Where heaven and Earth date.

Every morning I look out the window and see Heaven so close.

And I haven’t even been outside the city yet!

Here in the mountains

Sometimes I have to allow myself a little geographical perspective in my writings to make it easier to understand where I am.

Sa Pa is a mountainous region in northern Vietnam, close to the Chinese border. The town is located at an altitude of 1500 meters above sea level, so its climate is much cooler than the rest of Vietnam. The area is made special by terraced rice fields, mist-shrouded mountain peaks and Fansipan, the highest mountain in Indochina (3143 meters).

The emphasis for me is on the “mist-shrouded mountain peaks”. The word “amazing” is not enough for me to express what I see here every day. I hope I will be able to show it with good pictures.

Another important thing about this place:

The region has been inhabited for centuries by various mountain peoples, including the Hmong, Dao and Tai communities. They still preserve their own language, customs and traditions, making Sa Pa one of the richest regions in Vietnam, not only from a natural but also from a cultural point of view. Most of the rice terraces are still cultivated by hand, just as they have been for generations.

I have seen this here in the city. I will definitely write about it in a future post.

On the square!

I’ll end my “China” post with the thought that if Ninh Binh is beautiful, then Sa Pa is beautiful on the square.

I arrived here on Tuesday from China. Today is Sunday.

In the past few days, I’ve only been in the city, and within that, only about a two-square-kilometer area.

This week, I focused on my work and my new project. I didn’t want to mess around, in a serious way.

I live in a hostel, in a four-bed room. Out of the 5 nights I’ve spent there, I’ve been completely alone for two nights, and I had a roommate for the other three. So, I can say that I now have a private room for the price of a shared dorm room. LOL.

My room is 500 meters from the main square of the city, 600 meters from Starbucks, where I’ve spent most of my days so far.

I walked around the city a lot. I got to know the surrounding streets, restaurants, the beautiful lake in the middle of the city. After a few days, I was greeted like an acquaintance in many places. So, nothing special.

I’ll show you a few pictures from the past few days.

Then, of course, life rewrote my plans again!

From this post, I managed to write the story this morning to the point that “and I haven’t even been out of town yet!”

Yesterday, as I was sitting here, I saw a Chinese guy several times. When I left here in the evening, he approached me, and we talked for a while.

He was looking for a place to stay, so I took him to the hostel where I live now. He booked a room for himself, and then he came to have dinner with me.

That evening, we agreed to have lunch together around 11 o’clock. I told him that I would be at Starbucks when he came, and we would eat.

Well, I had just written the above sentence when he came, so we went to eat at the KFC-like restaurant inside the mall building. I had already eaten there once this week, the chicken there is really delicious.

He went ahead because I had to pack up my office. By the time I caught up with him, he had already ordered lunch. For me too. Rice with chicken and chicken wings in a bun. He invited me to lunch. I happily accepted.

Then after lunch he asked me if I wanted to go to the first station of the mountain with him.

I told him I wanted to work today, thank you, but no. He didn’t insist, he just said he liked company much better. I thought about it and asked myself: Why not?

So we went to see the mountains.

He bought the tickets for the train, said he was so glad he didn’t have to go alone, that he wanted to host me.

One more thing about the guy is that I’m very grateful to him for diverting me from my original intention. We spent a very nice half day together. Today I got one step closer to Heaven, that’s for sure!

After we got back, he invited me to dinner. For the first time in my life I ate frog. Grilled. Many people told me it tasted like chicken. Now I know from experience that they were right.

After dinner we talked for a while, then he went to Lao Cai, from where I arrived here on Tuesday, and tomorrow he will go home to China.

And I will continue my day where I left off in the morning.

And in the meantime, all that happened was that I became richer with an experience of a lifetime, and now I was happy that someone with a grateful heart gave me half a day.

What did I see in Heaven today?

I met another friend in Laos, we spent a few nights together there. Let’s just say we drank a lot of beer. LOL. He’s coming to Sa Pa tomorrow. This will be the fourth time during my trip that our paths will cross again with somebody.

I learned from him that the train I was on today didn’t exist last year.

I’m lucky that I’m here now. Because the train ride up the mountain is an experience in itself. We rode in a full panoramic car. As it left the plaza building, an incredible view opened up before me.

Huge mountains above deep, incredibly beautiful, green valleys. And the tops of the mountains are shrouded in clouds. If there is such a thing (there is!) that takes your breath away, this is it. The only problem was that I didn’t know where to look. There was something amazing in every direction.

The train ride didn’t take too long. We only went up to the first station. From there, a cable train takes you up to the 3000+ meter altitude mentioned in the introduction. But today it was foggy on the mountain, so we didn’t go up. All due respect to the operators! When we wanted to buy a ticket up, the young girl at the ticket office said that the weather was foggy, the view wasn’t the best. She showed us the picture on her phone, based on which we decided to do it another time.

I will definitely go up to the highest point in Indochina in the next two weeks.

When I got off the train, the moments when the air was short just kept coming one after another. I enjoyed being in this place so much!

Gardens after gardens. Flowers in all kinds of quantities. Statues, flower sculptures. Lookout points everywhere. Selfie points. Walkways to the right and left. A swing here, a bench there. A Zen garden, next to it a pink London-style phone booth.

Everyone finds a spot where they can take their favorite photo. Alone, in company, with family. Everywhere there are happy people who are obviously very happy to be here. Just like me.

My Chinese friend was a good patron of my “Silence in Motion” project, because after a while he found a suitable spot everywhere for me to take a picture in a meditation pose. I let the pleasant flow of today take me, so today I took a lot of pictures in that series. I will soon post them on the page.

There was a temple on this part of the mountain. A majestic sight under the huge clouds.

During the nearly three-hour walk, it became clear how lucky I was. This was not the first time the guy had been here, but he had never seen what I had seen today.

A small village had been established at a certain point in the area. It was not for nothing that I mentioned in my introduction that Sa Pa is one of the richest regions in Vietnam from a cultural point of view.

For me, today was the highlight of the day, a folk dance performance. We arrived at the main square of the tiny village just as the folk performance with dancing, music and singing began.

It was a half-hour show, which I watched while sitting on the edge of the area. Everything happened right there in front of me.

The trio of music, singing and dancing was perfect. The dancers’ clothing seemed authentic. They performed the dances with a smile. Those folk dances that always revolve around the relationship between man and woman.

There was such elegance in this whole performance, it was so light that I felt it was very close to Hungarian folk dance. The play was understandable. There was tension, there was release. It was playful when it was next in line, serious when the situation required it.

They presented many layers of this culture. I saw the instruments they played. I could observe the game that was played in the background, while the main characters were in the foreground. They showed the separation and then the union of the male and female sides. There was a man singing alone, then a female-male duet. There was a pledge handover, parting, and reunion. You could notice the change of clothes during the performance.

And at the very end of the whole thing, they invited the entire audience to a dance game that required a bit of skill. My first thought was that I would go, surely no one would want to go. I was wrong. Many people went and enjoyed the game for a long time. So I watched the whole thing from the shore and I didn’t miss being there at all. It was so good to watch, to feel the game of so many people. That was my reward.

I really loved being a part of this wonderful performance.

If fate wills it, I will see it, here again.

I am very grateful for today!

I love Sa Pa.

The post 287. | Sa Pa first appeared on Digital Nomad Blog.

Good, bad, happiness, sadness, satiety, hunger… They have become closer to each other.

I wrote about this in my post “I hear differently”.

Now, however, I have taken up an expression whose duality I do not deal with.

“Letting go”.

This word itself has been questioned in me over the past year and a half.

My experiences show something different from how we use this expression.

Harmful to health

“Synchronicity, coincidences, flow.” I wrote this post 557 days ago. These three experiences have been an exciting and wonderful part of my life ever since – on a daily basis. They often greet me by falling into each other’s arms.

So I wasn’t surprised that when I wrote this post in my plans weeks ago, a few days later I came across an article.

The quoted article by Todorovits Rea (I’ve already referred to it a few times) is available here, if you’re interested.

I’ll just quote the first sentence from him now, because it says exactly what I think about this issue:

One of the most dangerous lies that thousands of people swallow every day today is: “Just let go.”

Letting go of problems. Letting go of the past. Letting go of relationships.

I don’t believe this.

Why not?

Maybe because of what I wrote in the post “My sweet suffering” written 554 days ago. An interesting twist in my writings is that I quoted Rea in this post as well. LOL.

In that post, I wrote about loving my own traumas, pains, and failures. No, not primarily because they have hardened me. Much more because they play a big role in who I am today.

I love myself and I love my life. Very much. And I am not at all sure that without them my life would be what it is now. And that is why I love them too.

However, today I am not only aware that I love these dark-robed teaching masters.

Today I can clearly see and feel that these assessments have been integrated in me.

I have learned to be happy with these feelings living within me. I could not even imagine my life without them. Not only because I love them and respect their role. But because it is simply impossible.

As Rea puts it, the things we experience are not like a coat that we throw off in the hallway at night.

On the other hand, I am not talking about acceptance. Yes, it probably starts with accepting. And this is naturally preceded by grief. However, integration is much more than that.

Beyond acceptance, there is a level in me where – although they are present – I no longer leave room for these feelings. From time to time, these memories, pains, feelings appear.

Letting go in my eyes is like trying to put out the fire all the time. Integration is like teaching the fire that it can burn in water.

My eyes

Mom mourned to me a little the other day.

She said that in my last photo, everything is visible in my eyes. Happiness, pain, and the experience of a lifetime.

I have no doubt that it is.

I just hope that they show what I experience happily every minute.

The happiness of the present is perhaps much brighter than the pain of the past!

The post 286. | Release first appeared on Digital Nomad Blog.

How do spoken words become questions that last for years?

How does the answer finally arrive?

This is what this article is about.

The fortune teller

If I remember correctly, it was sixteen years ago.

My life turned into a whirlwind of shit in a matter of seconds after a long introduction. I wasn’t prepared for it. I didn’t live it very happily.

I needed answers, preferably immediately.

It wasn’t really compatible with the person I was at the time to go see a fortune teller. Maybe it shows my desperation that I went to her anyway.

I was skeptical. I suspected that small half-sentences, words, and body language could be used to read signs that could then be reflected back as truth. I was even warned in advance that my age and gender could immediately tell me what my problem might be, so don’t be surprised if I got answers that seemed good.

During the visit, I put on every shield I could imagine. I didn’t say anything about myself. I tried not to answer the questions – there weren’t many anyway – in a very wordy manner. I kept my back straight, my feet pressed to the ground, my hands on the table, and tried to concentrate so that my eyes wouldn’t blink, no matter what I heard.

The fortune teller didn’t ask many questions. She started telling me about my life. She started telling me about the problem I had in my relationship at the time.

When it turned out that we were talking about the same thing, I asked her if this relationship could be saved. This was the most important question for me. I wanted to know this. From anyone.

She answered with a picture. She said the following.

I see a huge cave with a huge lake in it. There is an island in the middle of the lake. There is a tower on the island. The tower is about to collapse and a boat is about to leave the island.

This picture was understandable to me. She described the current situation exactly. But I was curious, “Can the tower be stopped from falling, and can the boat turn back?”

No.

That was the answer.

I would have been happier to hear something like, if we propped up the tower here and there, it wouldn’t fall. And, it would have been nice to hear something like, the boat would turn back halfway.

That connection existed for another 7 years after that.

In those years, it occurred to me a few times that the fortune teller was wrong. The tower stood, the boat came back. Do you need more proof than that?

Then, when the tower finally fell and the boat finally went away 7 years later, I understood something.

The fortune teller was right. She was talking about the future. And I forgot to ask her one important question.

“When?”

