Travelling immaculately.

“Here we were thinking you are from France; your style is very European”, said the receptionist at the Kaisariani monastery after I revealed that I’m African, Tanzanian specifically. “Uhm, Thanks?”, not sure whether it was supposed to be a compliment.

“See, we don’t get many visitors in this monastery, you are the first African we have seen in months. Are you travelling alone?”

“Yes”

“We weren’t exactly expecting a young African girl to visit us, alone. [Laughs] Anyways, enjoy your hike”

“Thank you!”

And that my friend was how I realized that I’ve become that girl. What girl?  You ask. Let’s rewind a few steps back.

I dreamt this moment

At the beginning of the year, I had planned to do the traditional grand tour after completing my degree. No specifics, just places I hadn’t been to before. I researched at night, and reflected on my morning run. I decided to follow my fascination with Europe and perhaps Asia. I read blog after blog on how to travel cheap and bookmarked all travel sites I could find. It was time consuming but it kept me going through the tests and assignments. Having travelled before, I didn’t want to miss this opportunity so I did more planning and booking. What could possibly go wrong, right?  Unfortunately, though expected, protests happened, the semester was prolonged into my anticipated travel period, sickness happened, a breakup amongst other life happenings; not exactly the foreplay for a grand tour. Thanks to my proactive self I had solid reasons to be travelling, my papers were accepted to three conferences, which not only gave me approval from the University but also funds.

To the monastery receptionist, I may have appeared to be an eccentric African girl defying the odds but deep down I was just a messed up girl either escaping or dealing with life. Travel therapy might be cheap for actual Europeans but for the rest of us, some creative effort is required and it goes a long way. Some of these efforts include the following:

1. First things first, get money. For me, that meant working internships during holidays and part-time in the semester. Putting so much effort meant I gave lots of thought before swiping my card for anything, whether that is groceries, transport, clothing etc. It worked out really well because most of my time studying and perhaps tweeting #WinWin.

2. Give it another name. I come from a culture that doesn’t put enough importance to extra-curricular interests, especially if they are challenging or appear expensive at face value. ‘I’m going to conferences and travelling in between’ seems more like an appropriate response when asked why I was travelling. Thankfully both my conferences were in Europe, a fact that appeased the visa gods. Thanks to friends at Web Summit (won an open source scholarship) and paper reviewers at NEUREL in Belgrade and WIML in Barcelona (won a travel grant), my passport was stamped with a very long Schengen visa.

Friends I made at conferences

3. Travel cheap: Will you stay at the Hilton’s or in a backpacker’s hostel? Does the hostel have kitchen facilities to prepare quick meals? Will you take a shared or private room? Will you take the plane or the bus? The metro or Uber? These are the questions that define how much damage you will incur. I managed to get away with a very friendly budget because I lived cheap. since I would be out most of the time, I didn’t a little discomfort at the hostels. I continued my habit of preparing my own meals, which also made it incredibly cheaper. Little equipment is needed to make a sandwich, Europe is a very small continent to be moving by plane, Did I mention my student card gave me discounts and sometimes free entrance to museums and galleries?

When on top of Athens

4. Plan ahead, almost to the minute. Complimentary to the point above. When you are away and alone, and a problem hits you, it’s easier to throw money at it. A little bit of planning goes a long way. How often does the bus stop here? Are trains available at this hour of the night? Does the hotel offer complimentary Wi-Fi? You are in a new place, excited about almost everything. You will want to buy all the souvenirs and touristy things. It’s easy to fall into the trap of spontaneous splashing. I cured this craving with fridge magnets. Be responsibly spontaneous, if at all such a term exists.

5. It’s a learning experience not a vacation. A lot of people think travel is expensive because they equate travel with luxury, hence the need for expensive hotels, flights, restaurants, shopping, excursions and commercial luxuries, most of which are attainable without traveling. I believe the most important aspect of traveling is learning. Being perhaps the only time I would spend in the cities, I indulged in the history, art, geography, politics and culture of the cities through museums, galleries, walking tours, cultural events and hostel conversations with strangers.  Turns out most of these activities are cheap and fun, not to mention guarantee that you’ll be in good company.

Was it worth the effort?

Friends

I would like to say ‘I started the year ZAR 20,000 poorer’ but the more accurate description would be ‘completely broke’. And the insane part is that I actually planned for that, like I actually worked my ass to land back to square one. Yeah, it gets worse, I may have mentioned it before but I lost my phone, missed my flight, lost a couple of miscellaneous items, mostly because of the overhead that comes with planning every minute. 

