Going to the island, the first impression is that the island is very clean and planted with many coconuts Conquering Ma Thien Lanh peak On Hon Son island, there are 7 peaks, of which Ma Thien Lanh is the most famous for its mysterious stories. With an altitude of 450m above sea level, this is the highest mountain in Hon Son island, so it attracts many tourists to visit and conquer. To climb the mountain without losing strength, the first night we booked a room at Lamien Lodge. The hotel is located halfway up the mountain, on the way to the top of Ma Thien Lanh. The room is located entirely in the forest and has a view of the entire Hon Son sea from above. Here, you can be completely immersed in nature, use the direct spring water of Ma Thien Lanh peak and say no to air conditioning, hot and cold water. Note, when you choose to stay on the mountain, remember to only bring a backpack, not a suitcase, you will not be able to carry or pull it up because the road is quite difficult. However, if you bring a suitcase, there will be a pick up service for you, each up / down is 150,000 VND. In particular, the phone signal here is very poor, only occasionally available, only for direct calls, but cannot access the Internet, very suitable for those who need complete rest. A few notes when climbing – It is recommended to wear and bring clothes made of cool, sweat-absorbing fabrics to move freely.- Women who wear short clothes should use mosquito repellent, because forest mosquitoes are many and bite very painful.- Climbing shoes must be light, hug your feet to avoid foot pain.- Items to bring such as flashlights, knives, drinking water (1.5 liters/person) and light food.- Remember to preserve the landscape forests, limit littering. After checking in, you can order a lunch of steamed garlic chicken, or salted steamed chicken, made by the people you meet along the way when you check in. After eating and resting, around 1:30 pm you start to conquer the remaining road of Ma Thien Lanh peak. From here, the road will be more difficult to go. On the way up the mountain, you will be told by the guide fascinating stories, handed down from ancient times, about Pho Tinh Pagoda, Lo Thien Pagoda, Monk Uncle Uncle, mountain ascetics and Even the fairies descended,… Just climbed to the top of the mountain while listening to stories, the way was also closer. Conquering Ma Thien Lanh peak is an unforgettable experience for visitors when coming to Hon Son In order to facilitate farming, travel and live here, people make stairs convenient for going up the mountain. The scenery on both sides of the road is very poetic and wild, the atmosphere is clear and cool. A few notes when traveling independently is that if you get lost, follow the water line. This is a small trick, passed down by the people who often go to the mountain. Stop at Lo Thien Phat Pagoda, you have gone 1/3 of the way to the top of Ma Thien Lanh. The road from there to the top of the mountain is becoming more and more difficult and challenging when it is no longer a cement road, three steps, instead a small path. Not only that, on the way there are luxuriant trees, the sound of birds and gibbons howling, making your trip more mysterious, thrilling and interesting. The reward is often worth it when climbing to the top of the mountain Setting foot on the top of the mountain, your efforts are also rewarded, all fatigue, body aches seem to disappear. Take a deep breath and feel the wonderful atmosphere here. In front of you is the majestic natural scenery of mountains, immense sea and sky. Feel free to talk to the people living here. They are very sincere and open. Snorkeling to see corals, catching sea urchins Early the next day, have breakfast and sip coffee, receive a helmet and rented motorbike when going to the island, priced at 120,000 VND/day, you start to explore the route around the island. Coconuts are characteristic of this island. Here, coconuts grow from the beach up halfway up the hill. Every tree is so tall with very unique and strange poses. So for tourists, Hon Son is also known by another familiar name, “Coconut Island”. The road around the island For that reason, some local names of beaches are called other names such as leaning coconut trees, lying coconut trees or coconut rows, etc. To protect coconuts, people nail along the tree trunks so that tourists don’t sit up, avoid the tree uprooted and make a safe exit to serve guests taking pictures. There are also beautiful natural rock beaches around the island. Maybe because of many rocks, the island is called Hon Son. Hon Son Rai – the name may also come from the shape of this rock After visiting the island, you can rent a small boat to the sea, priced at 120,000 VND/person. You will be diving to see corals and fish. The beach here is full of urchins. After an hour of swimming and scuba diving, you can enjoy a lunch full of fresh seafood right on the fish raft, such as swimming crabs for only 400,000 VND/kg, special squid porridge with the sweetness of squid and the warmth of ginger. A very cute little shop selling snacks on the island The leaning coconut tree is nailed so that visitors do not sit, climb, or break the tree Visitors are extremely excited to see the sea and eat seafood in Hon Son A point you should not miss when coming to Hon Son is the rocky beach and the beach with the most beautiful beach on the island. The rock area has a very large rock, shaped like a snake. People here call it the snake head rock, but when you check-in online, it will appear “Hon Son Rai”. This rock is very big and quite flat, so in the afternoon, lying on it, watching the sunset, is very cool. In the evening, order a hot pot to eat right at the beach and then climb up to “Hon Son Rai” to lie down and enjoy the cool wind and cool breeze without disturbing mosquitoes, making you just want to sleep here until morning to conveniently watch the sunrise. How to go to Hon Son Currently, there are two trains every day to Hon Son island. You should call to book tickets before going to the port, to avoid the situation of running out of tickets. Train tickets can be booked online and paid by bank transfer, very convenient. Ticket price is 280,000 VND/round trip. Visitors should book a trip at 7:30 am and go to the pier early, about 1 hour before breakfast, then visit the toad market located across the street opposite the port to buy some fruit to bring, because there is almost no sale on the island. The fruits here are delicious and cheap. At 7:30, the ship left the pier. After about 15 minutes, the driver will open the door for guests to get on the deck to open up. Up here, you are free to take pictures of the ship turning waves to the sea. The scenery is very beautiful and windy, so it is very suitable for you who have motion sickness. There are two seasons here, the rainy season and the dry season. The best time to go is from November to March, at this time it does not rain and the sea is calm, convenient for climbing and scuba diving. The people here are very friendly and likable. You book any motel or hotel with a caller ready to pick you up at the port. On the island, there are many accommodation services for you to choose from, from homestays to affordable guesthouses, the average cost is from 170,000 to 800,000 VND/room.