The Shaman

This tower and boat tale was just an introduction to the real story, but it will be absolutely necessary to understand the next tale.

I will never forget the fortune teller’s face when she suddenly changed during the conversation.

Excitement. I think that’s the best word I saw on her at the time.

Suddenly, the energies around us changed a lot.

She asked me to go out into the yard with her, into the sunlight, because she wanted to look at my palm there. She also said that she hadn’t read palms for a long time, but now she really wanted to look at mine.

Among other things, she told me that I would have a long and happy life. For a while, I thought that no matter what I did, fate would never catch up with me, but then I remembered that we forgot to clarify the meaning of “long”. So since then, I have considered myself a cautious and danger-averse person.

Then, all of a sudden, she told me to go see a shaman. I wanted to know why, and she said she didn’t know. Just that we had business.

I put this thought to myself. It came to my mind a few times in the following years.

I once told this story to someone at work. One of my colleagues said that there was a shaman living in the village. He would give me his number if I was interested. Of course I was interested.

A few days later I called this shaman.

I asked if he was really a shaman, because I was looking for a shaman. He said he was and asked what kind of help I needed. At that time, I didn’t need any help, so I honestly told him that I didn’t need any help, I just wanted to meet him. He seemed a little skeptical when he asked why. I told him that I didn’t know, maybe we just needed to meet.

He made an appointment for the following week. But then a few days later he canceled and asked to reschedule.

From this I concluded that maybe he wasn’t my type. So I never made a second date with him.

Years passed.

A few weeks ago this story just popped into my head.

In the form of a very specific question.

Where do I find my shaman?

What if I misunderstood the second story I got from the fortune teller?

What if, while patiently waiting, I was always looking outwards for this shaman to appear?

Find a shaman!

That was the request. Or advice.

But we didn’t talk about the direction of the search!

What if it’s better to look inward.

Or not to look, because I don’t really accept that expression anymore. What if it’s better to keep my eyes open when I look inward?

Of course, I won’t suddenly start imagining myself as a shaman. I won’t earn my living as a shaman.

However, it’s certain that over the past year and a half, not only has my perspective on the world changed. Today, I also see myself in the world differently.

Perhaps this is the first time I’m saying in writing what I’ve said orally several times.

I began to recognize something in myself that is truly me. Not in the form in which we usually imagine our true selves. I glimpsed something a few times that is beyond time. I could call it timeless energy, reincarnation, collective consciousness, divine mission, soul – whatever.

For me, the words and concepts are not important in this recognition, but the way and the form in which I encountered this form.

And this recognition, a few weeks ago, my mind naturally connected with the mission of visiting a shaman.

I do not know yet whether the shaman is just a symbol that represents the real me or whether it represents another person who is actually functioning as a shaman.

Until this question is clarified, I am open to this encounter both internally and externally.

Based on my current understanding, I accept advice as a symbol.

And I continue to approach my self emerging from timelessness.

Maybe it will turn out that he is a shaman.

That I am a shaman.

Who is a shaman?

I originally intended the previous sentence to be the last thought of the story.

I can’t follow my intention with actions. Life is different from what I plan. LOL.

After finishing writing, I read a little about who a shaman is out of curiosity.

I have to continue writing because of the following definition.

A shaman is originally a person who is considered by his community to be a mediator between the ordinary world and the spiritual world.

And then I remembered that last year I visited a man for a little spiritual journey to my subconscious.

He said a few things about me, two of which I now find interesting to tell.

One was: “You have undergone very strong spiritual training somewhere.”

I won’t comment on this now, I just wanted to write it down.

He started the other thing with a question:

“Haven’t you ever had a person sit down next to you on the bus and start telling you about themselves?”

His smile revealed that he knew the answer exactly. As did I. I smiled and replied that it had never happened before. He knew I was joking, we didn’t need any further explanation.

However, I must write here that on several occasions I was lucky enough to hear sentences from the people around me that revealed the greatest trust.

The sweetest such sentence was this: “I don’t know why I’m telling you this. I haven’t talked to anyone about this before. But for some reason I feel like I need to talk to you about it.”

The other sweetest similar thought came to me one Monday morning. “My daughter is in big trouble and we need help. I don’t know why, but this morning I woke up feeling like I had to ask you to help us with our case.”

Last year, the gentleman said the following about this unconditional trust:

“You are a medium. A chaneller. People feel this. They know that they can reach the higher levels through you. That is why they turn to you.”

So there is really only one sentence left in this article.

So what am I: a chaneller or a shaman?

The post 285. | The shaman first appeared on Digital Nomad Blog.

The post 284. | My breathing first appeared on Digital Nomad Blog.

That’s enough for now.

In retrospect, this post looks like a “what doesn’t work” monument.

So please imagine it while you read it!

I’m smiling, listening to music, laughing as I write this post. It wasn’t hard to experience it at the time, and in retrospect I’m actually enjoying it.

Lao Chai

The train that left Hanoi at 11pm arrived in Lao Chai, a border town, at 7am.

I can’t tell you much about this town, because I had a coffee there and walked 2+ km.

But of course I had adventures during this short time.

The arrival was quick. The train stopped, so I woke up. T-shirt, socks and shoes. And I jumped off the train.

Straight into the arms of the taxi drivers.

It was like Sapa was tattooed on my forehead. Everyone wanted to know where I was going. It’s a good thing that I write a blog and have made my life an open book. That way I don’t have to worry about strangers asking all sorts of questions that can disturb my peace.

Step by step, following.

Let’s just say I was a little surprised that one of the taxi drivers followed me to the bathroom. I hoped he wouldn’t ask me what I was doing there.

As I left the railway building, the second wave of taxi drivers arrived. Heroically – like the officers of the cruiser Potemkin – I fought my way through the crowd.

On the other side of the square in front of the building, I spotted a café. A small group was being served, so I saw that the shop was open despite the early hour.

But not for me. I sat peacefully next to the other group for five minutes. Then I sped across the square again, because now I saw a café there.

The only danger of this zigzagging across the square is that the taxi drivers saw me again.

I got coffee at the other café. I like to get my bearings over coffee. I sometimes try to tell the taxi drivers this, but they don’t care. We could both have a good time. If I sit down and can see where I’m going, check the price, then one of them could take me.

But for some reason they’re usually impatient. I’m not.

The border crossing was 2 km away from me. According to the lady at the cafe, that’s a long distance. I feel lucky that we absolutely disagree on this.

The truth is, if it had been further, I would still have walked.

Because I was finally able to make it happen that I’m entering an Asian country on my own two feet.

Border control

For some reason, I always feel like I’m in a good place when I’m the only Westerner in a huge building, among many, many people. And I don’t think so because of the special attention. The adventure is simply more exciting when I see that others avoid it then and there.

I waited my turn. As a Hungarian – according to the rules in force throughout this year – I can travel to China without a visa. I applied for the visa on arrival, it was on my phone.

I didn’t expect a surprise. I handed over my passport. The surprise came.

The official tried to scan my passport in vain, but the system didn’t want me. After 8-10 attempts, my paper was transferred to the neighboring table. There the scanner loved me.

The process continued with the taking of four electronic fingerprints of the right hand, then the left hand, and then the thumbs. Then looking into the camera, suppressing a stupid grin, wondering if I could ask for my retina image, because they were definitely recording that too.

Along with suppressing the stupid grin, I managed to be stupid again, but now I’ve learned that I won’t do it that way again. When the border guard asked me how long I wanted to be in China, I told him the truth.

Namely, that I had no idea. In such cases, it’s not the eyebrows that jump to the top of my head that are the most worrying. It’s the fact that this information is immediately shared among themselves. I thought I could feel the tension between the truthfulness of my sentence and the mini consultation analyzing its consequences.

But in the end, they decided that it was an acceptable answer. The seal clicked and it said: “All right sir! Welcome to China!”

I admit, I was moved by these words. After all, it was just a childhood dream. I’m here. I’m in China. This sentence is packed with characters of happiness.

Tsunami of problems

The few hours after arrival were quite fun because of the set of problems I had to overcome when crossing the border.

China – at first – is a real hardcore terrain.

I wrote just the other day that after 10 months I considered myself experienced.

Well, here came the real test of whether the digital nomad life is for me or not?

Payment

People in China don’t pay with credit cards. They use AliPay or WeChat. Both work with QR codes. Even the smallest street vendor has their own QR code, so if I want to buy a coffee, I don’t need cash, just my phone.

There are several ways to pay

1. I scan the QR code with my phone, then enter how much I’m paying in the field that appears (the amount the seller says), approve it and show him my phone so he can see that we’re okay. About half of the sellers use loudspeakers, in which case I don’t have to show that I paid, because the loudspeaker shouts over the noise of the street with the volume of a ship’s horn that I paid six Yuan. I almost had a heart attack a couple of times over the course of a few days because of the ear canal-killing loudspeakers placed behind the vase…
2. I scan the QR code and it also contains the amount, I can’t change it. This is a less common method, because here you would need a code for each amount. The first method is much more flexible.
3. In the store, the scanner next to the cash register reads my QR code and immediately deducts the amount.

In summary, this cashless payment method is a pretty useful little invention. No scanner needed, no internet needed. The little vendor puts his code on a sticker and that’s it. Then he checks the bills at home.

Leaving the huge building of the border post, about 200 meters away, I saw a street coffee shop.

I explained to the young guy that I wanted to have a coffee with him. But I’ve never used AliPay before, I’d pay first, then drink. Sure, sure, he said. Let me sit down. And he would have made the coffee. I love this kindness.

But I stopped him. Pay first.

I already had the app on my phone. I still couldn’t pay with it. On the other hand, I sweated for half an hour to try it. The guy was really nice. He brought me an iced tea, I was his guest. He must have seen that I was sweating terribly from all the attempts.

A few hours later, I solved this payment problem.

This system is atomic. After it was installed on my phone, I confirmed that the phone was mine with an SMS. After I linked my bank card to the app, I confirmed that the bank account was mine with a bank authorization.

My face still had to be validated before I could use the app. This is what it looks like in the following picture. I had to scan my passport – which of course the system processed immediately – and then show my face to the camera. But not just by hearing it. You can’t bypass the system, because while the camera is watching, it tells you what to do to make sure the recording is live. For example, I had to hold my right ear while looking at the camera.

You understand this system, right?

From now on, if I buy a carrot at the market, I will do it by showing my passport. I don’t mind this control, but it’s good to know about it.

I couldn’t get the other app to work because it simply wouldn’t send the SMS, and wouldn’t let me continue without it.

Luckily, I had 100 Yuan (CNY). That’s exactly 4,500 HUF, or 14.5 USD.

The story of this unfolded before I crossed the border.

I had to fight an army of taxi drivers near the railway station. After they saw that I was foolishly walking the terrifying two-kilometer distance, they gave up on me.

As I approached the border, another attack came!

Someone jumped in front of me, clutching a huge wad of money and muttering the mantra “change, change”.

I drove everyone away with a smile.

Then, when I sat down for one last Vietnamese breakfast – thinking I didn’t know when I would have the chance to eat in China again – I bought 100 from the guy selling the food after he told me how much it was and I checked the exchange rate. This method always works. Sit down, gather information, check, decide.

So I had some cash with me, but I didn’t need it for now, because the tea was a gift.

Mobile network

I have been using an eSIM provider called JatPac since I have been living in Asia. I have been completely satisfied with it for 9 months.

Then it simply did not work in Ninh Binh. So I lived without my own mobile network for almost three weeks.

Two days before arriving in China, I changed the provider to Saily. It worked perfectly in Ninh-Binh as well.

As I crossed the border, I was pleased to see that my internet was not interrupted.

