winter in Vietnam....

....because of the Tsunami in Japan?

Anyway the weather in Vietnam is really unsual for this time of the year. It was snowing in Sapa....and that never happened before! At the moment it's raining...raining...raining in almost whole the country, even in the south. I don't know where to go!!! I was 'complaining' that I didn't have a winter this year. Well... it's cold now I can tell you. I've been sleeping with three blankets to keep me warm, unfortunately there was no person next to me, to heat me up ;-(

But as you all know, more things go crazy in Asia. Latest is the earthquake in Myanmar, I'm still waiting for a reply from a dear friend who is travelling there at the moment.

Because of this whole weather thing, that I can't controll...I'm not able to do the things I would like to do. Actually since my last blogstory about 'is this it' a couple of things happened that influenced my journey a bit. Now I'm wondering if these are signs to tell me something like: 'he kid you get a second chance to make your journey more usefull' or 'stop complaining, keep on enjoying' or 'India wants you...right know!' Maybe I've figured this out by the time the sun get's back to Vietnam.

What I've been doing so far in Vietnam? I crossed the border from Muang Khau in Laos to Dien Bien Phu (DBP) in Vietnam. This bustrip was the one with the most beautiful view, despite the rain and fog, but the worst roadconditions so far. In DBP I wasn't lucky because my phone and all my US dollars got stolen from my room while I was having dinner in the lobby downstairs. Suspectives are the daughter and granny from the guesthouse.

I stayed almost a whole week in Hanoi...this is a crazy city! The traffic just doesn't make any sense. It's not the cars...but the thousands of motorbikes that just drives one crazy. They have no rules, they don't look where they drive...and if you want to cross the street it's like a 'run or die' situation. Very scary I can tell you. Despite the rain I did some sightseeing in and around Hanoi and because of the rain I had to do some SHOPPING! I really needed some warm clothes before I made my way to the far north of Vietnam, with temperatures between 0 and 10 degrees.

Sapa is the place to be in the north. I was so looking forward to go there. Renting a motorbike and cruising around, go for walks in the mountains and enjoy the scenery. The landscape must be incredible...but only if you see something! I'll have to keep on dreaming of this beautiful landscape, my pictures are grey and filled with rain...it was so foggy! It's was terrible cold too and after one night, with again a lot of blankets and no one next to me to heat me up, I gave it up and left Sapa to continue to Bac Ha. Bach Ha is still in the mountains, with still a beautiful landscape...if you see something ofcourse...but just a little bit warmer than in Sapa.

Bac Ha is where I am at the moment and unfortunately I will leave this part of Vietnam tomorrow without being able to really enjoy it. I'm going to try to get to Halong Bay...but there it's raining as well...and otherwise...you can find me for the next couple of weeks somewhere...down south...in Vietnam on one of the hopefully sunny beaches of Phu Quoc island...

hug carry

Pictures: Laos...thank you!

something to share....

I left Switzerland almost 5 months ago to fullfill one of my dreams; travelling through south east asia. I love to dream, especially daydreaming though I hardly remember any of my nightdreams. Although I have to say this has changed a bit the past couple of months....sometimes there are some short memories the other morning. But anyway, I love to dream, you can call it fantasizing as well if you want. My dreams though have always been better than reality which is okay, because my daydreams are like heaven or paradise. In reality or daily life I have always my moments of struggling and situations just come out different than I thought they would do.


I told you on my blog I fell in love a couple of times ;-) I told you also I was more or less in balance in Ubud, Bali, but I didn't tell yet I lost this more or less balance situation after I left Bali. One of the reasons is definitely that I got lost of my 'yogastructure'. It's hard to keep on practizing when I'm not alone....so India I'm looking forward to come ;-)

So far I met a lot of lovely, nice and beautiful people on my way (my leatest treasure is Helen from London! Thanks Helen for letting me to know you :-)) and made a lot of different experiences. One of the feelings I have is...and that's one which is for a lot of other travellers and people back home a weird one..."is this it?" Is this what I've been longing for, for so long? There are no really big exciting moments, There are not a lot of moments I would scream it out from joy and happiness. I'm just here....living a different kind of life than at home. I don't feel bored, not at all, but I just feel so normal.

So maybe next time I'm just keep on dreaming.....

One of the things I hoped to figure out during this journey is: what comes after this...or more where go after this. Is it going to be Holland, Switzerland or maybe Asia? I think this question is already answered, but of course can still change. At the moment, or actually since a couple of months before I left Switzerland it feels really like Switzerland. That's mainly because of my friends and swiss nature. I'll thank those who wrote me all these messages or emails so far. It's so nice to be updated from time to time. And it feels good to be missed and loved by the people I miss and love.

