Author: KScarff

Dear families and friends of Vietnam Red,

We have cleared immigration in Vietnam and are waiting to board our plane back to Melbourne. 

We are looking forward to seeing you all soon! 

Today we say farewell to Viêt Nam. We awoke early, as usual, and, just like any other day, we enjoyed a buffet breakfast. Perhaps there was a certain additional gravity to the morning routine; but it could easily have been missed, and put down to coincidence. 

We travelled on foot to a local market, one of the biggest in Ha Noi, where we employed, for the last time, our bargaining skills. Some good deals were definitely arranged. The market was similar to the others we had visited in our travels, though less touristy; it is primarily used by locals, and is mainly wholesale. It is, as usual, a maze like rabbit-warren of a place.

We then returned to the hotel to check out, and just as quickly left for lunch. We ate at the KOTO restaurant. KOTO was founded by a Vietnamese/Korean/Australian, Jimmy Pham. The restaurant’s mission is to provide disadvantaged teenagers with skills they need to work in the hospitality industry. The food is wonderful, though a tad on the expensive side; but the money is certainly well spent, given the good KOTO does. Most of us spent the last of our Vietnamese Dong.

We then returned to Australian soil, as we met up with Vietnam Grey and passed through the gates of the Australian Embassy. We were told about Australia’s relationship with Viêt Nam, and the fascinating business of a consul. It was interesting to note the images displayed outside the embassy: they showed Uluru, merino sheep, koalas – a few urban scenes, like Flinder’s Street Station, but almost exclusively images pertaining to the national ‘Bush’ myth of identity. It is interesting to note that the projected identity of our mostly urban country is so complete that it exists in other countries. It is interesting to question where it originated – is this a reality of our country that we have come to show the rest of the world; or is it an image we presented to the world, once a deception, but which we found, too late, had come to define us?

It is an interesting consideration, tempered by this question: if we cannot truly define Australia, how can we hope to begin to understand Viêt Nam, a country so different to the one we are used to? The answer, of course, is that none of us can hope to fully understand it, any more than we can really understand any country; it is simply too vast, too multitudinous. But there is no doubt that the little we have come to comprehend of Viêt Nam will allow us to understand immeasurably more of Australia’s identity.

The past 17 days have been truly extraordinary, and they have effected us deeply. Our experience has been life changing and wonderful; but there is a common sentiment that we are ready to go home.

Looking ahead, we wonder how easy it will be to go back, and get used to a stationary existence again. The independence we have enjoyed on this trip will be hard to give up, and frankly we cannot imagine that we will. The brave new world we have discovered on this journey will not be left behind when we board the aeroplane in Saigon – it will follow us always, because it is within us – is what has changed and grown in us. It is the glimpse of our futures we have seen. It is the identities that have become to take shape. 

And so goodnight, Viêt Nam, nation of light and water, nation of beauty. May your star shine golden forever. 

Melbourne, we will see you very soon!

By Helene & Emerson

Photos: outside the Australian Embassy; lunch at KOTO; listening to the consular staff at the embassy; a sad farewell to our tour guide, Sunny.

Today was our last full day in Vietnam 🙁

We kicked off by travelling to Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum where we learnt lots of interesting information about Vietnam’s political history: it is amazing how different Vietnam’s history is to Australia’s. Unfortunately we could not see Ho Chi Minh’s body as it had been sent off to be restored as his body is embalmed (which is where all organs and blood are removed and replaced with embalming fluid which preserves the body). Sunny told us this is very common in many other communist countries such as Russia (in the past) and North Korea. Ho Chi Minh wanted his body to be cremated but the Vietnamese Government wanted the youth of Vietnam to learn about Vietnam’s history and the impact he made so he was embalmed.

After this, we visited Ho Chi Minh’s various houses which were simple and modest as he did not believe that he should be treated any differently to other citizens. First he was built a palace but he refused to live there, so then he was built a smaller house on stilts which reminded him of his homeland. But as he grew older and got sick the stairs became difficult to climb everyday. We all discovered this as we climbed the stairs ourselves, no wonder Ho Chi Minh got tired! He then moved into a bunker which was also small but easy to access and for Ho Chi Minh to maintain good health. All these houses though varying in size and type were all in the same area.