The unpleasant attempts to revive the payment system brought me two realizations. One is that I would rather lick cactus than try to make a non-functional eSIM system work. The other is that my internet only worked because my Vietnamese eSIM package was using the Vietnamese network.

After the necessary restart of the phone, the Chinese package was on the Chinese network. Well, that did not work.

The solution was simple. I switched back to the Vietnamese network and – voila – everything works. Just to give you an idea, such a switch takes about 1 minute, so if I have to do it five or ten times in a row, then I start thinking about the cactus.

Anyway, the solution was there. Let’s go to some accommodation.

Yeah, I was wrong. As I walked 100-200 meters away from the Red River, the natural border between the two countries, the Vietnamese network gave up its soul. The Chinese one hadn’t come to life yet, had it?

So there I was, standing without internet in a Chinese city.

Where most people don’t speak a word of English. Here, you can interpret not a word quite strictly!

Accommodation

However, it almost doesn’t matter whether I have internet or not.

I didn’t find the accommodation using the internet.

Agoda, Booking, HostelWorld, etc. apps are dead. At least for this city. For example, Booking doesn’t return any results. Agoda does. Only for the town of the same name, which is 2,000 km away.

I almost booked the first good-priced room on Agoda. Luckily, I checked the map to see how far I had to walk from where I was. When I saw that it was 2,000+ km… Well, I like adventures and challenges, but not on this scale.

Google is not the state system in China. I was actually trying to make a funny point that there is no big Google life in China. That’s why I can zoom in on the map as much as I want. Google shows dozens of accommodations on the south bank of the river (Vietnam), and almost nothing on the north bank (China).

Whatever, I thought, I’ll walk around and see something, then go in, book it, pay for it… Oh, I don’t have anything to pay for now. I’ll think of something else, I thought.

I walk down the street and find a place to stay. At first, it seemed like a good plan. It soon turned out to be a virgin idea wrapped in pink mist. Everything is written in Chinese. So my chances of reading it were practically zero.

Most hotels look exactly like a bank, a shop, or a restaurant from the outside. It’s as if everyone had switched to incognito mode.

The point is, I found only one hotel at first, and as I suspected, I didn’t find a hostel afterwards. This hotel cost 8,000 HUF (26 USD) a night. I didn’t want to spend that much, but I had no other option.

And then back to the question of no internet, no cash. Luckily the hotel reception had internet, so I was able to pay for the room.

I will come back to the accommodation, because if you have the feeling that we are at the happy end regarding the room, then I ask you to forget about it now!

Hotel internet

The internet worked perfectly on the seventh floor of the hotel.

Except for one thing! Google…

It just won’t start.

I first experienced this in Laos. My first thought was “well, then I won’t listen to Youtube music.”

Then other connections quickly came, and here in China it became a pretty depressing reality.

I can’t listen to music. I can’t see my emails. I don’t have a map. There’s no search engine I can use. ChatGPT doesn’t work. And, to make matters worse, the captcha service doesn’t work either. And this is a basic objection to many functioning sites, so a bunch of websites can’t be accessed with one click.

So, this is no joke.

You have to use a VPN. And for some reason, it starts up worryingly slowly. I even had to joke about the fact that I wasn’t connecting to a Hungarian server with it, but to a German one, for example. This game just increases the excitement. Can I work or not?

The visa issue

After I had my chosen accommodation offline, turned on the VPN and had the right infrastructure, it was time to start applying for a Vietnamese visa.

I came to Vietnam 45 days ago with the idea that I would stay in the country with a free visa valid for 45 days and then move on. However, in the meantime, I realized that this country is much more beautiful and much bigger than just spending 45 days here.

However, you can’t apply for a visa while you are in the country. That’s why I had to come over to China. I arrived in this city with the idea that I would stay until I got the visa. If it’s beautiful and worth it, I would stay a maximum of two weeks, but I didn’t have to decide that in advance.

In any case, it wouldn’t hurt to have a valid visa as soon as possible.

I searched for it on the already working Google (isn’t it strange that I have to emphasize this separately?) and started filling out the form.

The visa application processing time is 2-3 working days and the cost is 25 USD.

I have already gone through 5-6 visa application processes. My experience so far has shown that it is never an easy feat. Now, too, the point has come when I did not understand what they want from me.

There could be two reasons for this. Either the English term they use is not entirely correct, or the question is really incomprehensible.

I can handle small things like where I will live as a routine. Now I said that I am from Tam Coc, and asked the AI ​​to help me select the region, district, area, city series so that I can fill in the relevant part.

They have never asked me how much I want to spend in the country. Expressed in USD. Nor what religion I was. What could I have said to that, for example? Atheist? Or a non-dualist Buddhist philosopher? Or a follower of my own religion? In the end, I chose safety and declared myself a Christian.

I was confident that if they were seriously interested in the question, I wouldn’t have to explain the OM tattoo on the back of my hand. LOL.

Then, during the application process, I reached a point where it was not clear what they wanted from me. The AI ​​gave the answer, but drew my attention to the fact that I was not on the official visa application site. Let me see how much more they ask at the end of the process.

Soon, I found myself with only the payment left. The bill would have been 200 USD. Instead of 25. If I ask for an expedited process, they will process it the next day in 2-3 business days. For +50 USD.

Great!

I left this site and went to the official one. It was down due to a server error. Neither was the backup site.

So at that moment I was stuck, unable to start applying for my visa.

But at least I had time to deal with my mobile internet problem. First, I went through a half-hour troubleshooting and repair process with the help of AI. At the end of this, we decided to contact the service provider’s support. There, I went through the same half-hour process of sending a screenshot, replying, and moving on again, only this time with the help of a human.

An hour later, my mobile internet was working. By then, the government website for applying for a visa had been fixed.

I submitted my application around 2:00 PM on Wednesday. I was hoping to get a response by Friday.

Finding another place to stay

Since this room cost more than I wanted to pay for it, I tried to find another one the next day while working and sightseeing, but finally gave up and ended up staying another night in this hotel.

Finally, on Friday morning, I found another hotel.

Since I had to leave the room by 1:30 PM and I hadn’t received a response to my visa application, I had to wait longer.

With a Google search (not through the hotel search engines!) I finally found the Garden Hotel. And the option of how to book a room there.

The only strange thing was that the hotel was on the map in a part of the city where there were no roads leading to it according to the map. Anyway, I thought, I’ll book the room and then I’ll get there somehow.

This “getting there somehow” became another story.

I left the hotel and hit the street. The map suggested a detour. The problem with this suggestion was that I would have had to swim to the other side of the Red River and then back a little later. Even if I had felt like swimming for a while with two backpacks, I wouldn’t have been able to do it, because the other side of the river is Vietnam. I don’t think they would have welcomed me with applause when I got out of the river. Especially since I didn’t have a visa.

My idea was to go as far as there was a road on the map, and then just find some path that would take me to the destination. Although, at that moment, I remembered thinking the same thing in Laos. And then I ended up – literally – in the jungle.

My initial enthusiasm was broken after 200 meters. When I turned the corner, it turned out that there were two paths leading further. One to a courtyard surrounded by a fence. The other up a large hill in the opposite direction.

I went into Winnie the Pooh mode and started to think about it.

Then the taxi driver appeared! For once, when I really needed him. I showed him the hotel on the map. I saw the joy in his eyes that he had a passenger, but this joy was not accompanied by the light of recognition. There was a sense of confusion in the air.

Anyway, he told me to get in and continue the discussion. He pointed to the map, furrowed his eyebrows, and explained frantically in Chinese. I stared blankly at his map, sighed, and explained frantically that I only spoke English.

He asked a few times “should we go in that direction” and pointed ahead down the street, and I told him several times that since I didn’t know what he was asking, I couldn’t say yes or no. He should know the direction, not me.

I could already feel that this idea was also turning into a hazy swan song. I thought that the taxi driver would take me to the hotel, and from there I would know the way. It was not part of the plan that he would not know either.

After five minutes, the car finally started, although this action did not bring me any relief at all. I was sure that despite the long consultation, the driver had no idea where we were going.

My feeling, based on my precise observation of the situation, was correct, because after a few hundred meters, he stopped and we held our second crisis analysis activity.

Here I finally found out what the problem was. I never thought it would be so simple. But at least I gained another experience. The driver reluctantly admitted that he didn’t understand what was written on the map.

I told him that many people don’t speak a word of English. But I didn’t even think that they couldn’t read Latin letters…

After the phrase Garden Hotel appeared on my screen in Chinese characters, a miracle happened: the driver’s eyes lit up!

He turned around and stopped at his destination after 200 meters. It turned out that the second hotel was about 800 meters from the first, but its actual location had nothing to do with the location indicated on Google Maps. It was in the opposite direction…

In a few moments I took my room on the sixth floor. There was no elevator here, the corridor was narrow. And from the fourth floor on, there was no lighting in the completely dark staircase. It was an experience to go up in the pitch darkness.

My room was nice. It would have met all my criteria if I had such criteria. A double bed, a dressing table on the wall, a water-heating sink and a private bathroom. And of course, working internet.

However, there were other serious problems with this working internet. It dropped the VPN from the network after a minute. So it quickly became clear that the experience was not complete. It was like sitting in a Michelin-starred restaurant all day, except that I couldn’t order food.

From then on, I was forced to use my eSim service for three days.

In a normal place, a 3GB internet package is enough for an entire month. Here, I used 3GB every day. By monitoring the traffic. The never-spoken question arose in my mind: what was my computer doing in the background to use up so much data.

I did some mental math. I didn’t want to pay 8,000 HUF (26 USD) per night for the room, so I changed my accommodation to a room of a different category. Here I paid 3,000 HUF (10 USD) per night. However, I paid 3,300 HUF (11 USD) extra every day for the internet. In other words, instead of 8,000 HUF (26 USD), it came to 6,300 HUF (21 USD) per day. I saved 1,700 HUF (5 USD) per day.

That’s probably how much the elevator and the breakfast at the other hotel would have been worth.

Oh well! It’s easy to be smart in hindsight.

Enough of the technical difficulties!

I think so, I have written enough about the problems I found myself facing in China.

Now comes the part about what such a city is like.

I will answer this very simply now, and I will show you what I think from two different perspectives.

I will start with my former self, because after that the picture of the present will be different.

Hekou is a very clean, orderly city. (Of course, I have been to streets further away, so not everywhere!) Streets arranged like a chessboard, clean as a pharmacy. Lots of street vendors, restaurants, shops everywhere. Luxury stores and normal stores.

Lots of lights, lanterns, neon in the evenings.

And there is nothing interesting or special here.

Apart from the tall buildings and everyday utilities, I did not really discover anything else.

If I arrive with an eye for sights, then it is time to leave the next day.

A boring little town.

My eyes today, of course, see differently.

A miracle at every step.

But these miracles are not there because the city was built for this.

They are there because I created them for myself.

So I won’t start telling you now how I saw happiness in the eyes of older women rehearsing a dance in the square.

How I was able to enjoy a coffee. How I didn’t just film the 10 minutes until every drop of it dripped into my glass, but also watched every single drop.

The smiles of the little children who were happy for me were an experience.

It was a joy to keep my boundaries with those who didn’t approach me with due respect.

But once again!

These miracles are already growing inside me, it doesn’t matter where I get their seeds.

Goodbye!

I left China on Tuesday.

My Vietnamese visa arrived on Monday afternoon around 4:00 PM. I had already paid for the night that day. And although I briefly considered leaving the country immediately, I quickly decided against it.

I headed to the border early on Tuesday morning.

On the Chinese side, they asked me a lot of questions, starting with one of the border guards already in line.

His colleague at the counter continued. How many days have I been here? I tried not to mess up my mental calculations, lest I fail here. After all, he needed to know exactly how long I had been here.

