Back home after a long time

Hi Hivers in Urban Exploration community, it's been a long time since I've posted on this interesting community. And it's been a long time since I've returned to my hometown, where I was born and raised. You know, Tet holiday, the biggest holiday in Vietnam, is coming. And this is the occasion that we often go back to our hometown to reunite with our family. I always feel eager and moved to come back here to meet familiar people, walk old streets and see familiar things.

This is the road leading to my mother's house, where I was born and raised. When I was a kid, it was a dirt road with two rows of big trees on either side. Now the road has been widened and paved. Rows of trees were destroyed and new trees were planted. This road is both familiar and strange to me. In the past, houses here were very sparse. The nearest neighbors could be more than 100m apart. Now, many houses have sprung up.

And below is the house where I was born and raised. Before it was just a small and wooden house, now it has been rebuilt to be more spacious and comfortable. My hometown is located on the highlands of Vietnam, so there are many trees here. The houses here are often nestled between coffee farms, and so is mine. I always feel so emotional to walk through that gate to enter the house. So many memories came flooding back to me.

Do you know what is the first thing I usually do when I return to my family's house? It is burning incense for ancestors. According to our beliefs, it is a way that we report to those who have passed away.

After putting away my luggage, I went for a walk around to revisit the garden of memories. When I returned home, no one was there. My family has 5 siblings, all of us have grown up and live in different places. My father passed away, and now only my mother and my niece live in this house. When I returned, my mother was shopping, while my niece was going to school. This is the coffee flower season in my place, the whole garden blooms in a white color. The avocado trees and the durian trees are also much bigger and taller. I also caught a few squirrels feeding in the garden.

We also have a small pond in the garden where we store water for irrigation and fish farming. This is one of my favorite places in the garden. In the hot summers, my siblings and I used to play there. The areca trees around the pond are now towering.

After visiting the garden, I went for a walk around to say hello to the neighbors while waiting for my mother's return. My hometown is still a countryside. So life here is still very peaceful, the atmosphere is fresh and the people are gentle. So are my neighbors. They are very friendly and hard working. When I went to greet them, they were still doing their jobs. That is the difference between rural and urban in Vietnam. In Vietnam, city people often have little contact with people around. Everyone seems to be too busy with their own work. Just seeing the daily activities in my hometown brings me so much joy and peace.

After a long time returning to my hometown, everything has become both familiar and foreign to me. But I always feel emotional every time I go back there. Thank you for taking the time to read my post and have a nice day.