URBAN DOMAIN 2024

Vietnam Red-day 3

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 We started off our day a little later at 7:15 and after a great breakfast we got on the bus and headed down to Chinatown. This was our first chance to shop, although it was so hectic that we didn’t really get to. Even though it was early in the morning it was still hot and crowded.
We got back on the bus and headed to the War Remnants Museum and on the way, our tour guide Mr Hai taught us some basic Vietnamese words and phrases that we used throughout the day. The museum was quite confronting as we learned more about the history of The Vietnamese/American War and the effects that it had and still has on Vietnam and their people. The museum closed at 12 and we headed back to our hotel. Today was the first chance we’ve had so far to choose our own lunch. We headed out in small groups and looked for nice restaurants to eat at. One group had a chance encounter with a group from Vietnam Orange and for them it was nice to see familiar faces. 
At 2 pm after lunch we came back to the hotel to commence ‘The Great Race’ around Ho Chi Minh City. We broke off again into small groups and participated in fun activities. Individually, the groups got to visit The Saigon Central Post Office, ride on a cyclo, walk through markets and go up to the top of the tallest building in Saigon. The group that won the race then enjoyed their prize of free foot massages.
After a couple of hours of free time, we went for a delicious dinner at one of Ho Chi Minh’s traditional restaurants, the food was great and we all enjoyed the chance to relax with our friends after a big day.
By Alessia and Tom

   

   

   
  

   
 

   
  

  
   
   
    
 

Vietnam Yellow: Day 3

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Today was an engaging but peaceful day. Although the scorching sun and humidity accounted for buckets of sweat, our spirits managed to prevail. We were sticky as soon as we stepped out the door, and we were fanning ourselves 24/7. We immediately wanted to get on the bus as we wanted to get out of the heat. First we had a very yummy 7am buffet breakfast and then began our journey to the historical and gripping Ho Chi Minh Complex. We started by seeing Ho Chi Minh’s corpse and it was a little freaky as we were waiting for him to come alive! It is not everyday that you see a corpse, and because of this we were a little disturbed but still interested! We also two houses where he had lived. It was quite overwhelming, everyone began to take their cameras out to take a snapshot. There were a lot of guards everywhere and we were glad that we didn’t have to walk around all day in those uniforms. 

    
 We stopped for an ice-cream and saw many animals to avoid because as most of us had not had our rabies shots. We hopped on the bus once again and the bus was filled with excitement and very terrible singing! Feelings of nervousness and excitement towards building the house filled the bus. 

We stopped halfway (around 1 1/2 hours) for lunch in a little cafe. There was a really small and cute kitten who was playing on the table and chairs and a larger dog who we were very tempted to pet. Another hour on the bus and we stopped for some amazing scenery of authentic Vietnam (or Vitnam as quoted by Meg!) 

   
 
   
   
The final hour on the bus was filled with mental preparation for the village and finally we arrived at our destination, the beautiful Mai Chau. We moved into our long rooms in a quaint little home stay. All of us were mesmerised by the beauty of the small village, we were given free time and commenced our exploration of the village. It was filled with colourful ornaments and clothing, which made us very tempted to purchase products! Men, women, children and a variety of animals filled the streets which was quite unusual for us to see the odd stray dog walking around. There were many puppies, and it was extremely hard not to pat them. 

   
   
Today posed its adventures and opportunities. We are having a fantastic Big Experience so far. Parents, do not fear! We are all having a great time, it truly is a BIG experience.

  
Having fun but missing you all,

Meghna and Anna.

LC Pagodas: Day 2 – Siem Reap

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Today was our first full day abroad and to start it off, we woke up early to eat breakfast in the hotel. Once we finally got out of Hotel Sokharoth, we set off to see the Angkor temples. Our tour guides were called Hung and Heng and were very funny as well as extremely informative. The first of the temples was called Bayon and had a bridge which was lined with heads of Buddhas and demons. Although we didn’t see any up close, during the bus ride down the driveway we saw a few monkeys. We were told to stay away however as they can be quite vicious and to be perfectly honest we didn’t want to get scratched on our first day. The temple had many faces, each one representing a former king. We were able to wander around in small groups for an hour before getting back on the bus for our next temple. Just before leaving the boys played some soccer whilst the girls relaxed in the shade where a frog came up to join us. 