Do I have a visa for Vietnam? I said yes. Then please show me. He was right. If it is not valid, the Vietnamese will send me back and then he will have to work twice. He accepted the visa.

By the way, it was the same border guard who let me into the country. Now he said goodbye to me like this:

“Good luck, sir!”

I am grateful that my life has turned out in such a way that I was able to see China. A tiny piece of it.

Next time I will go further and visit other places.

I stood in line on the Vietnamese side. From there, they pulled me aside and then led me away.

A border guard came to pick me up and took me to a small office. There was nothing threatening about it, it was just an extra check.

He offered me a seat, asked me a few questions. He gave me a glass of water. He smiled and was nice the whole time. But for some reason it took a long time for them to make sure that my visa was valid.

Finally, he took me back to the line, where the previous border guard checked everything again.

Finally, I was able to enter Vietnam.

Here I said to myself, “Welcome back!”

Leaving the building, we started the same process, only in the other direction.

The same faces, now waiting with cries of “change, change, taxi, taxi”.

I turned everyone down.

I walked 1 km further. I sat there and figured out how to continue.

Within 10 minutes, I booked a room in the nearby Sapa area, ordered a taxi.

After 12 minutes, I got into the taxi and slept through the 20 km, 1 hour journey that awaited me.

I am writing these lines in Sapa. The continuation will come soon.

In the meantime, a little spoiler:

Ninh-Binh was beautiful.

Sapa is beautiful on the square.

The post 283. | China first appeared on Digital Nomad Blog.

I arrived here in an exceptionally gentlemanly manner.

At 5:30 in the morning, a car came to pick me up and take me to the city of Ninh Binh. There I got on a minibus that was apparently just waiting for me to arrive, because we left as soon as I put my butt down.

I also fell asleep. They woke me up in Hanoi, where I got into another car. The driver asked where I was going. I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, so I told him the old quarter of the city. The old quarter that I was already familiar with.

Then, before arriving, it turned out that there were probably more such old quarters, because he asked me which one I should go to. These unexpected cross-questions are slowly not putting as much weight on my shoulders as yesterday’s sigh. I showed him on the map the one I already knew.

So after 39 days I returned exactly where I left Hanoi. Hanoi – Hai Phong Cat Ba – Ninh-Binh – Hanoi. It was a very nice tour.

The day in Hanoi started out as an average one. Walking, food hunting. then a coffee shop so I could work.

The adventures came in the afternoon

When I finished work, I wanted to take a long walk around the city.

Passing by a small coffee and craft shop, a lady asked if I would like a coffee. I said no and kept walking. But after five steps, I changed my mind and sat down at her place. When asked what kind of coffee I wanted, I replied that it should be a surprise. So I managed to drink another delicious coffee, the name of which I don’t know.

In fact, I don’t even know the lady’s name, even though we talked for almost an hour. Unfortunately, I forget names quickly, it’s been that way my whole life. (Maybe that’s why I now have four first names? I’ll definitely remember one of them when I need it…)

I got the name! Hmong! I got a card from her, it’s on it. If you’d like to visit the shop, click here.

I also managed to talk to the lady about things that have interested me for a long time. For example, how Asian people think about us Westerners.

After the honest answers, my conversation partner said that I see the situation surprisingly well. Most Asian people will not give me a hard time if I behave inappropriately. They will smile. But they have their opinions. I have known this since I read James Clawel’s book Shogun as a child. LOL.

After a while, the lady’s daughter joined us

At the end of the conversation, I couldn’t pay for my coffee. I would have insisted that this not be the case, but the woman was adamant. Before I went to her, I bought a couple of donuts. At the beginning of the conversation, she accepted one from me with great difficulty and held it in her hand the whole time. She said she loved it very much, but she hadn’t eaten it yet.

It was a very interesting and good conversation, I left with a grateful heart.

After a long walk, I had a long conversation with a friend, so after the Starbucks during the day, I stood and talked for a long time in front of the one planned for the evening. I finally had to go in around 9:30 PM.

On the way to the train

It was time to order a taxi, because the train station my ticket was for was half an hour drive from the old quarter.

I had the usual problems with this order.

Although the name of the station was on my train ticket, and I even knew that it was not the main train station, and I even looked at the map to see where it was, I couldn’t order a taxi.

Because when I typed the name of the station into the taxi search engine, the site returned three results, and I had no idea what to choose because there wasn’t enough information on the screen.

The train was leaving on time, so I couldn’t afford to have the taxi take me somewhere else because of a bad choice, and then have to try to choose the right address again from there.

Luckily, the guys spoke English, so I asked for help. I showed my ticket to one of the young men and asked him to help me order a taxi. As proof that I wasn’t necessarily the one who was stupid, I have to say that it took him about 3 minutes to order a taxi for me.

He ordered it on his own phone. I wanted to pay him right away, but he said he would come out with me and tell the taxi driver that I would pay in cash. I thanked him for his help and asked where the bathroom was.

I started towards the place, going upstairs. But I had only managed to climb 3-4 steps when one of the girls at the counter jumped after me. She asked me if I had ordered yet. I said no, and I added to myself that I didn’t want to, because the taxi would be here in a few minutes. I’m sorry, she said, if you haven’t ordered, you can’t use the bathroom.

As I wrote, I had been standing outside for a long time and I should have peed the whole time. So, not expecting this new information, I told her that it was a problem, because then it could happen that spontaneous relief would happen here on the stairs. She didn’t laugh. Let’s say, neither did I. I asked her if this was serious. I told her that I had spent half my day at another Starbucks, maybe it wouldn’t be such a big deal if… But, it was. That was her position and she left.

I got angry.

But this feeling hadn’t found me in a long time, so I immediately turned my attention to it. I thought about a few things very quickly.

On the one hand, I was arrogant, I let myself get carried away by the emotion. I have the right to do that, but I don’t need it. On the other hand, the girl was right. It’s not such a unique case that paying guests can use the bathroom for free, and everyone else has to pay for it. This option was not considered here. Thirdly, if I lasted more than an hour, I will last another 30 minutes, there will be no problem in the taxi.

Finally, I felt sincere gratitude. I have been saying for a long time that nothing is free on the road. You have to pay for everything. I forgot this in this situation. The girl simply reminded me of this with a repeated instruction.

So, 5 seconds after she left, I followed her. I put my hand on my heart, bowed and said to her, “Thank you very much!” I added to myself, “for the tecahing.”

Within a minute, the taxi driver arrived, and when he heard that I would be the passenger, he told me to show him the money before leaving.

This either means that I look really ripped and it doesn’t look like I can pay the bill. Or that he has had a lot of bad experiences.

Not only did I show him, I paid for the ride in advance.

I had the confidence.

On the railway station

When we arrived, my confidence was a little shaken.

The taxi turned into a yard where there was nothing but a lot of cargo containers and a closed and dark building.

Most importantly, there was no train station and no tracks.

Luckily, it turned out that the train station was not that far away. It is true that it was hidden behind a gate that made me think of the place as a garage rather than a train station.

I still had 1+ hours until the train arrived, so I thought I would sit on the platform.

As I went out, a lady in a uniformed railway employee very enthusiastically waved for me to come with her. I thought she wanted to sell me a ticket. But she just ushered me into the waiting room to sit down.

Well, I sat down.

At 10:45 PM, I asked when the train would arrive. It was scheduled for 22:58 anyway. She said it would arrive between 22:55 and 22:58. For a moment, I thought I was in Japan because of that precision.

I told her that I would go out to the platform now. She pointed to the door delicately. Which I couldn’t open.

Because it was locked from the outside. But, I think – so that I wouldn’t feel like she was messing with me, she quickly went around the building from the outside and opened the door. When I wanted to go out, she said that since the train wasn’t here yet, I should continue to rest my feet inside. That’s what Google Translate literally wrote. LOL.

The train arrived. She motioned for me to follow her and her colleague. Two of them greeted the train. She motioned for me to stay by the building about five times. Don’t even think about going near the moving train.

So when the train stopped, I was immediately ordered to run, and as soon as I got on, the train had already started.

Perhaps this pace is the secret to punctuality.

On the train

There were two conductors already waiting on the train.

One of them had a prepared English message waiting for him: “When we arrive, please do not order a taxi for yourself, I will order one for you from a friend in Sapa.”

This was a red flag for me. There is no reason to take an overpriced taxi in an environment where I am not aware of the prices. I had made a long-standing decision to only use an app if I could.

I didn’t feel like explaining myself to him, so I simply told him that I was not going to Sapa, but to China.

Then his next business proposition came. Would I like to be alone in the compartment? The train has four-person sleeper cabins, and I bought a lower bed in a compartment, knowing that I could count on three more people there.

This offer did not sway my previous decision. Although he didn’t say how much he wanted me to pocket for this, it wasn’t important, because I wouldn’t have given a bugs forint for a private compartment.

I told him that I had a ticket and that I wanted the bed I had already paid for, nothing else.

I think they wanted something else, because two of them escorted me to the compartment. There was such a narrow corridor in the car that my backpack got stuck and I could barely turn around.

When I opened the compartment, I was greeted by a very peaceful sight.

On one of the lower beds, two little girls were sleeping, snuggled together, with their little blindfolds over their faces. On the other lower bed, two women were lying in their sleeping clothes.

In my initial surprise, I said that I had bought a ticket for a lower bed. But at that moment I realized that it didn’t matter at all. I don’t want to wake the kids up, nor would I want the two women to sleep upstairs while the kids are downstairs.

So I said right away that it was okay. But the guide started talking really badly to the two women. I wonder what he said to them. I had to tell them three more times that it was okay.

At the end, we stood there for 15-20 seconds in awkward silence. I think the guide was still trying to figure out how I could make extra money from me today, but he finally left us.

I climbed onto the top bunk.

It was small. Hard. There was no power outlet, so I decided to lie down right away. I took off my T-shirt and lay down.

Expect good things in return!

One of the women stood in front of me with a smile. “You,” she said and pointed to the blanket on the other bunk.

I loved all the teachings today.

I fell asleep quickly and peacefully.

The post 282. | Hanoi and the current teaching first appeared on Digital Nomad Blog.

Several people told me they missed my posts.

So did I.

I missed writing.

But this time – by making one very simple decision – I chose to spend my time differently.

First, I will show you the place I have just left and the circumstances around it.

Then, in a rather unusual format, I will summarize my experiences as a list.

Ninh Binh

Ninh Binh is the 27th place where I have stayed during this journey.

However, this is the first time I did not simply choose a place to live – I arrived there with someone.

We met in Cat Ba, and continued our journey together as friends.

I have encountered this style of travel before. Two people of the opposite sex travel together and spend their time together, but the foundation of that relationship is friendship, not a romantic partnership.

After a long time (278 days), it felt exciting to arrive somewhere with someone and know that the shared bus ride would continue beyond the moment we stepped off the bus.

So this time I was not exploring this beautiful corner of Vietnam alone.

At the same time, I did not spend my free time writing.

We walked.

We rode bicycles.

We relaxed in the hostel pool.

We went on excursions.

We watched movies together.

And many other things.

So where exactly am I?

The guidebooks provide the important facts, and I do not want to skip them:

Tam Cốc is a natural attraction in Ninh Bình Province, famous for its limestone karst mountains, winding river, and caves surrounded by rice fields. Often called the “Ha Long Bay on land,” Tam Cốc is part of the Tràng An Landscape Complex and one of Vietnam’s most picturesque river destinations.

If I look at it more closely, however, things become a bit strange.

It may sound odd, but I am not entirely sure where I actually am.

This is not the first time in Asia that I have been surprised by geography.

I set off for a place called Ninh Binh and spend several days believing it is a city.

Then I discover that Ninh Binh is both a province and a city.