We went for a quick shop before lunch where we ate Vietnamese food and then we hopped on the bus and headed to the ‘Hanoi Hilton’. The Hanoi Hilton is an old prison that was used to imprison the Americans and Vietnamese communist supporters during both the wars (French vs Vietnamese in early 20th century and Americans vs Vietnamese later in the century). It is famous for its harsh treatment of prisoners. The cells and shackles were quite confronting, and there was a large guillotine which was used by the French. 

We ended the day by having a lovely dinner in a beautiful restaurant, a fantastic way to wrap up our trip. It has been an amazing experience and it wouldn’t have been the same without our guide Sunny who we all adore. We thanked Sunny for all of her hard work.

We still can’t believe our trip is nearly over but we are looking forward to seeing you all soon!

From Eve, Danielle and Mia 

Photos: in front of Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum; in the mausoleum complex looking around the grounds, houses and lakes; a group photo at the front of the ‘Hanoi Hilton’; learning more about the history of the jail; on the red bridge in the middle of the main lake in Hanoi. 

The morning dew was fastened on the train windows as we arrived at Vietnam’s capital city of Ha Noi. There was a mutual feeling of sleep deprivation like a plague throughout the Vietnam red cohort. This was not helped with the jam packed day which faced us. We visited the temple of literature first. This enlightened us about the schooling in Vietnam in feudal times and contained Vietnam’s first university. During our visit, we witnessed some graduates, celebrating their last day, spending it at the temple.
We took the big bikes with four wheels to the old quarter: The heart of Ha Noi, where we were driven around and shown the different kinds of streets and buildings all around. Each street is dedicated to a particular craft or product – such as coffee street or stainless steel street. We grabbed lunch in the old quarter and then ventured back to the hotel where much needed rest was provided for nearly 4 hours. After a great siesta, we were ready to go off to explore the city.

We visited the Christian church Nha Tho built in 1886 out of materials shipped from France. We saw the stark contrast of the attendance in the church to Australian churches as it was packed on a Sunday night with people spilling out the doors. We headed straight to the water puppet show which was an art form none of us had experienced before. The puppet show took place in water with about 100 people in the theatre. To finish the day off, we had dinner at a local restaurant on a very busy side street, which had a various amount of dishes. 

We are still slightly sleep deprived and ready to go to bed. 

P.s happy teachers day (Note from Vietnam Red Staff- the students presented us with some gorgeous keepsakes today to celebrate the occasion)

From Cris, Cole and Lucas O.

Goodnight!  

Photos: at the Temple of Literature; the trip staff with their gifts; outside the Nha Tho; waiting for the water puppet show to begin. 

 

 We woke up this morning and the first thing we did was take a nice cyclo ride around Hue. We stopped at a market where we had a bit of time to shop and bargain heaps !! After the market, we went to the local supermarket and bought out dinner for the train ride happening tonight. After that, we walked back to our hotel and we packed our bags ready for our big train ride! When we got to the station, we had to wait about an hour and a half but we got through it by singing songs and playing card games. 
We got onto the train at 4.00pm and each went to our own, four person cabins where the fun began! Looking around the other classes we felt privileged to be in first class as the others included 6 bunks per room or, in third class, just seats. Some of the activities before bed included cards, ukulele playing, chatting and running up and down the corridors door dashing. We had a “gourmet” dinner, the groups picking things such as tuna sandwiches, Nutella on bread and cereal. While enduring a bit of a bumpy ride it might be a challenge to sleep tonight and with a 4.30 am start tomorrow, an early night is needed. The day was quite relaxing which provided a chance for us to rest before hitting the busy city of Hanoi. We are so excited for our next destination and all the adventures that await there. We are unable to believe that we are nearly at the end of this incredible journey.

Chloe, Steph, Lauren & Emma 

Photos: settling in to the cabins on the Reunification train (+ some ‘gourmet’ food).