Author: cwilliamson

Vietnam Red – Day 12 – Hoi An

By

The day started with no wakeup call but a delicious breakfast. After a variety of food choices, we had a chance to have a refreshing swim. We left the hotel at around 10:30 am. Our day trip in Hoi An started with a visit to the tailor. Once everyone finished their appointments we had a bit of free time to explore the local market and shops. We then made our way to an exciting cooking class. Our group made our way through the entrance where we were greeted with at least ten chefs. Once we sat down in our seats on the fourth floor, the class started. Many different spices, raw chicken meat and a wet towel to clean our hands were already prepared for us. The chef introduced herself with her amazing career and afterwards we started cooking. We marinated the chicken and tried to make it very tasteful by adding many different Asian spices and oils. We finished the cooking class by rolling up our own spring rolls, which we prepared as well, we had learnt a lot about using spices. About half an hour later we got to eat our own creations and a few other very delicious and well presented dishes. In the afternoon we had some free time to buy gifts, have drinks with a few friends or just to explore the little town of Hoi An one last time. At 4:15 every one had to be back in front of the tailor to walk back to our hotel in the pouring rain. When we arrived we had a quick swim in the pool and packed our bags for the next exciting day. The day ended with a group photo of us wearing the clothes we had bought on our trip.       By Emil & Linus

 

Vietnam Red – Day 11 – Hoi An

By

Today we had our first breakfast at the Hoi An Historic Hotel.  There was an array of different fruits, baked goods, and hot meals to choose from.  After breakfast we went for a walk around Hoi An to get our bearings, stopping by an authentic silver jeweller.  Some of the boys had a hard time choosing what gifts to buy for their families.  We visited a giftshop where goods are handcrafted by disabled adults to raise money to support the people throughout Vietnam with disabilities.  We were given free time to explore the colourful and lively markets of Hoi An and had a tasty lunch at the Banana Leaf Cafe by the river.  We then returned to the hotel to get ready for our bike riding adventure in the Vietnamese countryside.  While riding through the rice fields, we saw water buffalos and cranes grazing on the crops.  We reached the beach and had a relaxing ice cream by the water.  We then got back on our bikes and returned to town, where we were given more free time to roam the streets of Hoi An, pick up gifts, get fitted at the tailors and have dinner.  At the end of a long and exciting day, we were refreshed with a nice swim in the large pool at the hotel.

Goodnight Australia,

Jemima and Ruby xoxo

Vietnam Red – Day 10 – Hue to Hoi An

By

Today we woke up early in the Asian Hotel in Hue and had a great breakfast.  Then we all packed our bags and once again boarded another bus.  We went on a 4 hour bus ride from Hue to the port city of Da Nang,  on the way we passed some amazing coastal sites,  seeing so many beautiful views of small villages and natural landforms.  When we arrived in Da Nang we went to Marble Mountain.  We disembarked off the bus and walked past numerous stalls selling marble carvings of small dragons, to large ornate lions. We walked up many rough cut stairs in the mountain, till we reached the top. Here we were instructed on our activity for the day, abseiling.

Abseiling would be a highlight for some members of the trip (including for Mrs Tattersall), it consisted of an intricate amount of ropes requiring a total of 2 people to operate (for safety reasons) 1 at the top, making sure that if the person abseiling wouldn’t fall down and 1 person at the bottom making sure that the abseilie wouldn’t slip and smack into the wall and possibly injure themselves. Anyways, after we walked down the almost never ending stairs to the bus which had been waiting for the past 3 hours for us (and became quite roasty toasty), we started our last 45 minute bus ride to fabulous Hoi An Historical Hotel (a quite fancy 4 and a half star hotel) and began unpacking for our next luxurious 3 nights staying here. It was quite to our surprise to see how beautiful the landscape was and the small but incredible town buzzing with people and dinner eaters. After a quick stop at the tailoring shop for people who wanted to get a rather strapping looking suit (or dress for the girls). We ate and headed back to the hotel.

This is Kurtis Peggie and Owen Hiscock saying goodnight everyone. P.s Hi mum and Dad.

Vietnam Red Day 9 – Hue

By

Have you ever tried to eat a bowl of knock-off coco-pops, out of a recently purchased bowl, with a recently purchased spoon, while on a bumpy train ride hurtling down Vietnam towards Hue (pronounced Hway), over extremely well-laid tracks? My advice: Don’t. Despite a very comfortable night’s sleep for all, in a two metre by two metre cabin, being shared by four people while being jostled around, cereal is a challenge that should only be attempted while one is at full capacity (and can fully extend their legs). After the cereal incident, we pulled into the station at Hue, and after promptly banging my head against the tiny doorframes a couple of times for good luck, were greeted by sunshine (a rare sight in Vietnam) and the intense hit of high humidity heat that accompanies walking outside of an air-conditioned space into Vietnam.  After a short bus ride to our hotel, we had an hour of free time in which we were encouraged to have lunch at one of the local restaurants. The French influence was evident as we ordered baguettes, shakes and steak, the steak which came to a whopping 110,000 VND (Which is actually only about $5.50 AUD). After lunch, we walked back to our hotel while a very nice gentleman offered us “Very cheap, very cheap” sunglasses for sale.

