thing Is Silence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Some mornings I sit for hours in front of the Rang Cua ridge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I do not read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I do not listen to music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I do not open my phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I do not try to think of anything large.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I only sit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Silent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Listening to the wind move through the treetops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To birds calling each other from a very distant slope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watching the first light of the new day inch through layer after layer of cloud, little by little, and then the whole sky brightening. Mountains that were once only dark shapes gradually become clear \u2014 each ridgeline, each stretch of forest, each small roof down in the valley slowly appearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some mornings are that beautiful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But some days nothing can be seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mist thick enough to make the whole mountain range disappear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No more horizon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No familiar peaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only a dense white wrapping everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I still sit there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not impatient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not wishing the mist would clear faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not feeling I have just missed a beautiful scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I only feel the cold wind threading through my clothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cold seeping slowly into skin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rhythm of my own breathing slowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes so quiet that I can hear my own heartbeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps it has been a very long time since people had the chance to hear themselves this clearly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people think the mountains are appealing because of the scenery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"the
the Rang Cua ridge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Silence is not emptiness<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I think the most precious thing here is the silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not the silence that comes from having no sounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a silence that makes every sound clearer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water running under the rocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wind shifting direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A bird landing on a branch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A dry leaf turning after a light breeze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the city, those sounds almost disappear beneath traffic and conversations that never end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, they remain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it is they that remind me the forest is still alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Streams
Streams in Tay Con Linh<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I learned the most when I was alone<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps many people would feel lonely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the early years of building this place, there were periods when I lived almost alone in these mountains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hundreds of evenings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hundreds of mornings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not many people to talk with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No appointments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No noise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only wind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Insects outside the porch.
Many days bitten by leeches without even realizing it \u2014 they would stay on me for half a day. Looking back now, it still makes me shudder!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some nights the wind was so strong I lay listening and felt the whole forest moving. Alone in a small shelter made from Vau bamboo from the village’s bamboo grove, roofed with palm leaves held down by rope made from the same bamboo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes when powerful gusts swept through the valley, I genuinely felt that if I were just a little lighter, the wind might carry me off somewhere into the boundless space of mountain and forest. Along with my shelter, of course!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back then, I did not think I was going through anything special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was just living slowly. Very slowly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many years later looking back, I understood that those periods of quiet had taught me more than any book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They taught me how to wait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to observe. Sometimes just a beetle, a butterfly \u2014 or a leech! Yes, a leech? Because it met me so often that both my ankles now carry the marks of hundreds of them. I imagine if I told people that, many would recoil. But never mind, let me just say it \u2014 because it is real, it is my own experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I learned that not every day needs something to happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that nature is never in a hurry. So why should I be?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nature does not ask anything of us<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Some places make people always want to conquer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want to reach the summit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want to go faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want to see more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want to bring back as much as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tay Con Linh did not teach me that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This place taught me to sit still.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some mornings, sitting before a white screen of mist with nothing visible beyond a few meters ahead, the heart can still feel very full.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not because something wonderful happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But because for the first time in a long while, I no longer felt the need to prove anything to anyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"ha
Nature does not ask anything of us<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What Can TVPalm Bring?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We cannot bring this silence back to the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also cannot promise that everyone who comes here will feel the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But we can keep this place quiet enough that each person can find their own stillness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No music in the forest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not turning every open space into an activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not thinking that every minute of the journey must be filled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the most memorable trips are those with the most silence in them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To let the forest be itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And to let people be themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some gifts cannot be carried home<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Many people leave Tay Con Linh with a few packets of tea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some honey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few photographs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people bring back very beautiful things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I think the greatest gift of these mountains is not in a backpack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is in a feeling that is very hard to name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sitting alone before the mountain range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without needing to say anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without needing to think anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without needing to do anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only sitting in silence watching the light change on the slopes, or watching a white curtain of mist cover everything ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then suddenly realizing that what you have been looking for all along was not somewhere very far away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was always present in very ordinary moments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was only that for a very long time, we never gave ourselves enough time to sit still and listen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In some places, the most precious thing is not the beautiful scenery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not the rare experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A silence deep enough that when you leave, you carry it with you for a long time after the journey is over.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n \n
\n \n
\n
\n \n\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n \n\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n \n\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n \n\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n \n\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n
\n \n\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n \n\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n \n\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n \n\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n \n\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n\n
\n 5\/5 - (193 votes) <\/div>\n <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some mornings I sit for hours in front of the Rang Cua ridge. I do not read. I do not listen to music. I do not open my phone. I do not try to think of anything large. I only sit. Silent. Listening to the wind move through the treetops. To birds calling each other […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":25792,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1183],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-journal"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvpalm.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvpalm.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvpalm.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvpalm.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvpalm.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25788"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tvpalm.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25799,"href":"https:\/\/tvpalm.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25788\/revisions\/25799"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvpalm.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvpalm.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvpalm.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvpalm.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}