“Mermaid diving is developing very quickly in China,” said Mr. Yan Lou, president of PADI (Association of Professional Diving Instructors) in the country of billions of people. On April 28, more than 100 “mermaids” appeared at the Ambassador Lagoonkhu hotel aquarium at Atlantis Sanya resort (China). This activity aims to break the Guinness record for the largest mermaid diving show in the world, on the occasion of the resort’s 3rd anniversary. After this activity, PADI launched 4 mermaid diving courses from basic to advanced. These courses are all very popular in China. “After admiring the beautiful images of the mermaids, the audience seemed to immediately want to take the course. Within four months of its launch, mermaid courses accounted for 30% of local certifications in China,” said Lou. The mermaid diving performance at Atlantis Sanya set a Guinness record. Photo: CNN. Corinna Davids, the head of development for mermaid dive courses offered by SSI (Diving Society International), also confirms this trend. “There is a huge demand for mermaid diving lessons in China. The sport has grown exponentially since we started rolling out in 2017,” she said. SSI has offered independent mermaid diving courses at more than 3,000 locations worldwide. “We now have more than 1,000 mermaid trainers in China and the sport is growing rapidly. This sport is also a bridge to help scuba diving and freediving become more known in this country,” added Davids. Attraction from the ocean Similar to freediving, the “mermaids” do not use any oxygen or support equipment other than a fishtail. “Wearing a fishtail restricts leg movement, making diving more difficult. Divers must use their belly and waist to move. This requires a long time of practice to be able to move smoothly and gracefully like a real mermaid”, said Dada Li, one of the pioneers in mermaid diving and also the PADI representative at China, said. China is a very potential market for mermaid diving. Photo: Xinhua. In 2015, Li completed an international course in freediving instruction and became the first female freediving instructor in China. In the same year, she established a professional team of mermaid divers to perform at aquariums and underwater events in China. Thanks to their meticulousness and skillful technique, the mermaids make the audience admire. The spread on social networks also helps these professions begin to become more widely known. China is also home to some of the youngest divers in the world. In addition, women in this country make up the largest proportion of divers in the world (nearly 50%). The mermaid diving show is loved by many people because of its beauty. Photo: Werner Lau. “Mermaid diving is often seen as an activity for children or women. However, we can guarantee that this is the right sport for everyone. My husband loves it too,” Davids said. Compared to freediving or scuba diving courses, mermaid diving focuses on fun, safety and enjoyment of life. This subject is for those who are not afraid to go into the water and have a love for the ocean. “As a freedom-loving person, I feel like I’ve turned into a real mermaid when diving, able to go anywhere I want,” Li said.