NOW OVER TO NED FOR THE AFTERNOON BROADCAST!

Not long after the salesman left us for the seventh time we returned to the hotel and was told to prepare for the afternoon’s activities. We arrived at Hue’s Imperial citadel, where the past kings of Vietnam lived. Many students were interested in the fish in the pond at the entrance, but there were other fascinating things we learned. Entertaining facts that Hung, our tour guide, told us were:

-There are walls in the kingdom for each class of people, like the outer wall has “peasants” the middle wall has “respectable people” and the inner wall has the king, his subjects and important people.

-The different heights of the ground and closeness to the king also show how important one is as one who is closer to the ground were not as important, and those higher were closer to the heavens and more important.

-Vietnam was a feudalism until 1945 when a man called “Ho Chi Minh” led Vietnam into communism

After Hung told us these facts we were released to explore the highlights of the citadel. Some things we saw were; a mini island, a throne, a cool as (fake) golden dragon which may or may not have been real back then. There was also a modern tennis court and a random horse but they were ok as the rest of the citadel was amazing.

After we returned we had some time to relax and go in the hotel pool if we wanted.  Before taking us to dinner, the teachers sat us down and nastily tricked chose ““volunteers”” to be “king” and “queen” for a dinner that had been prepared like it was back then. (hopefully  they wont put any images on the blog from this night.)It was lots of fun getting dressed up and eating dinner like this.

Basically after that we came back to the hotel where I am now writing this instead of showering!

By;

Samuel “Chilly” chillcott (first Half)

And

Ned “Batman” Wareham (second half)

Vietnam Red Day 8 – Hanoi

By

On day eight we had a 7:30 start for a big day ahead of us. We all hopped on the bus after breakfast to the Vietnam museum of Ethnology where we looked at Vietnamese culture including the different ethnic groups, the traditional long and tall houses as well as what people wore hundreds of years ago. We also were intrigued about the different Vietnamese traditions, for example the dead ceremony where the Vietnamese people are reminded about their beloved ancestors of the past three generations who had passed away. There was a part of the museum dedicated to someone who could carry 800 fish traps on one push bike in order to survive.

Next, we drove by bus to the temple of literature we were marvelled by the sights as well as the amount of students gathered by a graduation ceremony. We were given information on how the Vietnamese education system works, how they had exams from prep and until they finished school. If they got below 44.4 they would have to repeat the year until they get above the grade that is required. Passing the year level also depends on your behaviour during the year and you cannot miss more than five days of the school year.

Across the street we went to a large restaurant named Nha Hang Koto Van Mieu, where we were given the option of Vietnamese or Western food for the first time on our trip into Vietnam. After a delicious lunch we went on a walk to a small local shop where we stocked up on food for the night as well as breakfast for the overnight train which we are going on for 12 hours tonight as we travel to Hue.

By Sam Perkins and Lachie Michael

Vietnam Red Day 7 – Mai Chau to Hanoi

By

Awakening in the village (Shakespeare style)

Laughter pierced the serene fog of sleep that enveloped me. My eyes opened, being greeted by the verdant green foliage of the mountains contrasted by the haphazard sprawl of the Mai Chau marketplace we were lodged near. I padded across the sunlight dappled long house floor and watched as the slumbering village sprang to life. After a breakfast of deep fried pancakes, we ventured into the market one last time before we departed for Hanoi. The group strolled past bracelet brandishing salespeople and numerous shops boasting a diverse array of goods, from crossbows (which we were forcefully advised not to buy) to cupcakes and bracelets that were actually pretty cool. We then boarded the bus to Hanoi.

The bus ride of incessant boredom

The future looked bleak. Our food supplies were running out. We had no………. ENTERTAINMENT.

Just as were were bemoaning our fate we bothered to glance out the window (revolutionary idea, we know). We saw the expansive, rolling mountains, the most beautiful sights we had ever seen and suddenly the bus ride didn’t seem so grim…….for ten minutes at least. But as you will probably know, we did survive, and made it to the Hanoi Markets.

How to spend your money wisely (or not)

If there is one thing I will take away from this trip, it will be the skill of examining before you buy! We learnt this firsthand at the bustling night market of Hanoi. There are so many things in Vietnam that are not exactly the best quality (fakes), and it is extremely easy to lose yourself and buy random stuff. For example, an awesome watch that is supposedly powered by kinetic force, but in reality, is probably powered by a hidden battery (this is just an example of course………. J). Despite a few pitfalls along the way though, all in all we had a wonderful day!

BY JOSH SYNAN AND JULIAN GRIMM