Meanwhile, every second business seems to have “Tam Coc” in its name: Tam Coc Café, Tam Coc Boat Rental, Tam Coc Restaurant.

At that point I begin to suspect that tourists are not really coming to Ninh Binh City at all. They are coming to the Tam Coc area.

And that is still not the whole story.

Because then it turns out that although Google Maps and most tourists refer to the area as Tam Coc – much like we Hungarians say “I’m at Lake Balaton” – even that is not technically correct.

Geographically, my current situation looks something like this:

• Tam Cốc – where I am actually staying
• Ninh Hải – the official name of the commune
• Hoa Lư – the district
• Ninh Bình Province – the province

So yes, I came to Ninh Binh like everyone else.

But within Ninh Binh I am actually staying in Ninh Hải, which everybody simply calls Tam Coc.

Simple, right?

Let’s leave it at this:

I am in a beautiful place in the heart of Vietnam.

The Accommodation

I am starting with this because even after a week it still feels unbelievable.

We are staying in a place called Tam Coc Central Bungalow, spread across a large property.

The entire place is magnificent.

It looks exactly like the sort of place Europeans normally pay serious amounts of money to experience.

Huge limestone cliffs provide shade during parts of the day.

There are countless plants, palm trees, colorful tropical flowers, and enormous trees everywhere.

All of this sits beside a beautiful river.

Just a few steps from the river there is a large swimming pool, sun loungers, and tables shaded by palm leaves.

The rooms are surprisingly high quality.

Every morning I wake up and have to remind myself that I am not in an expensive European hotel.

It is simply an excellent place to stay.

My bed, by the way, stands in front of a huge floor-to-ceiling glass window.

Even now I can look out across the lake located in the center of the U-shaped building complex.

Our room has twelve beds.

The price is 1,360 HUF (4.25 USD) per night.

Included in that price is a breakfast that once again reminds me of some of the best hotels I stayed in during my travels across Europe.

Two large tables are covered with all kinds of delicious food, and we can eat as much as we want.

A walk of just a few hundred meters takes us into completely different worlds.

In one direction lies the center of town.

In the other direction there are beautiful lotus ponds beneath towering limestone cliffs, separated from us only by the river.

Step outside the hostel grounds and you immediately find yourself beside a stunning rice field.

Rice fields everywhere.

That is one of the defining features of this place.

It was harvest season while we were here, so we had the chance to observe every stage of the process.

Cat Ba was beautiful.

But the area around Ninh Binh – especially when explored from this accommodation – is far more beautiful.

It is no coincidence that over the past few weeks I found myself thinking that, so far, Vietnam is the most beautiful place I have ever experienced.

Another Week in Paradise

What can you do here?

I never begin exploring a place with that question.

Still, it feels good that after just one week I could already list an impressive number of experiences.

I think the numbers say a lot about this town.

We originally planned to stay for four days.

Those four days became seven.

And seven might easily become twenty-two.

(By the time I continued writing this post, it had already become ten…)

Well…

As it turns out, it became twenty-two.

And although I started writing this post several times, I never managed to finish it.

By now it would have become so long that I no longer see the point in describing everything in detail.

I would never finish.

And perhaps nobody wants to read a book about twenty-two days of my life.

So now – with tears in my eyes – I am deleting the thoughts I wrote over the last three weeks and starting again in the form of a diary.

May 27, 2026 – Wednesday

• A shared journey and a completely random decision to get off the bus. We started looking for accommodation exactly where the bus stopped. It turned out to be an unbelievably good choice.
• Our first evening in town. We watched a performance by local dancers.
• I got to relive the experience with the little girl, the sunflower seeds, and the keychain that I mentioned in my post About Cafés.
• We claimed ownership of the foosball table. I won the very first game. Then, over the following three weeks, I lost every single match except two. The lady proved to be a worthy opponent.

May 28, 2026 – Thursday

• Workday.
• Exploring cafés.
• Wandering around town in the evening and discovering local restaurants.
• A long conversation by the beautiful riverside that lasted late into the night.

May 29, 2026 – Friday

• A full-day motorbike trip exploring the surrounding area. Two people on one motorbike.
• Discovering a quiet temple.
• A pleasant surprise in a restaurant. After ordering a smoothie and a coffee, we were later given fruit as a gift, followed by Vietnamese tea. It is an incredible feeling when an experience arrives simply as an act of kindness.
• Photographing rice fields for the first time. A breathtaking display of colors.

• Visiting the ancient capital of Hoa Lu and learning a great deal about its history.

• Seeing the Bái Đính Pagoda, a spiritual and cultural center, from the outside. I will write more about this place later.
• Sitting on the steps of a pagoda still under construction and enjoying the sunset.
• Simply enjoying the freedom of riding a motorbike without any serious destination.

May 30, 2026 – Saturday

• Continuing our motorbike adventure.
• Watching the rice harvest for the first time.
• Visiting the historic Thai Vi Temple.
• Exploring another beautiful temple built among the rocks, including a bit of climbing.
• Watching the sunset over a rice field glowing in a thousand shades between the mountains.
• Discovering an insect that flew like a hummingbird.
• Taking a quick look around Ninh Binh City.
• Avoiding a head-on collision with a motorbike that was coming toward us in our own lane after dark.

May 31, 2026 – Sunday

• Making up for the workday I skipped on Friday.
• There was still time for foosball, table tennis, dinner, and enjoying the warm water of the pool.
• Photographing the full moon.

June 1, 2026 – Monday

• Workday.
• A classic boat tour through rice fields and caves. Here, the rowers propel the boats with their feet. The river is busy enough to feel almost like a highway, yet the scenery is absolutely stunning. We stopped at three beautiful temples along the route and passed through several river caves.
• Celebrating Children’s Day by eating the two handfuls of candy we received at the hostel while relaxing beside the pool.

June 2, 2026 – Tuesday

• Workday.
• A long walk late at night.
• Listening to the music and chanting of a new moon ceremony at Thai Vi Temple at half past midnight. Sitting in the moonlight at the gate of a temple was an unforgettable experience.

June 3, 2026 – Wednesday

• Workday.
• A cycling trip, this time joined by a third travel companion.
• Crossing a river on a bamboo ferry with our bicycles. Adventures everywhere.

June 4, 2026 – Thursday

• Workday.
• An evening spent looking at rice fields, watching rice stubble being burned, and wandering through the countryside long after dark.
• I won’t mention every day that I was getting absolutely destroyed at foosball.

June 5, 2026 – Friday

• Workday.
• A very long evening walk.
• Learning about harvesting machines.
• Exploring local cemeteries.
• Enjoying Vietnamese hospitality and tea.

June 6, 2026 – Saturday

• Workday.
• Visiting the local rice museum.
• Trying traditional farming tools.
• Tasting four different kinds of rice wine.
• Visiting a farm and learning about local gardening practices.

June 7, 2026 – Sunday

• An electric scooter adventure.
• Visiting Catholic churches in a town about 30 kilometers away.
• Discovering a remarkably harmonious church complex – a Catholic church built with Vietnamese architectural elements. We listened to chanting, then Vietnamese Christian hymns accompanied by an organ.
• The church garden itself felt like pure Zen.
• A slow journey through extreme heat and wonderful sights.
• More wandering late into the night to unwind.

June 8, 2026 – Monday

• Just another ordinary day in paradise.
• With beautiful photographs.

June 9, 2026 – Tuesday

• A full-day cycling trip.
• Riding on little-used roads and through wonderfully chaotic traffic.
• In the evening, meeting a talented Indonesian singer-guitarist and discovering a new favorite bar.

June 10, 2026 – Wednesday

• Workday.
• Followed by a three-hour boat trip in the Tràng An area.
• Passing through ten caves by boat, visiting three beautiful temples, and traveling through the landscape of King Kong’s world – an unforgettable experience.
• In the evening, we watched one of the King Kong movies together.

June 11, 2026 – Thursday

• Workday.
• After work, we went for a long walk around the area.
• We headed for a viewpoint in the nearby hills. For some reason, I decided to do this hike wearing flip-flops. Climbing rocks and ladders was quite an adventure – especially since it had been raining all day and everything was slippery.
• In the evening, we watched another King Kong movie together.
• Up until this point, we had been extending our stay three days at a time. Moving on came up regularly in conversation, but every time we reached the same conclusion: this place was simply too beautiful to leave.

June 12, 2026 – Friday

• It was supposed to be a workday.
• I decided otherwise.
• We rented bicycles and ended up cycling 40 kilometers while also walking another 11.
• We finally visited the magnificent pagoda complex that we had only seen from a distance back on May 29.
• We knew it would be a long day. In the end, it turned out to be even longer than we expected.
• After twenty kilometers of cycling, the next challenge was deciding how to explore a huge complex that combines modern and traditional pagodas.
• The actual visitor area begins one or two kilometers from the entrance. Walking there is not allowed.
• You basically have two options: take an electric shuttle and explore the grounds on foot, or let the shuttle carry you around the entire complex. We chose walking.
• We also bought tickets that included access to the tallest pagoda in Asia.
• I could easily write for hours about this place, but I will spare you that and simply list what we saw.
• A gigantic temple known as the “Three Gates,” filled with enormous statues and extraordinary grandeur.
• At the entrance, two monks asked our names and where we came from. They immediately wrote the information on three pieces of paper, handed them to us together with two bundles of incense sticks, and marked three temples on a map. Our task was to place the papers, light the incense, and spend a little time meditating at each location. We treated it as a fun treasure hunt because at first the map was not easy to understand. In the end, we completed the entire little ritual.
• We walked through an open corridor lined with thousands of Buddha statues. The walls were filled with small alcoves, each containing a stone figure. Every statue was different. The sheer number of them was breathtaking.
• We saw Vietnam’s largest bronze bell, weighing seventy tons. Incredible.
• Next came another enormous temple. Unfortunately, photographs cannot really capture the experience.
• There was also a lake – or perhaps more accurately, a giant pool – where we spent some time sitting by the water.
• Another temple measured 2,000 square meters, with a ceiling height of thirty meters and gilded bronze Buddha statues weighing one hundred and thirty tons. We felt very small standing there.
• My phone simply cannot capture that kind of scale.
• As a small contribution, I bought a roof tile and wrote my name on it. In a tiny way, a part of me will remain there forever.
• We visited a beautiful viewpoint within the complex. One of the attractions was a mirror placed on a table, allowing visitors to create fascinating optical illusions with the towering pagoda in the background.
• Then came yet another massive temple with a thirty-five-meter ceiling and fifty-ton statues. By that point my eyes were already dazzled by all the gold surfaces I had seen throughout the day.
• Finally, we reached the pagoda itself. We took the elevator up and descended through a deserted staircase that was still under construction. And what happened in between…
• The view was unbelievable. From the 13th floor we could see in every direction for miles across the beautiful landscape. Lightning flashed in the distance. It was one of those moments that simply stay with you.
• Slowly, darkness arrived. The complex remains open until 9 PM, but once evening came, everything closed and everyone left. From seven until nine, we wandered through the enormous grounds almost completely alone.
• We discovered another cave temple.
• We visited countless smaller pagodas, all beautifully illuminated.
• Bats flew above our heads along the stone pathways.
• The evening portion of the trip was every bit as magical as the daytime one.
• We still had a twenty-kilometer ride back ahead of us, after stopping for dinner.
• Along the way we stopped at a small shop to buy water. A Vietnamese boy approached us and asked if he could practice speaking with us. Once he started talking, he never stopped. His English was remarkable, and he fired question after question at us without hesitation. He spent about ten minutes talking with each of us. At the end, his father gave us both an ice cream. I loved that moment. I hope the boy heard what I told him: keep going, buddy – you’re doing great.
• Back at the hostel, we finished the day with a long foosball session.
• Naturally, I lost every game.

