From February 3 to May 25 of 2010 my wife Lorna, and I left Canada and traveled to Laos, Cambodia, Viet Nam, China, and Japan. We ended our four-month journey in Japan at Gyokuryuji Temple. I am a student of Shinzan Miyamae Roshi, the Abbot of Gyokuryuji.
In all five of these countries the people have been deeply influenced by Buddhism. We wanted contact with ordinary people as much as possible as well as visiting Buddhist temples, monasteries, and gardens along the way. This joint installment includes observations from Laos, Cambodia, and Viet Nam, with China and Japan to follow in the next installment.
We realize that writing this reflection is an abstraction from our lived experience; however, while we were traveling we were completely absorbed in the moment with our experiences. Now we can look at our photographs, reflect on our memories and recall the high points of the trip. We have been asked many times since returning: Why would two Canadians travel in Asia for four months and what where the high points of this experience?
From Victoria we flew to Bangkok via Seattle and Seoul. From Bangkok we flew the following morning to Vientiane, Laos where we stayed for one week. Our ‘Bed and Breakfast’ hotel room on the fifth floor was in a wonderful location with a balcony overlooking a Buddhist monastery and the Mekong River. About five o’clock each morning, while it was still dark, the bell in the monastery rang making a loud “gong”, dogs barked, and a few minutes later the monks silently headed out in single file carrying their bowls for their daily begging walk. People sitting or standing near the edge of the road, sometimes by candlelight, gave offerings to the monks as they passed by.
Vientiane is the center of Lao Buddhism with many active temples and monasteries. This gave us an opportunity to visit some of the most famous such as the ‘World-Precious Sacred Stupa,’ built in 1566. It is the most important national monument in Laos and home of the Supreme Patriarch of Lao Buddhism.
Also, among the many temples we visited, Wat Si Saket, now a museum is the oldest in the city. The architectural styles, the statues, the icons of Buddhism, were stunning, demanding wholehearted attention at every turn. This experience of becoming totally absorbed in what we are doing is one of the major draws for my wife and I traveling in foreign lands.
Zazen (sitting meditation) is very important, however, Hakuin said, “To practice Zen in movement is superior to doing so in the stillness of meditation.” The practice of “kufu” (absorbed, alert attention) can be the Zen practice of the traveler.
“Walk like a cow.
Look like a tiger!” - Roshi Miyamae
After a week of new sights, sounds, smells, foods and customs of a dramatically different culture, we flew to Luang Prabang, the ancient capital of Laos where there were many more Buddhist sites to visit. We stayed there for almost three weeks, which gave us plenty of time to explore and talk with local people.
At one point we took an excursion out of Luang Prabang to an Elephant Camp where we stayed for three days and nights. We chose a company that had policies of taking good care of the elephants and working with the local hill tribe people. On the way to the camp we were introduced to several different minority people in their villages. Another day we kayaked along a tributary of the Mekong River and one morning at 7 am we helped to bathe elephants in the river, scrubbing their backs with long handled brushes. Later in the day, while riding on the elephants in a kind of bamboo chair for two, we viewed the jungle highlights from this lofty perch, an exciting way to gain a new perspective.
Lorna and I like to eat foods of other cultures. So everywhere throughout the trip we ate the local food. Thus, openness to foods, cultures, and contact with local people characterized our intent as travelers. Openness, a Buddhist practice, is emphasized by the following quote:
As for ‘effecting openness,’ The Book of Balance and Harmony says, “Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism – all simply transmit openness. Throughout all time, those who have transcended have done the work from within openness…learning Buddhism is meditation plunging into openness…Thomas Cleary. The Secret of the Golden Flower. The Classic Chinese Book of Life. Harper/San Francisco. 1991, p.115
In early March we flew to Siem Reap, Cambodia where we stayed for a week at a fascinating B & B, a converted French Villa. For five days, in 37-38 degree Celsius heat, we toured the main area of the Angkor Archaeological Park, and also some of the more outlying ruins. The temple ruins, just north of Siem Reap, are the remnants of the Angkorean Wat, the largest ancient religious site in the world. There are many Angkorean-era ruins scattered across all of Cambodia as well as parts of Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.
From Siem Reap we headed to Vietnam where we spent another month. We flew via Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), to Phu Quoc Island which is located in the Gulf of Thailand, 15 km south just off the coast of Cambodia, A small, relatively undeveloped island, Phu Quoc Island is known for its pearl farms, black pepper, fish sauce and white sandy beaches, a beautiful spot for a quiet meditative retreat. After eight days on Phu Quoc we flew back to Saigon (HCMC).
In the next few paragraphs Lorna tells of her experience in Saigon with a bookseller.
People travel for many reasons, of course. Dale and I have an intense interest in other cultures, especially in the lived experience of the people. We are both most interested in relating to the local people and listening to their stories of their lives, as well as sharing ours. There is much to appreciate in each country: the natural environment, the historical context, the foods, yet, it is the people that interest us most; who they are. We travel with curiosity, always willingness to engage with the people.
My repeated experience is that when I carry this openness into my contact with other people an openness to engage is often reciprocated.
Dale and I experienced this on many occasions. On our first morning in Ho Chi Minh City, we walked out onto the streets in search of a place to have breakfast, passing by the local vendors who had set up small plastic stools and tables as cafes on the sidewalks. About five minutes from our hotel we were able to find a street with many indoor cafes to choose from for breakfast. We chose one where the front of the café was completely open to the street so that we could have an unobstructed view to the all the activity of the street. It was such a delight to observe local street life from our perspective while sitting at the table. Shortly after ordering breakfast a young male vendor in his early twenties, approached our table selling sunglasses. We waved him on pointing to the tops of our heads where our sunglasses sat. Moments later a female vendor in her thirties selling paperback books entered the restaurant. She approached us with the very heavy looking tall stack of books she carried on her right shoulder. They were copied books, many of them the latest and most popular novels and travel books.
Given my interest in local people, I was open to engaging with this woman, rather than see her as a nuisance. I had no interest in purchasing any book yet I chose not to turn this woman away. I was interested in her and began to engage her in a conversation. The conversation centered on the books, and she would introduce each one to me, and I in turn would respond, depending on the book and my awareness of it. I was impressed and surprised to learn that the woman had a great deal of knowledge about many of the books she was selling and we had lovely experience discussing them. Through the medium of the books we talked about our lives and ourselves. A wonderfully rich experience!
We explored Saigon (HCMC) for three more days before flying to Danang, and then traveling by car to Hoi An: a wonderful little bicycle friendly town—easy to get around, quiet, mellow, full of history, and many tailor shops. Hoi An has many historical sites of Japanese and Chinese traders who exchanged goods here between the seventh and tenth centuries.
After ten days of exploring northern Viet Nam we were back in Hanoi once again where we boarded the evening train for our two-day/two night train trip to Beijing, China. On April 11 we arrived in the political and cultural centre of the world's most populous nation. And here begins another series of remarkable
experiences and stories for the next installment.
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