Dressed in blue protective gear and wearing a visor under a bright yellow turban, Jitender Singh Shunty sprayed disinfectant on bodies at the Seemapuri crematorium in northeastern Delhi. He had to act fast because bodies were delivered faster than cremation. The families and friends of those who have died, and those who are trying to find hospital beds and oxygen tanks to save their loved ones, are losing patience. “We are doing all we can to help families have a decent funeral for their loved ones,” he said as he rushed into another ambulance that had just arrived with two bodies. Since the beginning of April, when India suffered a second wave of the outbreak, Jitender Singh Shunty and his 20 volunteers were shocked by the large number of bodies brought in. “Last year we cremated 967 bodies, this month alone we cremated 670 bodies,” he said. Worldometers chart of the high number of infections in India as of May 10. About 20km from Seemapuri, New Delhi, dozens of people were gathering outside Waseem’s gas station. They all have the same question: When will the new oxygen tanks arrive? Waseem is committed to updating information on WhatsApp as soon as it is available. “People are dying from lack of oxygen so I thought I had to do something to help them,” Waseem said. “Someone told me that I would get sick if I kept going out and meeting so many people with Covid-19 relatives. I’m really scared, but if I don’t help them, I’ll be haunted for life.” Waseem added. Not alone As India is trying to find a way to deal with the pandemic, young men and women from all over the country do not hesitate to volunteer to contribute to the fight. They set up apps to solicit support and help, distribute key supplies, and use social media to direct resources to those in need. With two-thirds of its 1.3 billion population under the age of 35, India is a country dominated by young people, but young people have never been called upon to shoulder such enormous responsibilities. Photo: Times of India Swadha Prasad is working with dozens of volunteers – all between the ages of 14 and 19 – as part of the youth-led UNCUT organization, building an online database to gather information. about available medical resources across the country. This is 24/7, with teens constantly working over the phone to verify supplies, update information in real time, and take calls from patient relatives. “Some of us work from midnight to morning, because the calls don’t stop at 3 a.m.,” CNA quoted Prasad, a 17-year-old schoolgirl who worked 14 hours a day from noon the day before to 1 a.m. next morning. It was a long and tiring shift, but this Mumbai resident was still very enthusiastic. “If I could help save a life, I would never say No.” And many Covid-19 victims have been saved. Prasad cites an example where her team was able to deliver oxygen in the middle of the night, saving the life of a young patient desperately waiting for help. “It’s not just about providing resources… sometimes people want to know they’re not alone,” she said. The graph of Worldometers shows the correlation between the number of new infections (yellow) and the number of new recoveries (blue) in India as of April 30. Technology limitations However, in many small Indian towns and villages, technological limitations exacerbate the situation. Urgent requests for resources and spare hospital beds have spurred a large number of Twitter users. 25-year-old software engineer Umang Galaiya solved this problem by writing an app that makes it easy for users to find what they need, and directs their search to verified resources. But even so, his application cannot help many people living outside of big cities because the number of internet users is very small. “If I look for resources in Jamnagar, I get nothing on Twitter,” reflected the young man. And according to this male engineer, the pandemic cannot be controlled without the government. Simple measures still save many lives. For example, authorities could create an online bed registry, which updates automatically in real time, to save distressed patients from running back and forth knocking on the door of each treatment facility. According to the update of statistics page Worldometers, as of noon on May 12, India has recorded more than 23.3 million people infected with Covid-19 and about 254,200 deaths.

Rajni Gill woke up with a mild fever in mid-April, the first sign that she had Covid-19. Within a few days, she had difficulty breathing and was nearly unconscious at the hospital. Desperate to be unable to arrange for Gill’s plasma treatment, her sister posted a plea on social media: “I am looking for a plasma donor for the sister who is hospitalized in Noida. She is blood type B and 43 years old “. Fortunately, the message quickly spread on Twitter and appeared on the phone of Mr. Srinivas BV, an opposition politician in nearby Delhi. He claimed to be a voluntary blood donor and went to help this Covid-19 patient. Internet cries for help spread “like wildfire” India’s health care system has been on the brink of collapse as the country records a record increase every day. Desperate, relatives and friends of the infected people have to send messages for help on social networks. Thousands of people are dying from Covid-19 in India every day. Photo: New York Times. Some people need medical oxygen, which is almost impossible to find in the capital, Delhi. Others are on the hunt for high-priced drugs on the black market, or extremely scarce ventilators. And many of those pleas received a response. The prayers for help reached all walks of life in India, from engineers, lawyers, NGO workers, workers, politicians, doctors and even tuk drivers- tuk. Online networks to help victims of Covid-19 are formed in many of the most remote places. Mr. Srinivas, 38 years old, who donated blood to patient Covid-19 in this story is also among these. As chairman of the youth union of the opposition Indian Congress Party, in early 2020, when the first pandemic struck and India had to blockade, Mr. Srinivas summoned the young volunteers. All over the country distributes food to trapped migrants along with more than 10 million masks. Srinivas said calls for help on social media began to spread “like wildfire”. So he created the hashtag #SOSIYC so that everyone could connect with his Indian Youth Congress. How online networks work India’s online help networks rely on tools and algorithms commonly used in social media marketing. Families of victims will tag with large followers to amplify their message. Meanwhile, volunteer organizers use keywords to filter requests. Abhishek Murarka, who works in finance in Mumbai, decided he needed to do more than share his Twitter posts. He began searching for “verified”, “confirmed” and “available” on Twitter to follow potential supporters like Mr. Srinivas’s team. He posted an 84-second video explaining his tricks so others can use. Hundreds of miles away, 20-year-old Praveen Mishra studied Murarka’s way and applied his own filters to search for hospital beds, oxygen and medicine. He was able to give a special medicine to a patient in Delhi after confirming that it was available in Hyderabad. Some people are even exploiting resources around the world. Nikhil Jois and his team checked and contacted charities providing oxygen, food and tampons. He shortened the list to just over a dozen organizations, then asked companies in India to stick the list on their apps or websites so that Indians could easily access it. help. “The best part of social media is that you trust strangers,” said Jois. Nikhil Jois checked aid organizations and called for donations to victims of Covid-19. Photo: Nikhil Jois. Social media is the only way to seek help However, putting your trust in social media isn’t always a good idea. Several well-known accounts offer shoddy or exorbitant prices to desperate patients. Even joking and deceiving vulnerable people can cause many conflicts of hatred. But with India in crisis and moving not a safe option, social media is the only way for some people to seek help. Aditya Jain, who lives in the capital Delhi, recently issued a call on Twitter. He felt helpless because his aunt and uncle, who lived about 200 km away in Agra, were struggling over a blockade. His aunt has spinal disease, and his uncle, a diabetic, is on dialysis every week. Unable to go out, they only ate one meal a day. They are unable to take care of themselves and cannot even bathe themselves. Through LinkedIn, he found an organization that caters to seniors and filled out a form, providing their names and locations. The next morning, the volunteers showed up in front of his aunt’s house with breakfast and adult diapers. “Social media is like a gift from heaven to us,” said Jain emotionally. But not everyone is as lucky as Jain and Miss Gill. Mr. Srinivas said his organization receives at least 10,000 messages on Twitter every day. However, for every 100 requests, he can usually only help from 30 to 40 people due to lack of manpower and material resources. A volunteer teaches a family member how to use an oxygen tank. Photo: Srinivas BV Ms. Mahua Ray Chaudhuri used to “frantically” tag Mr. Srinivas while searching for oxygen for her ailing father. His team found some, but that was not enough: There were no more ICU beds for patients in the hospital. “At least I could find oxygen for my dad, and he didn’t die of suffocation,” Ms. Chaudhuri said. “This help from these strangers on Twitter is like a relief to our pandemic mind and soul.” The chaplain’s account of the funeral for 150 Covid-19 patients before cremation Every day, Hindu cleric RamKaran Mishra performs a funeral for about 150 people who have died from Covid-19 at the Ghazipur crematory facility east of New Delhi, India.

Railroad Minister Piyush Goyal said the government was directing an increase in express trains carrying medical oxygen to New Delhi to meet shortages in hospitals. The Air Force has also been deployed to help transport manpower and medical supplies, such as oxygen tanks, to the areas needed. Pictured are empty oxygen tanks transported by transport aircraft C-17 and IL-76 to the production plant. Photo: ANI. The convoy of tank trucks went to the supply plant to refill liquid medical oxygen, amid a wave of Covid-19 spreading across India. In the past 24 hours, India continued to record a record number of new infections: 354,531 – the highest level in the world and also the highest in this country ever. Photo: Reuters. The lack of oxygen in New Delhi hospitals has many causes. The industrial oxygen production plants that mainly serve the Indian capital are located in seven different states. In addition, due to the flammable nature of this material, all liquid oxidation shipments must be transported in specialized tanks; So it takes a long time to plan the shipping. Some localities even make it difficult to transport oxygen first, to meet local demand. Photo: Reuters. Vans carrying oxygen tanks are waiting outside the factory in Ghaziabad, a suburb of New Delhi, India, on April 22. A high court in the capital on April 24 warned that anyone would “hang” from obstructing the circulation of oxygen supplies. On Twitter, one person described the scene of a police car escorting an oxygen tank “a scene no one thought they would ever see in life. More precious than gold”. Photo: Reuters. A view of cashew around an oxygen factory in Ghaziabad, upstate of New Delhi, India. Factories across the country are operating at full capacity amid the spread of the disease. However, the supply is not enough to meet demand. India is importing 23 mobile oxygen production plants from Germany. Each facility can produce 2,400 liters of oxygen per hour. Photo: Reuters. A driver stood next to an empty tank truck, waiting for his turn to recharge with liquid oxygen. Many places in the capital New Delhi and across the country refuse to accept more patients due to lack of beds and oxygen. Photo: Reuters. A worker loads empty oxygen tanks on a truck to the filling station. On April 25, many countries around the world, including the US, France and the UK, said they would support India by providing raw materials for vaccine production, as well as ventilators, test kits and protective equipment. available. Photo: Reuters. An employee is refilling the oxygen tank to transport to the localities. The lack of treatment beds for Covid-19 patients, lack of oxygen for breathing machines, and lack of medical staff … have made the epidemic situation in India worse. Photo: AP.