June 13, 2026 – Saturday

• Hang Múa.
• I am taking that name with me.
• A realization was born there. I will write about it another time.
• For the previous two weeks we had been looking at this mountain temple almost every day from around our accommodation. It was always either too early, too hot, or another program got in the way. Today, we finally climbed it.
• We walked there. Just a few kilometers.
• Before the climb, we visited the famous lotus fields stretching out below the mountain. The sheer number of lotus flowers growing there was astonishing.
• After climbing five hundred steps, we reached one of the crowded viewpoints, then climbed even more steps to reach the other one. There were crowds there as well. LOL.
• The view made me forget all about the people. At the top, I climbed onto the back of the dragon statue. Soon others started copying the idea. As we say in Hungary: one fool makes a hundred.
• We also found another cave that had already closed for the day. Apparently, around here everyone leaves after sunset, but the sites themselves remain accessible.
• On the way back we stopped for dinner. One item on the menu immediately caught my attention: burned rice. Not fried rice. Burned rice. As it turned out, it is a Chinese dish. I have absolutely no regrets about trying it. The crazy Chinese lady cooked it wonderfully. LOL.

June 14, 2026 – Sunday

• Workday. I swapped it with Friday.
• We spent a slow and peaceful day together.
• A long walk.
• A good dinner.
• A good conversation by the river.
• We were spending our final days together.
• During the night, we watched a World Cup match. Germany won.
• I was cheering for the other team.

June 15, 2026 – Monday

• My last day in Ninh Binh.
• I worked during the morning.
• After lunch, we set off on one final adventure.
• Another three-hour boat trip through Tràng An. We wanted to see the alternative route as well.
• This route included the longest tunnel beneath the mountain. Nearly one kilometer of ducking your head while drifting through darkness under solid rock.
• We even saw the exact rock formation that almost certainly appeared in one of the King Kong movies.
• We shared the boat with a very friendly Vietnamese couple. It was a pleasure talking with them.
• We celebrated our final day of cycling and boating with a pizza together.
• Later, we visited our favorite bar, where I said goodbye to my Indonesian singer-guitarist friend.
• We watched the second half of a football match.
• And then we said goodbye to each other.

I took 2,876 photos and videos in Ninh Binh.

Writing about so many experiences afterward – and selecting photographs for the galleries – turned out to be surprisingly difficult.

I feel that I have not managed to do this beautiful place justice.

But I hope I managed to bring at least a little of its atmosphere to you.

The post 281. | Ninh-Binh first appeared on Digital Nomad Blog.

I will show you how to walk the physical path differently from a new perspective.

Before that, I will write about the everyday issues that arise during the traveling lifestyle.

This information may come in handy.

Especially if you happen to be a digital nomad.

Decisions, decisions!

When it comes to the digital nomad lifestyle, the word “freedom” is the one that comes up most often in the reflections I receive.

This kind of life has truly brought me freedom.

But freedom – like everything else – is not just black and white.

While writing this sentence, I realized that the expression I often use carries exactly the same meaning. I usually say that everything has a price.

This topic has been discussed several times with fellow travelers – with whom we share our time, energy, and the experience of being on the road for a shorter or longer period of time.

After a while, most people feel tired. I can’t speak for myself (yet) because I don’t feel it (yet).

These conversations are primarily not about physical fatigue, but rather a kind of mental exhaustion. And it appears especially in those who have been on the road for a long time (many months, many years).

On this road, there are a lot of decisions to be made. That in itself is perhaps not more burdensome than usual, since even in so-called “traditional” life situations, we make a lot of daily, medium- and short-term decisions.

What makes the decisions of those on the road have a different weight, in my opinion, is that here essential issues have to be resolved on a daily basis.

Where will I sleep today?

Where will I sleep tomorrow? If I want to go, I have to pack, move, agree on the next place to stay, unpack, and only then can I pack. If I don’t want to go, I have to extend my current accommodation.

So a person has no permanent home. There is no such thing as not having to decide on the question, because the origin is missing. I definitely have to decide where to go next.

If I miss the answer even once, whether I will extend my stay in a given place or move on, the end will be that I will be evicted from that place and have to sleep on the street.

And the question of where I will sleep today is not only about deciding on accommodation. Often, you have to make a decision about where to go next. Then, most of us have to decide which country to go to when we travel, because visas only allow a limited stay everywhere.

Accommodation, city, country.

Either one can be constant during the journey, but then the journey slows down or stops. In this sense, looking at the process of travel, a constant amount of work to be done is the price of the existence of free will and free decision-making.

Where and what do I eat?

In the places I’ve seen so far, the question has never been whether there’s anything to eat or drink. It’s not always guaranteed that the quality of the food is always good, or whether what I want to eat at that moment is available. It’s more of an interesting question of what price they offer it for. In many cases, you can draw a very nice map of which street the tourists go to. Up there, the prices are higher, and from there, the prices are local.

But for example, the quality of the place is not guaranteed either. Here too, there are average quality restaurants, but more often there are below average ones. I don’t write this as a judgment or with bad intentions. But I’ve had an experience where, when I got to the back of a nicely decorated, average-looking restaurant that opened onto the street, the stench greeted me. I decided then and there that if they could serve fried rice, I’d eat there, but I’d feel like I was sitting in a toilet the whole time.

I don’t know how I felt in the end. I was glad there was no fried rice, so I didn’t eat there. Or maybe I was sad that I missed out on that experience.

On this trip, there are rarely any kitchens. Even more rarely, there are refrigerators. So we are quite often left with questions like where is the nearest shop? What is available there? Where is the nearest restaurant with a good price? If I buy something, where do I put it in my room?

The last question might make you smile. But in reality, it’s not always fun, or it takes a lot of imagination to make it fun. For example, if the area is full of insects, it doesn’t matter whether they have access to the food hidden in my bag or not. In Pai, the rat that visited my room gnawed at two of my soaps. In the jungle, everything that was edible had to be put in a big box, even though we slept 32 meters above the ground.

I don’t think I need to write about the lack of a refrigerator as a source of problems.

And when I wrote that it’s also a question of what’s available in the store, I wasn’t talking about being picky. But I was talking about the fact that the offer of the stores is very limited. A 7-11, for example, is considered a good store here too. But there are hardly any fruits and vegetables. What is there is expensive. There are a lot of preserved and fast food, chips and sweets available, but there is not really any fresh food.

Then there are the rows of street shops. Lots of small garages, with the same offer. Sugary drinks, preserved foods, beer, cigarettes. Everything you need for everyday fast life.

For these reasons, research work is usually preceded by finding a place that sells fruit, for example.

So perhaps it’s understandable why I say that the question of where and what to eat also requires continuous decision-making.

What should I do with my time?

The question may sound strange, but in this environment – at least for me – it is a very serious question.

Excellent company of people. Entertainment opportunities. Beautiful nature around the settlements. Dozens of organized activities in the more frequented places. The possibility of finding your own way everywhere. Exciting streets, new shops. Daytime hustle and bustle, or discovering the nightlife.

Constant movement creates constant temptation.

If I am only in each place for 1-2 weeks, then there are so many attractions around me that I have to spent every(!) time f mine to see everything.

Then I can go to the next place for 1-2 weeks, and there is still a lot waiting for me there.

But I work as a digital nomad. So my time is severely limited.

Most people on the road I have met travel on a small or even smaller budget. I include myself. So my financial possibilities must also be taken into account in every decision.

Nevertheless, I also have to decide – almost – on a daily basis what my next program is. It almost doesn’t matter here that instead of working tomorrow I go on a boat trip and instead of tomorrow I work on Saturday.

But I still have to make the decision, and I do it quickly and often. Moreover, the majority of decisions are cancellations, because I have to decide which of the many options I won’t use.

There is no reason to regret!

Before anyone starts regretting! The conclusion of this “many decisions, many energies” cycle of thought is not how difficult my fate is, how much a person on the road suffers.

I just wanted to show that as a person on the road, I have to work for my freedom.

Everything has a price.

What an interesting paradox this has become. I achieve freedom by constantly working for it. LOL.

Random destination selection

There are certainly many ways to determine our own direction.

Several of these seem very exciting to me and I would definitely like to try them in the future.

One is the bottle spinning method. All you need is an intersection, a flat surface and an empty bottle. The bottle that is spun will definitely stop at some point and show you the direction.

As an IT professional, I can also imagine using a random number generator to determine the direction, another shot to determine the distance within, say, 700 km, and then asking the AI ​​to tell me where to go with these two parameters.

I don’t think I was surprised. When I wrote the previous lines, I immediately performed this experiment.

Northwest, 583 km. Within moments, it turned out that using this method, my next destination would be Mosha Town (Moshazhen), China.

I’ve been thinking about this for a while now. It’s really about 583 km as the crow flies. But it’s 1,100 km by road. There are even closer settlements in China, so I probably won’t be playing this game right away.

I have two weeks to decide.

Then there’s another method – one that resonates very strongly with me.

I simply give my phone to a stranger on the street. I ask them to mark a point on the open map. And I go and live where they point. Of course, I adjust the map zoom according to how much money I have in my wallet. LOL.

I love synchronicities like the ones that happen when I’m writing this post.

I was looking through my AI music playlist to see what song I should listen to next. I stumbled upon Madonna’s hit La Isla Bonita. I also know exactly because I heard it when entering and leaving Cat Ba National Park. This beautiful song found me in a special mood at that time.

So I started it.

I have known this song for almost 40 years. It enchanted me even when I didn’t understand a word of what Madonna was singing about. I have understood it for many years now.

Listening to the lyrics, of course these lines started echoing in my head:

Last night I dreamt of San Pedro
Just like I’d never gone, I knew the song
A young girl with eyes like the desert
It all seems like yesterday, not far away

Tropical the island breeze
All of nature wild and free
This is where I long to be
La isla bonita

These lines flooded my soul with waves of pleasure.

These waves had their time now. I am a week away from my beautiful island. And almost 40 years away from that young guy who didn’t understand, just felt this song.

Today – in these moments – I understand and feel it. After 40 years, this song has found its rightful place in me, where its rightful place has always been.

La Isla Bonita.

I have arrived.

La Isla Bonita - Rock Version (Madonna)

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This could be one of the ways I choose a direction. A song. An old feeling that is being reshaped by my current life and life experiences.

As I quietly observe myself now, the songs come one after another: Paradise City, Wherever I May Roam, Northwest Passage, Far Beyond The Sun, A Passage to Bangkok…

I love synchronicities like the ones that happen when I write this post. Or have I already mentioned that?

I haven’t even written a word about what I was planning to write this post about.

I wanted to get back to the original topic, but I started listening to Rush’s song: A Passage to Bangkok. And I saw in the description that “”A Passage to Bangkok” is the second song on Rush’s album 2112, released in 1976.”

I had a hunch and asked the AI: On what dates was this album released in different parts of the world?

The answer is: “March 10, 1976 – several fan and archival sources consider this to be the Canadian release date.”

Three days before I was born.

How do I do it?

Returning to the present and leaving the random choice to the mercy of the future for now, I will tell you how I have chosen so far. And what opportunities I am counting on now, in the search for a new destination.

I wrote about choosing Thailand and Koh Samui at the time. Asia called me. Within that, Thailand seemed like an exciting starting point. I wanted to give it time to decide that it should really be Thailand, but I quickly felt that this was an intuitive choice, so it was not worth thinking too much about whether it should be the first or not.

And Koh Samui appeared as a destination by selecting from the names of the better-known settlements those that are on the coast or on an island. In the end, for practical reasons – quickly – I decided where my new journey would begin.

