URBAN DOMAIN 2024

Vietnam Red – Day 13 – Ride around Hue

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After a good 11th floor buffet, and 7 too many crepes, we set off on a bike riding journey through Hue. Unlike your casual bike ride down beach road after nan’s Sunday arvo roast, in Vietnam you have to dodge speeding motorcycle maniacs, courageous cows and the way too fast and furious Mrs Tattersall. Every intersection was hectic, but the highlight of the bike ride was reaching a famous bridge. Our tour guide, the super smart Sunny explained the history of this bridge and how it was built by a Japanese woman in the 18th century to connect two villages. Riding a bike in Vietnam is very humbling to experience, nobody acknowledges your existence but can dodge you at the last moment, which makes the experience feel safe and kept us strangely reassured. The ever capable Mrs. Tattersall expertly dodged through the streets of Hue with a Vin Diesel-like passion. The only casualty in this whole venture was a pair of pants that was ripped and repaired quicker than the tailors in Hoi An can fix them. We stopped at local authentic markets and observed the life style there as well.

In our down time after the ride we all seemed to watch the same shows at the same time in our separate rooms: Vietnamese dramas, intense 8 ball mania on fox sports 6 and Days of Thunder that every hotel in Vietnam plays 3 times a day. We then elevated to the 11th floor and swam in a rooftop pool that has a view over a soccer pitch fit for a Cahill.

After a lovely trip to the pool, we were given time in the room to prepare for the trip to Hanoi tomorrow. For dinner tonight we were allowed to roam the streets of Hue looking for a good feed for dinner. Unfortunately some of us were met with a carbonara disaster, with very overcooked pasta: it was genuinely bad (Pro Vietnam Red Hot Tip; never order western food in Vietnam, rookie mistake). We finished the day basking in the beauty of ice cream from Baskin Robin ice cream.

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P.S. from Will, sorry I went over budget but tell Sarah her gift is awesome, like really cool, so worth it, no regret at all.

P.S.S. from Lauren, I’ve almost gone over budget too, I bought a suit and now I can’t afford to eat, just kidding, also I got you guys some alright gifts. ciao

TLC Temples – Day 12

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As we awoke from our slumber the Temples were stoked to start fresh in a new country; however, spirits were slightly dimmed at the realisation we had to leave Laos and Joy. As we made our way to the airport in our beloved mini vans we saw the locals starting their day to day routine and the thriving culture through the temples and markets. Beyond that there was a significant view of ginormous mountains in the distance. After waiting a while at the mini airport we walked on to a cute little aeroplane that had propellers. While we were seated on the plane we looked out of the windows to say our final goodbyes to Laos. Whilst taking off we found it interesting to note that from the window mostly you could see large forests, mountains and small villages. Some of the mountains had a weave design. As the clouds rolled by we started to notice how there weren’t many big cities or towns but only small hill villages. 

When we landed the second time from being on a plane in Siem Reap, we were delighted to hear our hotel had a nice refreshing pool that was waiting for us to dive in. After getting our luggage we were greeted by our new tour guide Youssa. He is very funny and loud. He taught us a few things about Cambodia and how to speak some of the language, Khmer (pronounced Khe-my). 

Suosday – Hello
Akun jann – Thank you very much 

Learning how to say these few words can really help with us being friendly towards the locals and embrace ourselves fully with the country and their culture. 

As we arrived at the hotel Soma Devi, everyone was eager to jump in the pool fully clothed or bathers. We were briefed about the pool rule and as soon as we heard the words ‘you can now swim,’ everyone jumped in one after the other like little ducklings getting a wash after a long and bothered day. The pool is huge and some of us did laps while others just hung out near the steps. The students who sat poolside ordered refreshing drinks and some snacks. After more than an hour of being in the pool most people got out to dry off they before heading back up to their rooms to freshen up for our big night activity. 

