The real life Tarzan
A ‘real life’ Tarzan who lived in the wilds of Vietnam for more than 40 years has made an emotional trip back to his forest home.
Ho Van Lang, 44, and his father Ho Van Thanh, 85, spent 41 years in the forests of the Tay Tra district of Quang Ngai.
They fled their home following the war and set up in the forest, spending the next four decades learning to hunt, build shelters and fend for themselves.
They were discovered in 2013 and since then have begun a new life adapting outside of the forest.
The men now live in a small house nearby, but recently returned to the forest with photographer Alvaro Cerezo of Doncastaway.
Mr Cerezo wrote on his blog: ‘I could sense that he was excited at the thought of going back to the place he had lived all his life. For this I suggested going together along with his brother and my translator.
‘Lang didn’t hesitate a second and the following morning we set off together.
‘After a full day walking through the jungle we arrived at his old home. Lang became totally absorbed the moment we got there, staring into the distance for almost an hour.’
Ho Van Thanh man once lived a normal life with his family in the hamlet of Tra Kem around the time of the Vietnam War.
But one day his wife and two of his sons were killed by a mine explosion, putting him in a state of shock.
He took his two-year-old son and fled into the jungle, thereafter never having any contact with anyone else.
The pair survived by foraging fruit and cassava from the forest and planting corn.
They wore loincloths made out of tree bark, and lived in a timber hut raised five metres above the ground.
When the foragers saw the two ‘jungle men’ from a distance acting abnormally, they alerted local authorities. (mail online)
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