The next temple was the one shown in the movie Tomb Raider and it was called Ta Prohm. This temple was being broken up by huge trees which will eventually destroy the temples altogether. We ate lunch after, at a village restaurant where we were offered to taste some fried silkworms. Brave Daniel went first shortly followed by a few other boys and girls. We then made our way over to the famous Angkor Wat temple which is one of the top 10 wonders of the world. We walked over a bridge crossing a lake where we could see the reflection of the Angkor Wat temples. Whilst in the huge central Angkor Wat temple we saw a group of monks celebrating Buddah Day at the temple. During their conversation, they all pulled out their iPhones to take photos.  We came back to the hotel, where we’re having a swim and are about to go to Pub Street for dinner and to the Siem Reap night market. The day’s been hot, humid and long but we’ve all had a great time and are super excited for the rest of the night. 

Blog by Sam May, Bridie Niven and Amy Galston

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
 

China – Day 4 Beijing

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Today was started slightly earlier with us ready to leave after a quick breakfast at 9am. The hour or so drive to The Great Wall was passed with music and guitar. The temperature outside became noticeably colder with windows fogging and small patches of snow visible on the side of the road and on the hills. We arrived at The Great Wall at around 10:30am and after purchases of extra warm hats and gloves we spent two hours walking along the walls and through the towers. Fog made visibility from the wall very low, we were only able to see a little more that 100 metres in front of us either way. I (Tom) saw snow for the very first time and spent plenty of time distracted by it. Once we had finished walking we spent some time in gift shops at the entrance and bought fancy hats and other small gifts.


  

Once our two hours at the Great Wall were up we travelled to a Jade workshop which specialised in the craft of Jaded jewellery and statues. We were able to watch some of the craftsmen work, cutting away intricately at their trinkets. The showroom featured many intricate and delicate pieces. We had lunch on the floor above, which refuelled us for the later activities.


  

The weather had not fined up and it was still bitterly cold but we moved to the Olympic Park where we saw the stadiums, the Water Cube and the Birdsnest.. They were two of the main venues that were the host to the 2008 Olympic Games. The long flat path that ran in-between the stadiums was great terrain for running so a lot of us burned off some steam exploring.

We finally came back to the hotel at just after 5pm and had some free time for an hour before our dinner. We are looking forward to the move to Xi’An tomorrow, despite the early start.

-Tom Warner & Finlay Hendricks

Pagodas – arrived, rested and off

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After arriving in the wee hours (Melbourne time) the Pagodas group have got some rest and are now about to attack the Angkor Wat Temple complex, in what Ms Werba is calling a glorious and humid 32 degrees!

Vietnam Orange – Days 1/2

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Chào mừng các bạn đến Việt Nam

(Welcome to Vietnam!)

Yesterday’s plane trip went very well. We arrived in Ho Chi Minh at 4:30pm after a relaxed plane trip to then be bombarded with Vietnam’s humid and sunny weather. We made ourselves at home in our hotel, sprawling the contents from our suitcases across the floor within the first few minutes. We then all gathered to eat a well deserved dinner, dining for the first time as Vietnam group Orange. After eating we took a stroll around the hectic downtown streets taking in all our new surroundings. We loved seeing locals singing and playing guitars down a busy pedestrian street filled with bright lights. The jet lag was finally catching up with us and we headed back to our rooms and crashed.
Today we were up bright and early and thoroughly enjoyed our buffet breakfast at 7am. We then left on the bus at 8am and made our way to an orphanage. This experience was quite confronting at first but then we made great connections with the kids. We really enjoyed playing with the orphans and making them laugh, which was a really heart warming experience. We hope our donation will help them. Leaving the kids was difficult but knowing we had made a difference was very rewarding.

   
 
Next stop was the Cu Chi tunnels where we were put in the shoes of the Vietnamese troops. Crawling through the 80 x 60 cm tunnels was quite scary and made you feel very claustrophobic. We were all very interested by the their tactics for trapping the Americans. 

   
 

  
We took a long bus trip home and couldn’t help noticing the river of motorbikes flowing down the street. Dinner was delicious and we have especially enjoyed the spring rolls and fried rice!

  
Our tour guide, Suny, has been so helpful and is teaching us so much about Vietnamese history, culture and daily life.
WE LOVE AND MISS ALL OF YOU AT HOME ILYSM

XXOXOXOXOOXOXOXOXOOXOOXOXO

By Meg & Ry’annah