Today we had an awesome day that started with an accidental wakeup call of 6:30 instead of 7:30 that gave us nice fresh start to a wonderful day filled with laughs and smiles. After our wakeup call we went up to the 8th floor for breakfast that consisted of a variety of different foods from different cultures. We then hopped on the bus which took us 45 minutes to the orphanage. When we arrived there we could straight away see how disadvantaged the children were and how they spent their days. To even make things worse, the children all have disabilities with no treatment to help them. Most of the children won’t even make it past the age of 17 and won’t be able to leave the orphanage in that time. However, it brought everyone great joy to see the looks of pure happiness on the faces of the children as we gave them our gifts and played with them, the children especially enjoyed the light up balls, the blow up soccer balls, and drawing books and coloured pencils. When it came time for lunch we got to help feed the children who struggled to eat by themselves. The children especially enjoyed the yoghurt they got after they finished their meal. We were all happy to present a donation to the orphanage to help them get along and to support the children. Then we got back on our bus and feeling humbled, we enjoyed some quite time as we drove back to the hotel so that we could go and get some lunch during our free time. During free time, some of us went to a Pho restaurant where we enjoyed pho noddles mixed with a variety of meats. I ordered the number three combo which included pho noddles with beef a coke, and a caramel flan for desert which was very filling. We then raced back to the hotel where we were beginning to start the Great Race. We got split up into 5 teams and got handed sheets with questions and instructions to do and follow. Each team set out with energetic spirit as we marched into the streets of Vietnam. The race itself was a challenge to know our surroundings and how to get around. During the race we needed to ask the locals questions and directions to complete it. It was a challenge trying to ask the locals questions as some of them didn’t know much English which resulted in they them saying prices for wallets or fruit! At the end of the race we were asked to go to the tallest tower in Vietnam which was called the Bitexco Tower. We got an awesome view of Ho Chi Minh city which was breathtaking. Then we went to dinner at a pleasant little restaurant where we had dinner and then we thanked Hung our tour guide for being amazing! Then we wished Jemima a Happy Birthday for the 25th November (as we will be on the plane tomorrow night – and it was midnight on the 25th in Australian time). We had a cake and all sung Happy Birthday to her, then she opened some cards from family in Australia. Then Hung took us to the top of this amazing five star hotel that was super expensive which no one could afford but we got to enjoy the amazing view. Then we went back to the hotel and got ready for bed.
By Matthew Ganther and Simon