Arrived in Mai Châu
By: Austin and Izzy
Today Vietnam Yellow embarked on their third day in the country Vietnam. After our bountiful buffet at the hotel we had to prepare ourselves for our experience in our designated village to which we are going to build a house on stilts. In order to prepare ourselves for this experience, we had to pack up our backpacks to take to this village and store all of our excess belongings inside our suitcase which was kept at the hotel. We started out our adventure with visiting an ancient bridge which had gained this nickname ‘The three century bridge’. This is because it has survived from the 1800s to the 2000s. This included several bombings targeted at the bridge and was built under the order of Mr. Eiffel – the same man who was in charge of the construction of the Eiffel Tower. The bridge is over 3km in length and so we only had the time to walk half way across, then back. As we started the walk across the bridge we immediately noticed how old the bridge was. The walkway was uneven and patchy making it a nightmare for people who people who had a fear of heights! We were right next to motorcycles zooming up and down the road, honking their horns and this was contrasted with the beautiful views of the Red River below us and the lush banana trees. Overall, our walk over the Eiffel bridge was an exciting experience which will not be forgotten.
Travelling to Mai Chau by bus took roughly 4 hours. This gave us a wonderful opportunity to work on our Journey Docs and to reflect on what we had already experienced. The closer we were to arriving at our destination, the more amazing the scenery became. One second it was flat farmland, the next we were scaling sky high mountains looking out to see a really beautiful side of Vietnam. In order for us to stretch our legs for a bit, we stopped at the Limestone Mountains and looked out upon the impressive scenery. While we were there we took several creative photos and played games on the limestone pebbles. We were amazed to learn that the mountains we were standing on had originally been submerged under water and were made from the shells of dead marine animals. Soon enough we packed back onto the bus and after roughly 2 more hours we arrived at our destination.
As we piled out of the bus, we were immediately hit with different emotions as we looked around the Mai Chau village. We saw run down houses, were confronted with questionable smells, and were startled by the mooing of the cows a few yards away on the same road as us. We were then escorted to our accomodation in traditional long houses built on stilts. After we settled in, we were taken around the local area and were given the opportunity to spend some of our money on local goods in the various markets. We then enjoyed a relaxing walk back home to have a wonderful dinner which consisted of traditional Vietnamese cuisine. We are off to prepare for an early night in preparation for our big day of building tomorrow
