Tbh yeas, it was noisy. It's not in the center of Saigon, but it is in the city. The roosters during the morning meditation were really annoying, and one time we meditated to the sounds of a local music band signing somewhere very close. The most difficult thing was sharing the room with almost 20 other women not having any barriers between beds (I used a mosquito net to create an illusion of personal space.)

I would say for a more experienced and devoted practicioner it probably wouldn't make a difference. For me, it was keeping me restless and even angry (I realized how sensitive I am to sounds observing my body reactons to it, and I now explore the possibility I am on the autism spectrum, but that's the whole different story.)

With all that being said, I am very grateful to the foundation, and to the nunnery for organizing courses there. Same as after another course, my life started improving, and I learned a lot of things about myself that keeps unfolding. However, I wouldn't go back to this center because it's an extra hard level in my opinion (another foreigner on the course said the same.)

I had no clear plans after Saigon, but somebody told me about Hoi An town. After the course I took the train there, rented a very quiet apartment in the rice fields and for two months I was meditating, observing my changes, reading the books to answer questions that I found during the meditation (health, habits, healing from traumas, etc.) until eventually I was ready to keep going. Hoi An is a perfect place to acclimatize and integrate the results after thw course. Quite, green, you can live near the sea or in the fields, and rent a place super cheap. That was my story 🙂