One of few spontaneous moments in Berlin

Honestly speaking, as fancy as it sounds, travelling is in reality very uncomfortable. It takes a while to acclimatize to new place, that is if it’s even safe, an even longer while to have meaningful interactions with the locals and forever to have a stable routine, a luxury I couldn’t afford since I wanted to fit everything in. There were days when the need for stability and acceptance made me question all my life choices.

All things considered, I’m glad I did it. Without the goal I wouldn’t have worked ruthlessly or planned exhaustively or saved aggressively and generally grown as a person. The downside of solo travelling is that it can get stressful and lonely but the upside is you find yourself making friends who would normally be out of your reach.  It might not seem like it but most people are nice people, or at least they are not out to eat you.

These strangers didn't bite

I may or may not have enjoyed the trip but one thing for sure is that I learnt. My practical self would never find herself reading about the Athens Acropolis or the Holocaust or the Monastery of Montserrat unless they were right in front of me.  The tours might have been introductory but they are the reason my shelf is currently filled with history books and why I can engage in such conversations.

 

This marks the end of my posts of my 2 months’ solo adventure in Europe and Asia. Some might label it as unnecessary and a waste of time and money, and to a degree it was.  Travel isn’t cheap and it definitely doesn’t make you better than others, but with the right reasons, it’s a good way to spend your time and hard-earned money. It challenges you mentally, physically, financially, emotionally and socially, but in the end it redefines your limits and leaves you craving for more. Stay tuned for my next adventure. 

[Vietnam] .. How to Saigon

If you are tired of reading about Europe here, then you are in for a treat. As much as I enjoyed my solo trip across Europe; towards the end I was so fatigued that all I wanted was a quiet life in a warm country. A pleasant twist of fate happened when my paper got accepted to ICMLSC 2017 making me highly eligible for a Vietnamese visa.

I thought I was heading to Ho Chi Minh city until when in the plane the lady next to me asked if I would be in Saigon for the Lunar New Year. That my friend, was how I learnt that Saigoners didn’t exactly like to be called Saigoners either disliked the name or the revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh. Either way the 1976 change of names didn’t affect their language much.

Ho Chi Minh, the person

Ho Chi Minh and  an impostor

On stepping out of the airport, I had to acclimatize to lots of things, the warm weather, the mosquitoes, the conversion rate to Vietnamese dong, the language and not-so-familiar sight of gazillion motorbikes. I have to admit that I failed miserably on the last two. I don’t mind the language bit since I’m lazy with languages but I do mind the latter. It was fun to watch the motorbikes from inside the bus until I reached my stop and had to cross the road with heavy luggage. See, I have witnessed extremely brutal motorbike accidents in Tanzania, so this scenario of so many motor bikers who didn’t seem to notice the traffic lights just compounded my fears. I had solved lots of challenges in the past but they didn’t prepare me for this I had no option but to dive in and hire a bike, a decision which at the time felt like signing up for death. Obviously I didn’t die, but I closed my eyes through most of it, because, boys and girls, road action is only fun when watched from a screen.

Motorbikes and one car

After that very memorable entrance, I proudly presented my paper at the conference then switched back to explorer mode.

I have written things .

Saigon post office

Pieces of South Africa

Pieces of France

Saigon Opera House

Every day I would wake up to a 5am run to find a crowd sweating it out at the Le Van Tam park in whatever way they are comfortable with. Many walk/run along the perimeter, some play badminton, some do muscle work on the outdoor gym, some simply stretch but the most eye-catching crowd will be dancing to energetic Vietnamese songs. 

Le Van Tam park by day

The park is a different world by day

While the rest of the world is looking for gym motivation, the Vietnamese, old and young, big and small, simply start their day by playing. This morning routine is very important to them that they have a park every few kilometers in the city. Their commitment to a healthy lifestyle doesn’t stop at working out. The Vietnamese Cuisine is well known for filling up on vegetables and soup and many locals eat these dishes affordably at food stalls, typically owned and operated by women.

A woman at the womnen's museum

Speaking of women, it’s easy to assume that feminism is not popular in this third world country and you will very wrong. I visited the Museum of Southern Vietnamese women only to appreciate the progress our Asian fellows have made. Women have been actively contributing to all sorts of fields; textile, business, politics, military, mill grinding, motorbike riding, you name it. Feminism is embraced all the way to the Ao Dai, their traditional dress that has creatively evolved a lot over the years.

Pretty things I saw at the museum

The Ao Dai

Another Ao Dai

After sweat breaking and showering, they of course commute to work/school and for most people this is done with no other machine than the motorbike. Only very few super rich people can afford cars; a second hand Japanese car might sound affordable at first but the government imposes tax,100% of its value, this compounded by the high fuel costs keeps the car further out of reach. The fact that cars are not affordable gives many an excuse to spoil themselves with a second fancy motorbike for social commuting. This explains why there are 7.4 million bikes for 8.5 million residents of the city.

