Tracy’s Travel Adventure: Vietnam – Ho Chi Minh City, Vipassana and Hội An

Read time: 8 minutes

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(Also, hilariously at the time of writing this post, I’ve earned a total of…$6.29! Thanks for the meal :D)

Hello Readers,

This post is being written from a lovely hotel in Kuantan, Malaysia. My friend and I have been hiding in the hotel room for the past 3 days after spending a fair amount over the last few months serving at dhamma centres. We’re here until tomorrow and then we head to Dhamma Malaya for sitting as students. I must say that although I prefer to be in little family owned accommodations, it’s certainly nice to hide away for a few days and get some work/adulting done!

Ho Chi Minh City – District 3 (Aloha Hostel)

My adventures in Vietnam started at a wonderful hostel located in district 3. It is family-owned and had such a great atmosphere. I was attracted there because the reviews all mentioned the owner Ha and, whenever there’s a specific person mentioned in the reviews, there’s always nice travellers who gravitate.

There ended up being a little group of us and we spent a bunch of time at a local restaurant Chay Khai Tam. I met the owner Trang on the first day and turns out she’s also a fellow vipassana meditator! I ended up at her restaurant 4 or 5 nights in a row and WOW is the food ever good! After the 3rd night, she even allowed me into the back so I could learn how she makes some of her dishes ;). I must say though, even after seeing how the dishes are prepared, it would take a while to replicate. SO many different pieces go into it.

Onward to Hoằng Nguyện Vipassana Meditation Center!

To my fellow vipassana meditators, Hoằng Nguyện Meditation Center is an awesome place for vipassana. In Vietnam, they aren’t allowed to have “centres” so all of them are labelled as “non-centres” on the website; however, the one I went to runs courses regularly. What’s even cooler is that the site is at a monastery pagoda and the teachers I met are mostly nuns and monks! Wow, do they ever have incredible knowledge.

Here’s the website: https://www.dhamma.org/en/schedules/noncenter/vn, but note that there are many locations listed so do some research to make sure you have directions to the right one.

Also, as for directions to the centre, I don’t have many specific details as Ha at Aloha Hostel did all my booking for me. My recommendation? Just stay there and ask him to help you. (He was a tour guide for 10 years before having a family). Regardless, it’s still pretty simple. It’s only one bus from HCM city and you end up asking the driver to stop on the side of the highway so you can get off. From there, it’s only a 7 minute walk to the centre. Please note, many people in Vietnam do not speak English so have Google translate ready.

Hoằng Nguyện Vipassana Meditation Centre

Now people have asked me, which is the best centre? Honestly, there is not “best” because each of them have taught me something different. Some are more established while others have different learning oppourtunities. What’s really interesting though is that each centre holds the culture of where it is located with different food and mannerisms from the serving of food, to washing of dishes and preparation. All I can say is go and explore the different centres. It’s an excellent way to practice meditation, learn the roots of the culture and meet some really nice friends along the way.

Those who know me know that I’m a big foodie. Something beautiful about this centre and Vietnam is the plethora of fruit trees. Just at this centre alone, I saw banana trees, rambutan trees, papaya trees and…starfruit trees! Sorry…limited photos because no phones are to be used during the course, but to be honest, I enjoy the time away from technology.

Thank you Vy – you taught me a lot:

To be frank, it was a little challenging for me when I arrived at this centre. There were lots of mosquitos and bugs plus it was hot and humid. I was also reminded not to talk in the kitchen – something which was a little foreign to me. Each centre is different and, while I was a bit taken a back at first, I came to enjoy the peaceful, quiet atmosphere of the kitchen. The servers worked together with little communication of small gestures and we spent our time focusing on our work.

Vy taught me a lot from this experience. She explained why she asks people not to talk in the kitchen. With developing your concentration (samadi), you develop your wisdom (panna). It’s so simple and made a lot of sense. Also, with less talking there’s less chance of talking poorly, causing disagreements and breaking sila (lols…more on this in the next post in Malaysia). It creates a more peaceful atmosphere for sure plus saves a surprising amount of energy.

I also learned how to be more gentle in the kitchen. I was cutting fruit/veg and she told me how to do it more quietly. What I didn’t realize before was by moving so fast and being loud, it creates a harsher atmosphere which permeates to others around me. I also feel much more peaceful when being more careful so it’s a practice that I brought forward with me to other centres.

Thank you again Vy – I hope we meet again in the future ^^. Also. You’re an amazing cook. OMG.

**March 2025 update: I found Vy via another meditator and we met up again in Ho Chi Minh!

Back to HCM (Saigon):

(Btw, if you hear people say Saigon, it’s the same as Ho Chi Minh city…it was just renamed after the war)

After the vipassana centre, I made my way back to HCM city where I was going to take a sleeper bus with Soulaimane to Hoi An…but…not before one last stop to see Trang.

It was a quick last goodbyes to my friends who were still there at Aloha Hostel. Max, Ares, Nico and Soul…may we meet up again at Aloha in the future. Thanks for making Vietnam so memorable.

Sleeper Bus – HCM to Hoi An

If you haven’t done a sleeper bus in Vietnam, well you’re certainly in for an adventure. Soul and I decided to do the 17-hour journey because we were pretty curious. We went for the “hostel on wheels” version as we like to put it. Approximately $50CAD one way so half the cost of taking a plane. Would I do it again? Yes. Do I recommend you bring items with you? Absolutely. Earplugs, eyemask and anti-nausea meds are probably essential.

…Oh. And toilet paper

Here’s some links if you want them:

• Loop earplugs: https://amzn.to/4dUp1FJ
• Eyemask: https://amzn.to/4eU2L0e
• Anti-nausea: https://amzn.to/3Yhhhbj (could only find Gravol Ginger, but if you find dimenhydrinate, just remember it’ll make you drowsy…ask your pharmacist)
• …toilet paper: https://amzn.to/3BT4jc3

Not many pics from this as we are going to make a Youtube video of our adventure. It’ll be uploaded probably sometime in late November, but Soul is being a poo-brain and isn’t responding to messages. He’s probably doing something fancy like being and adult and working right now.

Cool things happen on occasion. I had no plans to make a Youtube channel in my life, but it kind of just happened with Trang’s Restaurant and Aloha Hostel. Then this vlog…and randomly…a podcast episode!

…Yup…never expected this in my life.

Two guys at the hostel were looking for travellers to chat with on their podcast so Soul and I signed up. Two nice UK fellas hoping to film in beautiful environments while chatting with people around the world. Their dream is to do one with Mount Everest in the background. Beautiful idea no? Here’s their Instagram if you want to check them out: everday.intelligence. If you want to check out the episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9AW_iDvmZ8

In other news…Hoi An has beautiful beaches. We asked a local and they sent us to the place they go which is right at the end of the beach. Super quiet and no one bothered us.

And…that’s a wrap folks!

Take it easy and hope you enjoy the beauty of what life has to offer.

Until next time and…for my fellow vipassana friends…

With metta,

Tracy