An early start at 6:00 am this morning, waking up to our group leader Hai’s ‘wake up call’. Breakfast was a scrumptious Asian style which included extravagant orange juice and miniature bananas. We all enjoyed the view from the eighth floor of the bustling city of Ho Chi Minh in the early morning.
After brekkie, we all scurried onto the bus and began our long two hour drive to the Cu Chi Tunnels, 70 kilometres away. Cu Chi was a change of scenery from the busy Ho Chi Minh, from city to almost country side. We watched a propaganda video made by the Vietnamese about the Americans throughout the Vietnam war in a traditional bunker. Afterwards, we walked a trail of bunkers which showed displays of Cu Chi military techniques and living circumstances during the Vietnam war. This gave us a broader understanding of the Vietnam war and the hardships the Cu Chi people endured. We also got to walk through a tunnel which was only 1.2 metres tall, which proved very interesting and enlightening for all of us. For lunch, we ate a lovely meal in a floating restaurant along the Saigon River which obviously meant we had a majestic view.
After lunch we travelled to the orphanage on the way back to Ho Chi Minh. At the orphanage, we met Sister Kim who is in charge of the orphanage. We split into groups and all went to different areas that included kids with different needs. All of the children were mentally or physically disabled which made it a very touching experience. We fed them dinner and played with them, giving them attention and TLC which is what they needed.
Throughout these bus rides, we’ve discovered the groups love for cards.
Dinner was an interesting barbecue that we cooked ourselves right in the middle of our tables.
Lots of love,
Juliette and Tanner.
