My New 7 Wonders of Nature

Puerto Princesa Underground River trek circa 1994

Have you cast your vote for the New 7 Wonders of Nature? You have about 10 days left to vote if you haven't done so. Voting ends November 11, 2011 (that's 11-11-11 for you).  I just sent my own verdict a while ago, through the New7Wonders website. You may not be interested with my picks, but here they are nonetheless in no particular order, each with snippets of the wisdom behind my vote:

1. The Amazon of South America. The largest rainforest is found here. Sadly, among the fastest rates of deforestation also happens here. The Amazon rainforest produces 20% of the earth's oxygen, earning for it the monicker "The Lungs of the Planet". This tropical ecosystem is shared by nine countries.
2. Great Barrier Reef of Australia and Papua New Guinea. This is the "Amazon" of the coastal and marine ecosystem in terms of size. The reef is the biggest single structure made by living organisms and can be seen from the moon.
3. Galapagos Islands of Ecuador. This is where one finds the biggest concentration of endemic species. Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection was born here. Without Darwin, there would have been fewer atheists and agnostics, and society would have been a lot boring.
4. Komodo National Park of Indonesia. The earth's largest living lizards - the Komodo Dragons - call the Komodo and nearby islands home. Their only home; so unlike their cousins who are also able to survive in Congress.
5. The Dead Sea of Israel, Palestine and Jordan. The lowest point on the earth's surface. No creatures (except for some microorganisms) live in its waters because of its high salinity (saltiness, in our terms); hence the name. What's more fascinating is that one can float on it without really trying. Click here and watch. Bad location for mafiosos to dump dead bodies.
6. Halong Bay of Vietnam. I was there two years ago. The mysticism of the place is just overwhelming. Simply awesome.
7. Underground River of Puerto Princesa, Philippines. But of course!

There are more of the finalists that deserve my vote, but since I am being limited to voting for just seven, I am sticking with my list above. I have never been to these places, except for the last two; but I have always been fascinated by them since childhood and have continued to get awed as I read and hear stories about them time and again. I hope you will also find them amazing and will also include them in your own list.

Halong Bay, Vietnam circa 2009

Related article: Vietnam and the Philippines united by nature

Capturing Vietnam

This is an accidental photo. I was on a bus moving along a freeway in the outskirts of Hanoi going to the airport when I took this shot. I am not even sure what this image is that I had captured. It looks like a woman with an open umbrella in a shed waiting to catch a ride. But, sitting on what seems to be a rounded steel bar? Must have been very uncomfortable. What this image is, it's anyone's guess.

Again, the photo was taken by accident. I was desperately trying to capture a different thing - an image of a farmer working on his/her field in Vietnam; a scene I wanted so much to capture but had not been able to since day one of my trip to Vietnam. And it was already the day of my return trip back to homeland.

The trip to the airport unexpectedly presented itself as a good, albeit my last, chance to finally capture the image. The freeway was lined on both sides by greenery -- farms planted to rice, vegetables and various other crops; and the fields were replete with workers tending to their land and crops.

But while I was presented the chance, the actual photo-shoot was not easy. The bus was moving at warp speed (as to why is another story) and I was seated along the aisle. I had a P&S equipment that could zoom-in 10x but could not do continuous shooting (if I miss a moment, that's it). Most significantly, I was torn between holding up my camera playing cat-and-mouse with my desired image and just relaxing and relishing with my own eyes what could be my last view of Vietnam. Nostalgia was also setting in. This particular trip was like cruising along the South Luzon Expressway going towards the province of Laguna- prior to the 90's, that is, before housing began replacing the green farmlands.

Needless to say, the desire to click away won. After a series of hits-and-misses (producing a collection of both sensible and "abtract" images, if I may say, including the photo above), I was able to capture this photo:

click to view larger image

This is an image of a Vietnamese farmer (người nông dân). Here, she is a chị nông dân or a female farmer (only women wear the ubiquitous non la or conical hat). Here she tends to her farm of rice; rice that may eventually find its way atop the Filipino family's dining table. (The Philippines' yearly rice imports of 1.5-2.0 million tons mostly come from Vietnam).

My trip to Vietnam would only have been partially-made had I not been able to capture this image. This photo is my way of paying tribute to this feeder of Filipino families.