Ho-Chi-Minh City and Dalat (Vietnam): Friends, excellent food and meditation

17 November - 29 November 2010











After a little bit more than 1 week in Cambodia, I went to Vietnam. Half way by boat and half way by bus, to sail on the Mekong and to see the beautiful landscapes.

First step in Vietnam, in Saigon (since 1976 called Ho-Chi-Minh City). Biggest city in Vietnam, noisy with a crazy traffic, hundreds, thousands of motorbikes everywhere all day long. But though very nice city.

Em, my vietnamese-belgian friend was there when I was there. She took my to the nicest places in HCMC, meeting up with all her friends and having delicious food. It was great to have her there. I stayed there almost one week, time goes fast when you have friends around.

The city is also very interesting from a cultural point of view because of all the sights related to the Vietnam war. Sometimes very chocking museums like the War remnants museum where you have lots of pictures of the war. But still extremely instructive.

This is my first time in Vietnam. And I have to say that so far I like it very much. I appreciate the life, the culture and the diversified landscapes and especially the food.
I could have Pho every day for breakfast... and the coffee is so good, especially the ice coffee with milk, the main drink of all vietnamese. Vietnam is the second largest producer of coffee in the world, after Brazil, counting for 14.3 per cent of the world market share, impressive isn't it?

Anyway, after one week in HCMC I moved to the North, to Dalat. The city is located in the mountains. Reason why the temperature dropped by 5-8 degres compared to HCMC. I m not going to complain, it was still around 18-20 degrees...

There is not much to see in Dalat, a part from the market, some small touristic places like the Crazy House and a lake. But there was the most beautiful monastery of Vietnam.

Monastery Thien Vien Truc Lam, where I decided to stay for 4 days. After having asked the permission to stay with the nuns to the Zen Master, I have been authorized to share their daily lives. My first experience in meditation. It was physically extremely tough. Wake up bell at 3AM for 2 hours of meditation and another 2 hours session at 7.30PM, no food after noon... (my stomach still remembers the stay).

Besides the mediation sessions, I also had to share the nuns' life: read books about bouddhism, participate to the cleaning work, prepare food for 120 nuns, pray, dress like a nun, etc. I was definitely totally disturbed by this new life...

After this great experience, I decided to come back to the real life. As soon as I came out of the Monastery, I went to the restaurant to have some meat, went to 2 bars and 1 club, what a contrast!

Next stops: Nha Trang, Hoi An and Hue (Vietnam)

Phnom Penh and Rabbit Island (Cambodia): motorbikes, culture and beaches

9 November - 17 November 2010











I came to Cambodia 3 years ago with my sister but we only went to Siem Riep, to see Angkor Wat, in the North of Cambodia. This time, I wanted to visit Phnom Penh and go to the Southern Coast. I arrived in Phnom Penh after (again) a long trip. In total, it took me 13 hours with the boat, bus, border checks and re-bus. When I arrived it was already dark and late and I was very tired, so I decided to stay in a "nice hotel", sometimes you have to enjoy good things. 10 euros a night, my most expensive accommodation since I traveled. But it felt really good to be in a nice, clean room with hot water and no insects.

Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, is a big city where the traffic is terrible with hundreds of motorbikes all day long in the streets. You have to be very careful when you cross the streets, nobody will stop for you. I almost died 10 times in 2 days time...

I visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. The site is a former high school which was used as the notorious Security Prison 21 (S-21) by the Khmer Rouge communist regime. Prisoners were tortured and killed in that prison. The whole museum was terrible but very interesting.

In Phnom Penh, it was really hot but I liked the city. It was just very delightful to walk along the riverside, having an iced lemon tea on a terrace of a cafe and doing some shopping. Well, I could not buy much because of the weight of my backpack but still I managed to buy some clothes. So good to do some shopping from time to time.











After Phnom Penh, I wanted to relax on a quiet island, the Rabbit Island. Named like that not because there are a lot of rabbits on the island but because it has the shape of a rabbit, seen from the sky. It's 4 hours by bus from Phnom Penh and then 40 minutes by boat to get to this little paradise. And it was really a paradise on earth. Not a lot of tourists, sunny beaches and hammocks all over the island. During 3 days I stayed in the sun, just moving from my long chair for lunch and dinner. And to get a massage on the beach. In total, I think I walked 300 meters during my stay. But I didn't feel guilty at all, it felt so good to rest and relax. My bungalow was just in front of the beach, with a hammock on my small terrace. Well, it was a basic bungalow with some mosquitoes and geckos but it was very comfortable. There was electricity only from 6 to 10 PM at night on the whole island so after 10 PM, there was nothing to do besides sleeping.

When I came back to Phnom Penh, I was really shocked when I saw myself in the mirror. I have never been so dark in my entire life. Now I really look like a local...

I spent one more day in Phnom Penh before heading to Vietnam.

Next stops: Ho Chi Minh City and Dalat, Vietnam

Savannakhet, Pakse and Siphandon (Laos): relatives, mosquitoes and excellent food

25 October - 7 November 2010

After 10 hours in a crowded bus, I arrived in Savannakhet, second-largest city in Laos (after Vientiane). It was dark, i was hungry and I felt really sick. That was the first time since the beginning of my trip that i missed home... but it was for a very short period of time. I went to sleep at 9PM that night. The next morning, everything was fine again.

I spent 3 days in Savannakhet, visiting some relatives. Very sweet couple. They took me out for dinner and showed me around. They even took me to Xeno, a small village next to Savannakhet because I insisted to see where my parents were teaching when they were in their 20's. The school (see picture) was so small and the village so cute, hard to believe they were teachers there...

Besides a very nice old temple, there is not much to see in Savannakhet. So time to move to Pakse.

Pakse is a city in Southern Laos, it is where my dad was born and where my parents grew up till they had to run away from Laos, it was 35 years ago...

I stayed at my parent's friends place, it was great, i felt like at home. Well language was sometimes an issue (some of the family members could only speak laotian) but the good thing is that my laotian improved a lot in 1 week...

All I did in Pakse was resting because I was still a little bit sick, eating (of course) and biking with a little girl. I really enjoyed my time in Pakse.
I also visited all the places related to my parents: their homes, their schools, theirs friends, etc. I learned a lot about my family in 1 week of time...

But there were also lots of positive things, for example, I learned how to drive a motorbike.
Well I still need to practice but in theory I m able to drive a motorbike. Very useful in Asia.

Pakse is famous for it s waterfalls around the city. All the waterfalls were very different but all beautiful.
I also met the biggest Buddha of Laos, impressive.

I didn't really want to leave Pakse but after about 8 days, it was time to move on. Especially because the aunty was making me eat 4 to 5 times a day. It was delicious but for my sake, i had to leave Pakse...

So I went South, to Siphandon, the Four thousands islands. An island of farniente, nothing to do except to relax, enjoy the waterfalls and bike for hours, alone on the road...
I stayed there for 2 days. After that i have to admit that I started to get bored.

I stayed in a bungalow with hammocks. It was my cheapest accomodation since I travelled (2 euros) but for that price, I only had a room with a big bed and a mosquito net. There was a shared bathroom, shared with mosquitoes, coackraches, ants, etc. The worst bathroom ever...

And the food on the island was not that good, so excellent reason to leave!

After about a month it was really time to leave Laos. But this country remains one of my favorites.

Next stops: Phnom Penh and Rabbit Island, Cambodia