Motorbikes and one car

 The conscious effort to reduce cars might be helping with congestion and commute time but it doesn’t assist much with air pollution. The motorbikes’ exhaust, the buzz of the city, fused with the heat and humidity has Saigoners craving for fresh air on the weekends. They often find themselves 200 km away from the city on the lovely plains of Mekong Delta. 

Houseboats at Cai Be floating market

When in the Delta.

Muddy banks of Mekong river

Life on the Delta is as natural as it gets. Here, farmers eat from the ground, follow the sun and cherish the rain. They plant in the wet season and trade in the dry season. Between May and October, they will be growing all sorts of crops, mostly rice and in the second half of the year they carry their produce in their houseboats to the market. In addition to farming other activities that flourish include handcraft, processing rice to wine, pop rice (rice popcorn) etc, making and recycling literally everything. 

Creative works at the Delta

Rice paper in the making

Rice husks recycled as fuel

Rice wine in the making

Made with coconut shells

In a nutshell, delta life is filled with creative work, hammocking, and bike riding in between. Look no further for high life expectancy.

Some take entertainment a step further by going all the way to the Cambodia border to gamble. Although there are casinos in the city, only foreigners are allowed to gamble as the law prohibits Vietnamese citizens from gambling within the country. When not appreciating nature, Saigoners relax city style by shopping and massaging. Of all the shopping centres, Bitexco Financial Towers I was mostly impressed with the Bitexco Financial Towers. Named one coolest skyscrapers in the world, it harbours not only most of the multinational companies in Vietnam but the best view of the city embraced by the Saigon river.

Views from the tour

Saigon river from the tower

The tower from the bottom

The tower from afar

When it comes to religion most (about 73% ) Vietnamese do not belong to any organized religion although you will find shrines in almost every house or establishment. These are shrines to their ancestors and nature gods, which is an integral part of the Vietnamese Folk religion. This religion is not a formal religion but an umbrella for the Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian values that the Vietnamese uphold. There is one religion that combines these beliefs formally and it is called Caodaism. Followed by 4.8% of the population, this religion developed in Vietnam about a century ago.

Vietnamese folk shrines

The term Caodaism stems from the title of the highest deity: Cao Đài Tiên Ông Đại Bồ Tát Ma Ha Tát The title can be broken to trace its three parent religions; Cao Đài means High Tower/Palace in Confucianism, Tiên Ông means lowest rank in Taoism and Đại Bồ Tát Ma Ha Tát means the lowest rank in Buddhism. Combines together, the essence of Caodaism is unification of the world religions and humility of God as the lowest divinity. Manifestation of the parent religions of the world extend beyond the title to the colors, emblem and moral compass. The emblem consists of the Bowl Charity for Buddhist Compassion, feather duster for Taoist purification and Spring and Autumn Annals for Confucian virtue and love.

Buddhist temple

The Hindu Temple (not many worshippers hence its hardly maintained)

Turtles at the Jade Emperor Pagoda

Taoist practise

Look! I made a friend

 I had been to Taoist and Buddhist temples so I was expecting a Caodaist temple to be similar; boy was I wrong. 

colors!

No its not a Hindu temple

The Divine Eye

Neither is it a chinese temple

The prayer

Pretty things

Who am I to resist?

Colors embraced by the monks

Who am I to resist the photo.

The garden

A Caodaist wedding

And more colors!

Temple front view

I visited the biggest Caodaist temple at the Holy See curious to learn about the religion but ended being distracted by its beauty. The colors and gardens played a big role in that. The temple is conspicuously decorated with three colors yellow Buddhism, blue for Taoism, and red for Confucianism. A peculiar eye known as the Divine Eye can be seen at many spots, together with the emblem. It is strategically placed to remind believers that God watches over everything. I was also fortunate to witness one of their 4 daily prayers which happen every 6 hours starting from 06:00 am. This too was beautiful to watch; women seated on the right, men on the left, being led in ruminative songs and prayers by monks dressed in the three colors. Turns my timing was perfect since in the following week, the last week of the Lunar year, there would be no prayers since they believe the gods stop their duties to convene for closing the year.

And then I saw Victor Hugo

What I didn’t expect to see at the temple was a painting of Victor Hugo, a French writer I had just learned about in Paris. I learnt that he is one of three Venerable saints consisting of him, the Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat Sen and the Vietnamese poet Trạng Trình Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm. Although the religion came later, Victor Hugo is revered since he championed Spiritism in Europe, which is the core the Third Era Caodaists are patiently awaiting. I’m still looking for that one universal religion that is independent of geography, traditions and customs but Caodaism comes close.

