Sorry for the mess in the chronology... I'm uploading as fast as I can, between sorting and packing... This is from Bangkok, with Noam's friend Matteo

Fred et Sara: vous aviez raison pour Sri Aiyuttaya - on a ADORE cet hotel. Merci pour la recommandation!

It was good to relax in the comfort of Thailand, lucky that we were there when Noam was sick, and useful to be able to sort and wash all our stuff before the next steps of the trip. But I won't miss Samui...

It seems to me like each country (like each person, and each place), has its own vibration or energy. Arriving in Ho Chi Minh, it was almost immediate: I knew I liked this country, its culture, vibe, people. Then each encounter with a Vietnamese or a situation here seemed to confirm it: it's like there's a "fit" between us and the energy of this place. I knew some people feel like this about Thailand - a lot of people - but I don't. Of course there's the tranquil subtle beauty of Asia, but there was something undefinable, slightly uncomfortable in it for me. My mind interprets it to be some kind of "fakeness", something artificial, a lack of authenticity that seemed to be reflected in some of the people. The constant smiles of the Thai were weird to me, I couldn't sense what was behind the smile. (Caveat: of course I'm being very schematic here and we of course met many LOVELY Thai people too). And although both India and Vietnam are on a "shopping-spree" - enjoying the substantial increase in wealth and pursuit of materialistic pleasures, emerging of a strong consumerist attitude, there is still something underneath that feels right, for me. We took Tara to Saigon's water world for her birthday (she loves these places with water slides etc etc). It had the same offering as the one in Bangkok, and there were even more people (which should have made me uncomfortable, given that I'm such an agoraphobic... enormous amounts of screaming kids everywhere, etc). So what was this feeling of relaxation and freedom I had? EVEN if my modd was as bad as it had been at the Bangkok water world (sorry , kids and R for my grumpiness... %-) how was it that I could feel grumpy and wanting to get out of there and STILL feeling AT EASE? (i.e. being well, even if not happy?) The situation was the same as in Bangkok but the base feeling was so different. Walking on the streets here I feel FREE, light and free. I like the Vietnamese directness - same that certain people see as aggressiveness: yes certain travellers said, oh no you won't like the Viets, they are pushy, ill tempered, cheating, unkind. I see it as direct, authentic - very much like the Indians actualy. If they're angry or grumpy, it shows! So you KNOW what's going on. Yeah, they are pushy for selling stuff, like Indians - and you can be totally direct back when you say no thanks. And they're FUNNY! Lots of humor, lots of self irony: love it.

Yes, Mom, you wrote a comment about us meeting lots of Vietnamese when we were kids, when you were their teacher: I do think about that often! Although the contact is the opposite (I'm the foreigner, the one who has something to learn...) - I do recognize things. I laugh when I hear them talking to each other and it totally sounds like they're fighting, screaming at each other. Mru, remember?

Ganesh

I do admit I do miss India... 2 1/2 months there still doesn't seem like enough... But Vietnam is wonderful and it's really awesome to discover a new culture

This gecko had incredible red spots

Pinpin on our veranda

Nono on our veranda

R and Nono fishing