From there, Indonesia, Thailand again, Laos, Vietnam followed based on recommendations and practical choices.

When it was clear after Wat Pa Tam Wua that Laos would be next, I started moving within the country in a way that would get me closer to the border. I had already covered a fairly easy-to-follow route from west to east within Laos.

Here, in Vietnam, I started the kind of journey where I started to put less and less emphasis on where I was going, because any place would be suitable.

But up until now, all my decisions had started with determining the next place. From then on, the only question was how to travel. In most cases, I didn’t have much choice. Train, bus, sometimes plane were the possible options. But typically only one option was always available.

However, this often means time-consuming movement in this part of the world. 20+ hour bus trips are neither comfortable – and I have to admit – nor fun.

On the advice of a friend, I thought about another method for choosing a destination.

It’s clear that I’m currently a slow traveler. My goal is not to list a dozen or two towns on my map. I do not intend to see every available attraction that is available around me.

My focus is more on feeling good where I am. It is not a problem if the list of attractions is exhausted after a visit or two. In fact, it is not a problem if there is nothing to see at all.

I have emphasized several times that the place is unimportant. The journey is endless, time does not burden me.

So I really have the freedom to go where I want, or even to places that I do not even know exist.

This, in turn, creates an opportunity to reverse the order of my search.

From now on, I will use the method of seeing where I can travel cheaply from where I currently live – or from near it. So, first, I will look for the cheapest trip. And that will determine the destination.

It is as simple as that.

This way I can keep track of certain directions, and that’s more than enough.

For example, right now my only direction is to be in Singapore in mid-August.

Until then, I’ll travel freely and easily from city to city, and to at least one other country.

Honestly, I can’t wait to spend the next few days figuring out where I’m going from this wonderful place I’m in.

In the next post, I’ll introduce this place, and maybe I’ll be able to mention where I’m going and how I found this place.

The post 280. | A change in the method of travel first appeared on Digital Nomad Blog.

By now I have come to realize that this is generally the most comfortable way to work in my digital nomad life.

My last few days in a coffee shop on the island were so pleasant that I thought I would write about my experiences.

Let’s have a good egg coffee together!

The rules of the game

In Bali, I had to work in a coffee shop because it would have been very uncomfortable in my room.

I was lucky. There was a great little shop not far from me.

Since I had no experience in how this thing works, I simply went into the place and asked if I could work here with my laptop.

Of course, the answer came, but they asked me to eat something at the same time. I immediately fulfilled this request by ordering a coffee. I also had the idea that if I ordered something, I had the right to sit down and take out my laptop.

I would have been more curious about something like how long a coffee would last. Of course, I somehow felt that no one would ever say that. Just like no one had ever said that in the past months.

Nowadays, I don’t start the relationship with a question, but by presenting my needs. I tell them that I’m looking for a place where I can have a good coffee and where I can work. And the answer is always that I’m at the right place.

After that, I ask if there’s wifi and how to connect to it. If I’m able to connect, I order my first coffee at that place.

This is obviously a safety game on my part. If even one of my three wishes is missing, the place isn’t for me. So far, I’ve never been to a place where I had to leave. But if it ever happens, I don’t think my leaving would be a problem for either party.

Today, I don’t worry about how long I can stay there and how much I have to consume. I sit down and start working. When I get thirsty, I order something else. I try to be fair to the place. I don’t want to abuse hospitality, so I don’t order the cheapest coffee and sit in a given place for six hours. I try to make sure that the equation of eating something every two hours works out.

On the other hand, I don’t care at all whether there is a limit to the time spent there. My opinion on this question is that if they ever limit my time in one place, they will say so. And then they will clarify the rules of the game that I have developed.

Honestly – based on my experience so far – I don’t expect this anywhere.

Choosing the environment

Nowadays, I consciously look for the right places. I use the plural because if I stay in a given place for a longer period of time, I like to enjoy the hospitality of several places.

I always look at the coffee shop from the outside. How many tables are there, how many people are sitting at them. This is important! If there are few tables and the space is small, and I see that people are sitting everywhere, then I don’t go in. Here, there is a greater chance that I will disturb the business with my presence.

If what I see is worth going in, then further investigations can come. If these do not bring satisfactory results, then I say goodbye immediately and move on.

The shape and size of the tables are also important. If possible, I would not sit at a small round table. If the table is at least big enough to fit my laptop and my two hands on both sides, then the size is good. It is also not the best choice if there are only tables for 4-6 people. In my opinion, it is unethical for me to take up the space of 4-6 paying guests by myself. That is why I like tables for two.

It is very important that there is a socket near the table where I can plug in my laptop adapter without obstructing traffic. If possible, I avoid someone balancing two coffees in their hands and pulling my computer off the table because they did not see the cable in the way.

The height of the tables is also important. Normal smoking tables are unsuitable for working for hours at a time. Sitting hunched forward is tiring. If I can sit in front of a traditional chair, then we are fine.

It also does not matter what I sit on. Comfortable, deep armchairs are good for relaxing while drinking coffee, but they do not allow me to work for long periods of time. If there is a chair in front of the table, that is a good sign. I do not care about the quality and comfort of the chair. It doesn’t matter if it has a cushion on it, or if it has a full back, or maybe just a metal frame. But it is important that it has a back.

It often happens that on one side of the tables you can sit not on chairs, but on benches fixed to the wall. That can be good too, but here I definitely have to check if the tables are not fixed to the floor. It may not be a problem if they are screwed down. But if the distance between the bench and the table is not right, then I can’t support my back.

Air conditioning is also important in Southeast Asia. For example, I am in Vietnam, in the city of Ninh Binh. It is very hot here in May. For example, here in the last few days I have not found an air-conditioned cafe. I found one with fans to cool the air, but that is not the real solution here. It is better than nothing, but if I don’t sweat as much as a horse, at least as much as a donkey.

The problem with this is not only that it feels uncomfortable, but that after a while there is a puddle of water under my arms, and for example my fingers often have to be wiped to avoid soaking the keyboard.

If there is air conditioning, then where it is can also be an important consideration. There have been times when I didn’t pay attention to this and had to realize that sitting in the air of an industrial cooling system is only as pleasant as wearing a hat and scarf in the hot sun.

In this part of the world, it is also important to have a napkin nearby. I usually ask for cold drinks. These are brought out with ice. In the best case, they are placed in front of me on a small plate or tray, but not infrequently they are simply placed on the table.

Drinks quickly start to sweat due to the heat. That is, after a while a small puddle forms under them. According to the dream book, it is not healthy to collect water near electrical appliances. The other practical problem with this water is that when I lift the glass to drink, it drips. It’s not good if the table is sloshing under the mouse, and it’s especially worrying if these fat drops fall on my laptop.

The only good solution is to put a napkin under the glass, because this immediately soaks up the collected water. And many times I have to change this napkin under the glass, or wipe the glass before I pick it up.

The rest will be revealed as you go!

The choice of drinks – perhaps noticeable after the above “circumstances” – is no longer important to me at all.

If it’s black, it’s fine for me! I drink iced American coffee most of the time, which can be good or bad in the evaluation system of consumers with sophisticated tastes, it doesn’t matter to me.

Coffee always tastes good to me, simply because the taste is not important.

However, this is only a theoretical approach, because in most places the drinks are really very delicious. And the choice is wide. A bunch of fresh juices, smoothies, soft drinks and more than delicious coffees form the basis of the “what should I drink today” game.

The price is of course still important, but this is usually easy to check when entering the store. And I rarely stumble upon places where prices are very different from the average.

My current laptop has a very good battery, I can work for several hours without a power outlet. In most cases, I keep charging my phone because I never know if I’ll have the opportunity to do so in the next place.

For the first time, in Vietnam, I experienced that the power outlets are not good everywhere. In one of my two favorite cafes on Cat Ba Island, there were three tables with power outlets next to them. But at two of them, you simply couldn’t plug the plug into the outlet.

If I could only sit at one such table, I always had to watch when the third table became empty. And then I could move everything over there. From coffee to adapters. No problem, but if possible, I avoid this moving while working.

The wifi has been good everywhere so far. I don’t make a big deal about it. If by chance it wasn’t good, I would drink what I ordered. Without any rush. Until then, I would work with what I had. But I wouldn’t order a second drink. And I wouldn’t go to that place again.

It doesn’t matter to me how loud or quiet the places are, whether there’s music playing or not, because I almost always work listening to my own music, with headphones on.

Another important aspect is whether there is a bathroom in the given café and how far it is from my table.

In Laos – I wrote this at the time – I had to ask someone several times to look after my things while I make the 4-minute round trip to the toilet. This trust game is good, but it is risky. If I happen to ask a person who wants to abuse the fact that he knows exactly how long I will be away from my table, then I could be seriously disappointed.

It is good if the bathroom is close and within sight of my table. Then I can look back before closing the door to see if everything is okay. Or, when I am done, but before washing my hands, I can open the door to keep an eye on the surroundings.

I trust people, so far there have been no problems, but if possible, I don’t want to give fate a chance to show me how the world of random numbers works. This would definitely be exciting material for a blog post, if I happen to have anything left to write about.

I only have pleasant experiences

For some reason, fate wanted me to be able to write this post without anything unpleasant happening to me.

My coffee shop memory is full of pleasant experiences, though.

The experiences hit me right at the beginning in Bali. The second or third time I entered, they greeted me like an acquaintance. We often took turns chatting. They asked questions, I told them. If I had a problem or needed help, they always helped. We worked together based on mutual respect. There was a time when we were both worried that one of the sockets at the table where I was sitting the day before had almost caught fire. The sudden rain that soaked it didn’t do it any good.

Returning to Thailand, I lived in two apartments in Chiang Mai and Pai where I could work very well, so the next coffee shop period came in Laos. But even then, only in the capital.

I first lived in a shared accommodation in Vientiane. There was a dining area with lots of tables, with power outlets and no drinking facilities, but there were only two fans in the semi-open space. This meant that the tsunami of sweat only subsided a little around 11pm.

There was also a very nice little café nearby. But here I started going to Starbucks and Café Amazon more. These standard cafés are the places with the least surprises due to the franchise system.

Here there are benches and tables fixed to the ground, but each table has two power outlets fixed to the bottom of the benches. But here, for example, I experienced the cold shock caused by the air conditioning.

I have been to many other franchise stores. Like the bigger names, they work on a consistent standard and are very reliable.

The service in these places is always super attentive and kind, but the price of this is impersonality. The little micro connections don’t develop here. That’s not a problem at all. But if I have to choose, I prefer those places where I feel like I’ve come home a little every day.

Cat Ba and my two favorite places

My favorite coffee shop experiences so far are connected to my beloved Vietnamese island.

One of the places was Catba Speciality Cafe. There were three tables with a working outlet.

An employee who spoke very good English ran the shop. For the second time, he greeted me with “it’s good to see you again!” After two weeks, he said goodbye to me, saying that he knew that tomorrow would be my last time and that he was so sorry that he would have a day off and wouldn’t be able to say goodbye to me tomorrow.

He was very nice to everyone all day. I feel like he treated me a little differently because during the two weeks I spent in that city, I spent several hours there almost every day. Every day, he helped me choose the special of the day because he always knew exactly what would be served with the iced American coffee.

He explained the special Vietnamese egg coffee in detail and how to drink it. He also recommended traditional Vietnamese coffee. This was very interesting. They put the filter on a glass with the coffee in it. They pour boiling water into this filter, which then flows slowly and beautifully through the coffee in about 5 minutes.

But he also introduced me to salty coffee. I always sincerely praised these specialties and thanked him gratefully.

