After an early start we began our long bus ride to the Mekong Delta. Mr. Tudor played the ukulele along the way. Halfway through the trip we stopped at a small shop and bought some traditional Vietnamese snacks. We had a lot of fun selecting the different types of lollies, ranging from sesame seed cakes to sweet, sugary, dried fruits. Most of us were extremely tired from the long bus trip but cheered up straight away after having a quick bite to eat. When we got off the bus we caught a boat to look at the brick factory. The factory was extremely hot and made us all very sweaty. We saw the process of how bricks and pottery objects were made and got to see some items being transferred into a massive kiln. This was very interesting and lifted our spirits for tomorrow when we start building a brick house. After we got out of the brick factory we went to the place where we indulged in lunch. We were served a whole fish from the river and tried to make rice paper rolls with salad.
After a filling lunch we took a bike ride around the area to witness how people lived and see the foundation of the house we would be building. This was quite an eye opener for us as we had never seen such dire living conditions before. It also made us more motivated to make a good job of the house we are building.
We travelled by boat to the guest house in which we will be staying at for the next few days. It is perched right on the water’s edge and is set up with hammocks, dorm-style bedrooms and plenty of tables to play cards around. This was a nice end to our long day and helped us relax for an early wake up tomorrow.
By Katie M and Samara K