One of the things which is on top of my 'things to do when I get back list' is exploring Europe step by step. I'm meeting a lot of europeans and I feel sometimes almost embarrased to tell them that I never went to there country or city. Europe is so amazing, it has so much to offer. The diversity of landscapes, food and people is astonishing and we HAVE the best bread of the world! We can drink tap water and we don't have to be affraid of getting foodpoisend after eating on a local market. Yeah I love Europe...oops there's again something I love ;-) 
I had to get away from my love to find it....I needed my distance from my love to know where my home is. For those who know me maybe a bit better than others do....they know what it means to me when I can say....I found my home.

Asia so far opened my eyes, I'm completing a puzzle step by step...but there's still more to figure out so I won't leave this part of the country so fast. I brought me already a lot and I feel thankfull and blessed for that. I'm glad I didn't just keep on daydreaming but made it reality!

What's next:
The 16th of March I will cross the border to Vietnam, where I will stay till at least the 23th of April. Then back to Cambodia for some more travels and my Vipassana retreat in Battambang. After that is Thailand to be going next....than? Malaysia? India...

smile....carry

Laos: One day out of my life....

....walking and climbing trough the mountains of Muang Ngoi, with Amelie, Mariia, Romain, Noy (guide) and Le (alias monkey, also local guide)

One little backpack filled with nothing more than; 1shirt, 1 pair of socks, 1 longpants, towel, sarrong, soap, toothbrush and paste, 1 set of underwear, headlamp, playingcards, dices, camera, little notebook, suncream, moskitospray, flipflops, 1 longsleeve and 1 warm jacket.
I'm wearing underwear, trekkingtrousers, socks, shoes, hat and sunglasses. I'm ready for a 3-day trekking and leave with motivation, a good mood, a big smile, and good sense of humor. I will need that because it's going to be hard. Three days walking, the first and the second each eight hours and the last four hours. A boat will bring us back to Muang Ngoi.
At 8am we are suppose to leave but at 8.30am, everybody has had breakfast and had gone to the toilet so ready to go. We wait for 30 more minutes for monkey...he didn't finish his breakfast yet...now we leave.
We walk, flat, a lot of talking, nice landscape, tempo is high, monkey leads and he is fast even on flipflops. We cross water by stones and barefoot. Taking shoes off and on a couple of times, wet feet, wet socks. Wondering if my feet are going to like this. For the whole day each of us carries 2 bottles of water. We arrive at the first village, there is a small guesthouse as well, so they are used to see tourists. We take a break, it's getting hot already and not much shade. We continue walking, now it goes up and down, both very steep, sometimes I have to use my hands. There is more shade now, so the sun burns less :-)
Around noon, lunchbreak....breathing, sweating but still enjoying. I feel happy to be in nature, my body feels good although it has been ages that I've been doing something activ.
We continue...there's still a bit of water, but it won't last for the whole day. The main question is...how long to walk till we reach the next village, 2 more hours to go. The guides just wanted to pass the village, we resist and want to get more water. At the third house we ask, we have luck, we buy overpriced, smoky but drinkable water. We continue. I'm getting tired but feel blessed doing this. What do I want more, lovely people around me, walking in the middle of nowhere, with a 'awesome' (Amelie ;-)) view.

It's past 3pm now and we are walking on a dirty road...again no shade. Two hours uphill, downhill but more uphill. I'm fighting with the heat, legs and I feel a blister. You might think this is a wonderful time to think things through\over...but NO WAY this is hard work! There's nothing more than climbing, curve after curve, rest a bit, drink a bit...everyone walks for him or herself. I hear only my own breath and footsteps, my mind is clear....empty. I need salt, minerals. I've sweat a lot and there's nothing else to drink than water, no salty snack. We have a break, 40 minutes more to go we are almost there. We' ve seen the village but it is still far away. I continue. It's better to stay with my rhythm instead of having to many short breaks. Twice I'm getting really dizzy...later I can hardly speak or think normal anymore. After 1 hour Romain and I reach the village where we will spend the night. The one and only 'shop' in town has warm sprite and coke. We go for it and buy some 'chips' too. Soon I feel better and learnt my lesson for the next day. I'll bring something on the road to refill my sources. The people here are not used to see 'white people' and stare at us. Shower\bath or whatever you can call this....food....playing cards, my sense of humor, the big smile and the motivation for the next day are all back!

Thank you Amelie, Mariia and Romain for sharing this great experience with me! Love ya....