I took a short walk into the depths of the woods near where I work. Because it is located at the end of Tuyen Lam Lake, there will be no more resorts or lakeside tours. Da Lat now the areas around the city center within a radius of less than 10km, only pine species are dominant. They have cleared the dense forests to settle, cultivate or to plant different types of pine. Therefore, this is almost a dense forest, the only type of mixed forest located in the center and suburbs of Da Lat city. So I wanted to take a walk there, which at least isn't a common thing here.
The edge of the forest is located about 800m from where I work if you follow the pre-paved asphalt road that winds through the winding roads around the lake. But I have another option, a trail and shortcut that was directed by some of the junglers I know nearby last week. It saves me more distance and time. I called after the guard's Tiger dog at the gate, and hoped it would bring more joy in the journey with me because I know it is very naughty and active. However, it only followed me for a while after running and rummaging around. And leave me and run home on my own because maybe I go too slow and often stop to watch or meditate. Maybe he thinks I'm boring?
The mixed forest here looks quite poor with most of the subterranean flora of shrubs and interlaced vines. I can feel more moisture, what my nose breathes is also different. The sound is more vivid and intense than the sound in my mind. Because summer is coming and the cicadas are molting all at once, the surrounding forest is resounding with cicadas. But in this forest, there are no tyrannical ticks, birds, crickets, insects still have a market to express themselves.
As the forest is less affected by humans, the vines are constantly developing and it really surprised me with its size. It's rare for me to come across this size of a vines.
I don't have too much knowledge about the forest here, from plants to animals. And it motivates me to pay more attention and spend time on the unknown, maintaining the motivation to gather natural knowledge from around. One species of herbal plant that I know is as shown below. It is called Ung Real Silver or maybe by other names such as: single thorns, naked. Its English name is: Zanthoxylum avicennae. Mainly found in the central and northwestern mountainous areas of Vietnam. For a long time, the ethnic minorities here have used it for many purposes. It is commonly extracted from the roots, bark, and leaves of the plant to treat and support liver diseases. The ethnic minorities here also soak the roots with alcohol to drink.
Because of my poor eyesight, I pay more attention to small changes. I want to see more of the world of small plants. It has a nicer look and unique structure, or at least it's fancy to me.
Curiously I peeled off the bark of a large rotting tree and I found a wood-eating creature resembling termites. It looked like a caterpillar larva, and the grooves it made were rather contradictory. But I have tested its feces, can feel the powder, smooth and very similar to a product after eating wood.
Observing some species of moss is equally interesting, their colors and shapes vary, I think that sunlight also reflects a specific color depending on the stage of the lichen moss species. Clinging to rocks makes it more difficult to grow, and they are also often small and skinny.
The symbiotic mosses on another tree look much better. The denser density makes them more vibrant, lacking space for each individual. Unknowingly I was thinking vaguely about something outside of life that I have a position in society.
Mushroom species are few, and most of them look inedible. They are too few to be collected by search engines. I kept walking in the forest like that until I wanted to go back to work, after having passed from hillside to hillside. I just passed by without going to the top of the mountain, I think I must have more time on another occasion to try it.
Today I just need to relax a bit to continue working so will go next time in good weather. See you soon and thanks for watching.