Before this trip, my vision of Vietnam was the country that defeated the US in the Vietnam war. I was therefore very curious to learn the history of the country and the war. These curiosities led me to the Reunification palace, Ho Chi Minh museum, Museum of art and Cu Chi tunnels.

Ho Chi Minh , 'the father of the nation'

Vietnam national flower

At the Museum of art complex

In the palace

Being in the city the reunification palace was my first stop. Although now a museum, the palace marked the end of the Vietnam war on 30^th April 1975 when the North Vietnamese Army crushed its gates forcing the Southern Vietnamese president to surrender. Beside it symbolic importance, its architecture is equally as appealing. Dating as far back as 1858 during the French colonial era, the Palace was built to be the ruler’s dwelling and working place. Its façade was designed by Ndo Viet Thu, the first Vietnamese architect to have Prix de Rome, modeled after the Chinese good luck character.

The Chinese character for 'good luck'

The Palace facade (Do you see the character above?)

If it weren’t for the Notre Dame Cathedral, I wouldn’t know that Vietnam was once a French Colony. There aren’t many French speakers in the country and the 0.7% who do are old, thanks to the First Indochina war of 1945 that erased France from Vietnamese books. Through the war they were hoping to kick France out and reunite North and South Vietnam but that was too much to ask in one war. They did remove colonizers but only symbolically because a puppet capitalist government was placed in South Vietnam led by Ngo Dinh Diem while the much revered Ho Chi Minh, headed the North in Communism.  

The Notre Dame Cathedral

It is a lie that the Cold War was never physically fought because it happened in Vietnam under the disguise of the Second Indochina war or in more familiar terms, the Vietnam war for 20 years from 1975. It will be recorded as a war between North Vietnam and South Vietnam but it was the supporting parties that had much more at stake.  Communist North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union and China while the South was supported by the US and Australia. While the North Vietnamese army led a conventional battle, the Viet Cong guerillas in the South redefined what it means to have military advantage.

The guerillas fought in the Cu Chi tunnels among other barricks and they didn’t much in the way of material weapons. Surrounded by US forces, it was difficult to get weapons from Russia, a problem they creatively solved with recycling.

How weapons were recycled

Recycling

Shoes from recycled material

 The Americans were ignorantly aiding their enemies whenever they blasted bombs on them.  Although the Vietnamese are small, that didn’t pose a problem since no physical combat was required. They used their size advantage to make the tunnels very tiny, automatically disqualifying the Americans from entering. There were 3 levels of tunnels at 3m, 6m and 10m depth. Americans tried bombing them but it only destroyed the first layer. When the Americans got frustrated at not being able to spot and annihilate the tunnels, they called other agents to their aid. When they splashed water, it only helped in cooling off the chambers, when they sprayed poisonous gas, the guerillas were well prepared simply closed off some chambers. 

Who am I to resist such photos?

Actual tunnel

Widened tunnel for tourists

A wide version of the tunnels

You’d think that snakes would work against them, but the guerillas were so grateful for this protein source. The guerillas’ knowledge of the land also gave them advantage when setting booby traps that were very effective against machines, bombs and computers of the enemy. As a matter of fact, the guerillas used every resource they had, every capable person fought, irrespective of their gender or age. Those who couldn’t fight, found use in supporting through producing food, recycling weapons, setting traps among others. I suspect, when you have a clear, common goal, everything falls into place. The next time you feel paralyzed by the hills you have to conquer, think of the guerillas and conquer them.

The soldier got an admirer

Why resist such photos?

Brutal booby trap

Although the Vietnamese won the war, like any other war, it was the innocent ones who suffered. 1.5 million people died leaving behind traumatized families and a lot more injured. Of these, one Phan Thi Kim Phuc , a little 9 years old girl at the time, suffered a Napalm attack from the South Vietnamese army. We know her since the act was captured in a Pulitzer winning photograph, leaving her legacy as the Napalm girl.

 

The famous Napalm photo

On my first trip to Asia I felt very homesick since the Japanese can be hard to crack. The feeling was significantly reduced in Vietnam, where the people were welcoming and eager to talk to foreigners. I also have to mention that they are not used to seeing African visitors, so I got a lot celebrity-style attention, not that I’m complaining .. ;).  I was also not immune to tourist traps, but being from Tanzania I was well prepared when a shoe shiner wanted to charge me a million dong ($50)for the service. All in all, it was definitely an educational experience that left me craving for more.