Finally we went back down to the lobby to set off in our tuk tuks for our Cambodian night life experience. Once we set off we drove to a Cambodian style food market where they sold many different types of fruit and bugs. The first animal we ate was a snake. It was really boney and tasted just like chicken! Up next was grass hoppers, grubs, frogs and crickets. YUM! Only a few people tried them as the rest were hidden far away from it petrified it would come back to life some how and hurt them. The market was very busy with many motorcycles and tuk tuk’s running through the middle and it was on a road. After we had a taste of bugs we headed off to a real restaurant near a street called Pub Street where there were many night clubs and back packers. We enjoyed the music that was bouncing off the walls from the near-by night life. Our dinner consisted of rice, ribs, beef stew and yummy kebabs. After dinner we all headed down the street to have a look at what Cambodia is when the lights are off. Most of the kids were distracted by the fish that ate your dead skin off your hand as it felt weird and exhilarating at the same time. Once everyone was over that we headed back to the hotel to head off to bed.  

Tiana Abbott-Salmon, Harrison Lasky 

Vietnam Grey – Day 12: Hai Van Pass, Hue

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By Henry and Lola

 

Today has been an amazing day! We began today, with another delicious breakfast at our previous hotel, Maison Belle. As the day quickly became quite hot, some members of Vietnam grey had a refreshing swim, whilst others packed to escape the Vietnamese climate.  Following this, we departed the ancient city of Hoi An on a journey to a new destination, Hue.

During the three-hour bus ride, we observed the mesmerising and utterly breathtaking Hai Van pass. The name Hai Van in Vietnamese means, ‘the clouds touching the ocean’. As a group, some amazing photos were taken and we explored the area, embracing the views as we went. Many of us were very interested in the history of this area. The Hai Van pass was used by the French during the late 19th century, as it has an excellent view point of the surrounding land. They were able to control the land and those who passes through this area, as there is ocean and steep mountain terrain surrounding it.

After a bus ride filled laughter and excellent music, we eventually arrived at our destination, the Asia Hotel. Once settling into our rooms, we soon departed on a scenic walk along the Perfume River. We quickly discovered that Hue is a historic and imperial city. This was due to the Dragon boats seen on the river, which were used by the king, architecture and general appearance of the area.

On return from our informative walk, we were quite excited to hear that there would be a ‘special’ dinner. We all eagerly got ready for this special dinner, and tried our best to look nice for what was to be a very exciting night. Following a beautiful night walk through the lively streets of Hue, we learned that our ‘special’ dinner was a traditional royal dinner. We were greeted at the door with colourful and cultural headpieces and gowns. Vital to the ceremony, a king and queen must have superiority over others in the room. Two students were chosen, myself (Henry) and Anika. We listen to traditional Vietnamese music as we enjoyed our food. We immersed ourselves in the culture, cuisine and traditions of the ancient Vietnamese feudal system. As a result of this experience, we learnt that the king is so powerful that only he can wear the colour yellow. Consequences for people that wear this colour, was either prison or death. This shows that the king was very powerful, which is why he had music played for him at breakfast, lunch and dinner.

 

Overall, today included many opportunities to learn about the geography, history and culture of Vietnam.

 

Lola: Hi Mum, dad, Ted and Jonts – hope you guys aren’t missing me to much! See u all in 5 sleeps xx <3 love Lola.

Henry: Hi Dad, Mum and Elliot, I hope that things are going well and see you very soon! Love Henry.

 

Special thanks to additional photos from Veronica, Francesco and Hai

TLC Pagodas – Day 11

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We started off today with a bike ride through the streets of Luang Prabang. We rode single file and were handed bottles of water at each stop, the first of which was a large temple. There were several statues of Buddha made of gold in massive ancient buildings, one of which also housed a seat designed for the king, to be carried by 60-80 of his servants, due to its massive size and large amount of heavy components such as gold.

After that, we rode to visit a silk workshop, where we could watch the silk be made and also buy some. We also got to see decorative paper be made, where the workers placed various leaves and flowers inside during its creation.

During the ride, we were mostly on roads directly next to the Mekong river, which was the foreground to some beautiful far off mountains. The roads were relatively calm, so we got plenty of opportunity to look over as we rode past. At one point during the ride, we came to a special red bridge designed for bikes and motorcycles. It had two parallel rows of wooden planks, each relatively thick, designed for those riding across to go on.

