Hello from Halong Bay

We're waiting for the Paradise Cruise 1 to set a sail to the sea... the lounge own by the company www.paradisecruises.org.

This is only the 2nd day of my trip to Hanoi-Halong Bay. My trip encounter so far has been nothing less than traffic chaos, unwell body and bizarre experience. I kept thinking of sayang, if he could survive this one day driving around the Old Quarter of Hanoi together with the amazing guy Meng Hoe and his driver.

I saw a couple of brown robe monk, probably from plum village. Since I've encountered with the peace and tranquility of Thich Nhat Hant during his recent visit to Malaysia... now being in Vietnam where TNH were supposed to be in exiled from, can't help but to compare how would any Zen practitioner live calmly & meditate amidst this chaos?

If a person can still remain calm and mindful inspite of surrounded by all the traffic madness and chaotic livestyle, isn't this person practising a higher level of mindfulness meditation? As compared to the Zen followers who can naturally practise mindfulness/meditation amidst quiet and tranquil surrounding, ie. Plum Village in France.

Amidst the surrounding chaos, is the mind being trapped in the chaos struggling to break free? Or inspite of the traffic turmoil, one can still mentally be free and smile with the people scootering or steering behind the wheel?

I had the experience of sitting on a scooter without a helmet, moving around from small lanes to the freeway... seeing and experiencing the way humans, motorbikes and cars wld crisscross each other "mindfully". Vehicles wld stop or swerve / turn to avoid collision. If a bike were to kiss a car, its OK. No need to fret about it. No smile. Just move on... people are so immune.... indifferent. Its even a culture for them to consume dog meat! How bizarre is that? To them is nothing.

Sitting on a small stool by the roadside eating noodle is nothing. Eating the same noodle everyday with the same taste is nothing. Simply crossing the road without regards to oncoming cars is nothing.

Maybe its the long history of war and suffering that befallen them? I wish and try to enjoy my first Vietnam trip, but the soullessness and indifferent attitute of Vietnam, is forcing me to activate my Upekkha.

Will there be complete freedom onboard the cruise on Halong Bay?