On one of these occasions, he said that I could give the place a good review on Google. Well! I immediately took a bunch of photos, a few videos and wrote a short story about how much I love this place. A short text review is worth 5-6 points on Google. I was happy to show him that I had written a 185-point review in 5 minutes.

The next day I drank the aforementioned traditional Vietnamese coffee along with my usual iced coffee. I don’t know if it was because of the review, but I was a guest in the house that day.

I do Google Local Guides just for fun. I’ve never received anything for what I do there. This was the first time in my life that a blind person rewarded my work.

I really enjoyed the coffee and the attention.

Then there was another occasion when I received a lychee drink as a gift, but I wrote about that in my previous post.

After a couple of days, the entire staff greeted me with a smile and spoke to me. I don’t think it was just because I was the only one who always took my glasses back to the counter. I also brought in what others had left there from the terrace several times. I loved being there and felt that they loved me too.

My other favorite place was Tit Mit Coffee.

This was also a very modernly decorated, pleasant little cafe. There were only 4 tables for four people inside, but when I looked, I saw that it also had an upper level.

A young man was the owner of the place. He also spoke excellent English, so we had a really good conversation on my first visit. In addition, about 300 books awaited visitors on the two levels. The bookshelves looked very nice. Almost all the books were in English, as he said he had read most of them.

I worked upstairs – except for one occasion. There was only one table for 8-10 people, but it was paradise. On one side, there were a few board games, several Jenga towers and several sets of chess waiting for the playful guests.

I also drank all kinds of delicious drinks at his place.

Somehow the issue of Google reviews came up there too. Yes, I remember. After a few days, I noticed a big box of key chains. There were all kinds of cute little figures in it. I asked why it was there.

He said that anyone who wrote a review about the cafe could choose one from the box or request a one-time 5% discount.

I told him that I would have written a review about it anyway, but then I would do it now. And I don’t need either the 5% or the key chain. But he hit on the idea that made me think a little about accepting the key chain. He asked me why I didn’t take one? He’s sure I’d find a little kid who would love it.

How right he was!

He also knew when I was leaving. But for some reason we didn’t meet on my last day. However, he wrote a message the next day. He thanked me for spending so much time with him and said how happy he was to have met me.

We exchanged a few messages over the past few days. It’s so respectful how the people here treat each other. Yesterday I wrote to him that I think Vietnam is the most wonderful country I’ve ever seen as far. He replied that it was a great honor for him and his country…

I left both places with the ease of “see you next time!” But I will cherish their memories, I’m sure.

A sunflower seed

Since it belongs to this post, I will tell you the story of my sunflower seed here as a conclusion.

A few days ago I lived among the wonders of Ninh Binh.

It was our second evening in the main square of the city, watching a performance by local dance groups among the locals.

Suddenly, a beautiful little girl with an angelic face stood in front of us. Without a word, a little shyly, she gave us each a roasted sunflower seed and a piece of potato chips.

I was so touched by this kindness and childlike elegance that I immediately remembered my keychain. I was very sorry that I didn’t have it with me.

I simply couldn’t stop thinking that this was a perfect moment. I only had 4.6 seconds to think about what I wanted to do.

I quickly went back to the accommodation, which is fortunately only 600 meters from the main square. I went into the room, which has 10 beds. I fought the demon of “how to open a combination lock without glasses” and hurried back to the main square.

I was so happy that it worked out this way!

I got back just after the show ended, everyone was already heading home. But I saw the little girl among the people leaving. I bowed to her, showed her a Wai and gave her the key ring.

That incredible smile will always be with me, as she was happy to get something from me. She left. But half a minute later she came back and gave us another piece of chips.

2 pieces of chips and a sunflower seed…

The sunflower seed is a very strong symbol for me.

The seed that we sow…

She gave me this symbol.

She planted another thought in me about life.

And I would really like to believe that I was able to plant a little seed in her about what she probably already knows:

It’s really good to be kind to each other. Without words. A little chip is enough for that.

Thank you, little girl, for being a kind person!

The post 279. | About cafes first appeared on Digital Nomad Blog.

With pleasant memories.

With a ton of photos.

I’m leaving this beautiful island tomorrow.

But the last two days want me to write their story. Well, my story.

Movie night

We didn’t go go-karting on Sunday, because they were having a movie night at the hostel.

It was very professionally organized. You could vote on which movie to watch using a link.

There was an extra opportunity that whoever wrote a Google review would be richer with a portion of popcorn.

I write reviews “professionally”, and I haven’t finished my article about Secret Garden Hostel yet.

I quickly made two videos, 33 pictures and wrote my novella-length review. I got almost 200 points for it in Google’s system. I could honestly praise this place and the people working here, because I got to know a very professionally organized, very friendly accommodation here. And most importantly, I already know every member of the staff.

The movie and my company were good, the popcorn less so, and with these thoughts this great week ended.

Let’s find out what this has to do with Monday!

Monday

I woke up early, planning a long day at work.

After breakfast I headed to one of my two favorite cafes.

I walked down the street in front of the motorbike rental business and greeted the lady owner. She stopped me and thanked me for the review I had written about her business yesterday. It was nice to see how happy she was.

Happiness vs. Monday: 1:0

A few meters later I reached the cafe when my phone rang. Someone responded to my review of the hostel last night.

I am copying this verbatim here.

That honestly means a lot to us. Really happy Secret Garden could feel comfortable enough to become part of your time in Cat Ba for so long. Thanks so much for all the kind words and for being part of the good vibes here with us and also thank you for every single “Xin chào”/ “Goodmorning” days

It’s natural for me to be who I am. As well as greeting the staff. Every morning. With respect.

I am grateful that they appreciated this!

Happiness vs. Monday: 2:0

After that, I entered the café. I will write about cafés in the next post, so for now I will just say that – as every morning – we had a little chat with the lady at the counter.

Lychees came up. She told me that this year there were not many on the island, they had to be imported. Then – since I chose something new from the offer every time – she asked if I would like to try the lychee lemonade.

Of course I would. And she offered it to me as a gift from the house. “On the house”. I never thought that someone would say this to me. Nor that it could be better than the already incredibly delicious lychee lemonade.

Happiness vs. Monday: 3:0

And at this time I usually say that I haven’t put my ass to work yet, but my life has already scored three goals.

The rest of the day was spent working until late at night.

Then in the evening we did the go-karting that we had swapped for a movie night yesterday.

This game was really fun!

First of all – today being a holiday – there were a lot of people everywhere. On the seaside promenade there were not only pedestrians, but also cars, motorbikes, minibuses, cyclists and of course a lot of go-kart drivers racing everywhere.

The whole area was chaos. I even got hit once. We were haggling over the price with a go-kart driver when two guys knocked my leg out from under me. It didn’t hurt either. I was really just nervous that I almost fell on the two little boys. Although I had lost a lot of weight, they certainly wouldn’t have been happy to experience the rest of my weight.

As soon as I jumped on the go-kart, the fight for survival began. Everyone was racing everyone. Everyone was playing with everyone. Overtaking, drifting, sometimes flipping over and falling. All this while smiling a lot. Go-karts have three wheels: one in front, two in the back. Somehow I quickly found the feeling of how to blast on two wheels. Practicing this, I received many signs of appreciation, which is how I knew this could be something special.

For me, this city is the city of lights. And to top it all off, every go-kart is oozing beautiful neon colors like a modern Christmas tree.

It was great that this fun didn’t end up missing out. It was nice to be one of the colorful Christmas trees that evening!

On the boat!

I woke up early on Tuesday morning so that I wouldn’t miss the bus that was due to arrive at 7:45.

Then at 8:00 I received a message telling me to have another coffee because today’s program was delayed. They’d pick me up at 8:30. This is Asia Baby! This is how it’s going!

The bus picked me up at the indicated time. My preliminary information was that the tour guide spoke good English. Compared to that, there were already problems with my name. On the other hand, I was the only Westerner in the group all day.

In what kind of group?

The bus stopped 4 minutes from my accommodation at the port, from where we took a boat to the eastern half of the island.

Among 1000 islands.

It was a beautiful boat trip.

I’m not sure I saw 1000 small islands, maybe there were only 500.

I often thought during the trip that I would have a hard time writing about this experience. Because I can’t really find the words to describe this Tuesday’s beauty.

Of course, I don’t want to do it by “letting the pictures speak for me.” On the one hand – I often feel this way – the pictures can’t even convey what I saw, and on the other hand, there was a story to the day beyond the view.

There was only one person on the ship who spoke English. A retired 76-year-old doctor. I talked to him a lot, we took photos together, he asked me to take a few pictures of him. Then I gave in to his urging, so he took a few of me too.

The trip also included an excellent lunch. I had it with him, his wife, and three other Vietnamese people. They were so kind: everyone showed me what to eat, helped me with food from the shared portion. They prepared the spoon in front of me, then watched me eat with chopsticks.

I spent a good part of the time alone on deck. Strictly in the shade. The deck was so hot that when I walked across it without flip-flops, I immediately regretted forgetting to wear them.

Fortunately, I survived the crawl.

There were so many things to see. For example, the 500-1000 islands. Then the beautiful green, crystal clear water.

The boat stopped at one place for a longer time. Here you could swim, jump, ride a banana boat on the sea and kayak.

I was waiting for the kayaking. I was assigned to a Vietnamese lady. At first I thought about saying that I would prefer to kayak alone, but then I said that I would swim. Not only with the kayak, but also with the flow.

So we spent a funny fifteen minutes rowing in a boat. I rowed a little by myself – as befits a gentleman -, we pulled together, and after all, I didn’t come today to do some exercise, but to enjoy the day without any expectations.

I admit – I hope no one is offended – that when I lay down in the air-conditioned cabin on the roof to admire the view from there, I fell asleep a little. This day was all about relaxation. I could use a little sleep in paradise.

After a long anchorage at sea, the ship docked on the eastern side of the island. From there, they took us to a small village – in the interior of the island – in electric cars.

Actually, it was the surroundings of the village, the jungle, that really captivated me. And the road leading there. The small village, in its peacefulness, was nothing more than a street where – I felt – everyone was just waiting for the moment when a customer would come. Several people approached me to buy something. But I didn’t need anything.

Well, yes, for one thing, with this I was able to bring mutual happiness to one of the vendors and myself. I asked for a pineapple drink. This looked like the lady squeezed a whole pineapple for me. It was incredibly delicious. 40,000 VND (500 HUF, 1.7 USD).

The only thing that stood out from the flow on my day was the seasickness.

When we set off, the boat was rocking wildly. Standing on the top of a three-story boat, you can feel the waves. I immediately started to feel the warning in my head and stomach: you are the seasick type!

I decided then and there that I would deal with this now. I refuse to give in to this feeling. When we drove the electric cars on the island to the small village, I deliberately sat with my back to the direction of travel, as I did on the way back.

The car was going pretty fast, the road was winding, and I simply reminded myself that I was not willing to give in to the attack.

And that day, I simply avoided seasickness.

This doesn’t mean that I’ll never have a problem with this feeling again. Maybe I was just lucky today.

But I’ll definitely try to handle this issue this way next time.

On the way home, we sailed through a fishing village. It’s a bit modern, a bit old settlement on the water. I saw that people really live there in their floating houses among the fishing equipment. You could feel in the air that they work hard for a bite to eat. And this world showed itself in a very interesting and colorful way.

My last working day on the island

Since the bus dropped me off at the hostel before 3am, I still had time to take a quick shower and go to work at one of my two favorite cafes.

The owner was happy to welcome me, and we had time for one last chat and goodbye.

I’m not a fan of goodbyes, I’ve said it many times.

But others do, so of course I’m participating.

I really love this island, that’s for sure.

My goodbye was easy, though.

See you next time!

The post 278. | The last days on Cat Ba Island first appeared on Digital Nomad Blog.