Worst Shot

I'm not going to talk about the technical aspects of picture taking because frankly, I'll never get a hang of it like normal camera enthusiasts do.

This is, instead, a story of an ignorant boy roaming the city of Saigon.

Early morning, mid-November, I went out do my usual exploration of the city. Armed with just a camera. This time I brought my DSLR with me. 

When I did this the day earlier, the kind lady from Luan Vu (the guesthouse we were staying in) warned me to wrap the camera around me with its strap very securely since theft is a natural occurrence (very Southeast Asia). And I did heed that warning.

After aimlessly wandering around, I find myself at a flyover with a good view of the Bitexco Financial Tower (one of my favorite skyscrapers in the world - and the only one in the city).

I tried to be an expert and fiddled around with my shutter speed and aperture settings. The first few shots came out as white. And after I set it right, I took this picture:

Good enough but what came after was probably an event I'd beat myself up over and over again for the rest of my life.

A middle aged man approached me and started speaking the local language. I quickly shouldered my camera and walked away from him as fast as I could while muttering under-my-breath profanities to the tune of "Yeah right, I'm from Manila and I won't fall for that."

After about a minute's walk, I realized my foolishness and my touristy-ness.

I should have stayed longer.
I should have tried to listen to what he was saying.
I should have tried to appreciate.
I wish I could go back.

Isn't that what travelling is all about? Isn't about the stories that people have to tell? I'm pretty sure that's the sole reason why people travel. And I missed out on that because of my foolishness. My ignorance.

Who knows what story he wanted to tell me. I could have gotten a nice history of the city from him. How Saigon developed and is still developing. Or maybe the story of the Bitexco Tower, maybe he helped build it. Or maybe even some tips on where to eat and where to get the best coffee in the city.

Now, I can only speculate. I'll regret this for the rest of my life. And to think I thought of myself as an seasoned traveler.

I even left the person while he was in mid-speech. I hope he's doing well. And I hope someone who wasn't as ignorant as me, heard his story like I will never hear his story ever.