Category Archives: Commonplace

I Have Seen the World Begin: Travels through China, Cambodia, and VietnamA Blessing for the Traveller

An avenue of flowering mimosa. It was spring again! An overpowering scent had pervaded the countryside and driven winter back up the mountain slopes. Then: a rosy peak. The blue leaves of the eucalyptus trees.

Three pagodas. I counted 14 storeys, each lower than the one before, with the result that even from a distance I had the impression of standing at their feet, head tilted back, and seeing them tower, foreshortened, above me. I would never have the chance to take a closer look at them. Already they were falling behind. That is how I will always remember them. From the perspective of the departing traveler, mysterious in their remoteness and rich in their mystery.

Such is the blessing we may grant ourselves: not to see everything.

Carsten Jensen, I Have Seen the World Begin: Travels through China, Cambodia, and Vietnam