Welcome to DSV’s Journey to the West (DSV Tây Du Ký), I must inform you before you continue to read: this is not a review or experience sharing of a self-organized trip, it’s more than that because this trip is somehow considered feels like a DSV miniature.
Meet the Squad
Here is a team of 6, 6 DSV residents, 6 men who joined the trip looking for something unusual. And this is the very first time they travel together, which makes the journey even more interesting.
From left to right: Tuan – best laughter, Duong – best eater, Linh – best driver, Quy – best lover, and the happy couple with hearted arms: Son – best entertainer, Tai – best joker.
The similarity in their personalities is that they’re all introverts, calm, well-organized, young (spiritual age), and curious… Besides building great software applications, discovering new places, and new people, and gaining new experiences is also one of their hugest passions.
Getting Ready
Mr. Trieu Duong, our Project Manager first has the inspiration to summon a squad to travel through the west of Vietnam one day, he wanted to have at least one memorable trip with other fellows (besides a company trip), to get to know more about them.
They started the member recruitment 2 weeks ago and then scheduled the timeline and routine. Tra Su Cajuput Forest – An Giang, Tra Vinh province, and Ben Tre province were the chosen milestone in their 3-day-long journey to the west.
On the Road
Top 3 keywords for the trip: Fun, Tired (on willing), and Understanding.
The journey started from 5:30 am from the DSV office house and made it to the first destination – Tra Su Cajuput Forest – An Giang at 12 pm. It’s one of the most beautiful forests in Vietnam and it’s even much more spectacular than they’re not expected.
“Our spirit is to experience and feel the scenes and the atmosphere in the most organic way we could, which means no phones, no cameras, of course, we took pictures, but it’s just a few compares to other trips to such a beautiful forest.”
Some said it feels just like a group on a honeymoon, sounds so sweet (but gay). And thanks for such a long time working together at DSV, they’ve already known each other’s personalities well so there’s no surprise or misunderstanding along the way.
The next day, the team was 20 kilometers away from the Cambodia boundary and they decided to go to the next destination which is not in the first plan, Cambodia. But when they arrived at the boundary, they were sadly informed by a soldier that a passport is required to enter the neighboring country. And for sure they all forgot to bring it along. And below is what they do then:
Not Just That
Their funniest challenge happened when Tuan’s bike was out of fuel. Son – with a great experience of “gas suction” by a tube, tried to suck the gas from his motor to Tuan’s motor. So both would have enough gas to make their way back to HCMC. For those who haven’t experienced gas sucking before. It’s a real tough one that you could ever imagine, especially for the smell of gas, and certainly. It took real effort and a good temper to go through the situation with smiles on their face.
Well, those may sound like unlucky and annoying experiences. But If I was there, I bet I’d hear waves of laughter and jokes for sure. On a daily working day at DSV, you can turn all the hard stones into a silly joke and then laugh through them easily.
What have they gained after 3 days floating on western rivers, except for the significant sceneries and delicious cuisines?
The team had the chance to see more hidden angles of some of the DSV residents. Saw where they were born and raised, and knew more about their family. Experience the difference in culture and personality of each other even just in small details.
It’s the memory when “It feels just like a DSV miniature!” – Linh.
Every moment is a beautiful piece of memories. There was so much fun. We need more of this, and absolutely there’ll be more. Hey brothers and sisters, let’s mark the DSV name on your next journies, and make some more memories to remember.
Truc Thuy Minh