Later in the day, we were placed into five groups and had an adventure race. Each group was given four hundred thousand kip, the equivalent of around $67 AUD. Along the way, we visited markets, temples, mountains, and rode in tuk tuks, finding the answers to questions and taking photos to prove our journey was our own. At the end of it, we took a final photo on the beach and met the teachers in a cafe. Our time was recorded, along with our leftover money. As this is being typed, the total point values are being added up to determine the winner, who will receive a prize along with the runner-up. During the race, one of the challenges involved visiting a postcard shop and buying postcards and stamps, which we then all wrote letters on to be sent back to Australia. While we will likely return to Australia before the cards arrive, it will be a nice reminder of our trip once we get back.

During dinner, we visited a nearby restaurant and were treated to songs and dance from some local performers. The event was held in our honour and it was a unique experience to be able to make connections with local people through traditional music. We also all received bands around each wrist, which we are meant to keep on for seven days and are supposed to bring each one of us good luck. There was singing, dancing, and music playing all throughout dinner, and many students participated in the festivities. Overall, today was an excellent day, and a prime example of what The Big Experience is all about.

Tom Chapman and Dean Maccora

Vietnam Yellow – Day 12

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By: Seb and Charlotte

We started off the day with a scenic bike ride in the sunny, but humid, weather of Hoi An. Riding through the busy city streets to the peaceful countryside was fun and challenging at times. Hoi An is still suffering the effects of the recent typhoon and some of us got a bit muddy cycling through the streets. We eventually stopped at a restaurant that had views right onto the beach. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to swim but the food made up for it. A very cheap meal with such good quality food makes me appreciate how lucky we are to taste these amazing flavours. After our chill time at the beach – playing cards or relaxing, we headed back to the hotel in our very own Tour De Vietnam – riding down the streets of Hoi An until the occasional traffic lights slowed us down. The prize of glory got all the students thirsty for the win, but Beau managed to pull up to curb before the rest of us making him the winner. After our fun on the bikes, we cooled off in the pool with some more competitive games. Throwing the ball, playing Marlo Polo and generally relaxing made this a great start to the day.

After a fun afternoon in the pool, we headed back into Hoi An for more adventures. Our first stop was the tailors where we tried on our dresses, suits and shirts we had ordered the previous day. We were amazed at how quickly they were able to put together our custom order! We then had some time to explore the markets and beautiful streets of Hoi An. With rumbling tummies, we gathered together to head off to Miss Vy’s cooking school. Although some of us cook at home, we are hopeful that many parents will get some more help in the kitchen at home from our newfound culinary skills! We made a delicious chicken skewer, pork spring rolls and green papaya salad. The food we prepared was amazing and we were all delighted by the fresh flavours. Some more night time shopping followed dinner, but amazingly, some students have been shopped out and opted to return to the hotel to catch up on some journey doc writing.

So many of us have commented that Hoi An has been our favourite city so far. We have loved learning about the 400 year old town and are very thankful that this is one of very few cities in

Vietnam that was spared of bombs and fighting during the Vietnamese war. It’s so beautiful and historic.

Tomorrow will be another big day in Hoi An full of city tours, tailors, shopping, abseiling and of course eating!!!

Australia – Day 12: The Great Race around Jabiru

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Today was a special day for the Big Experience.

It was our rest day for the group in the whole trip. The day started at 9AM with Mark and Ms P making the pancakes, bacon and eggs for the whole group for breakfast. Everyone gathered around outside to eat and chat with one another. After the special breakfast, everyone went back to their own cabins to pack up, finish the Journey Docs and get ready for the morning. We also packed a little as we are all heading off to Katherine early tomorrow morning.

At 10:15AM, we all met up in front of Mark’s cabin and were to begin the Great Race. We were in our cabin groups and all had to work together so we could go around Jabiru and win first place! Everyone got their first piece of paper with questions for the Great Race. We were asked to answer the questions about the places we had visited. After getting all the questions right, we got another piece of paper with a map of the town of Jabiru and we needed to walk around the town to get information, and answer those questions… Game on!

….The first group to arrive at the Bowali Visitor Centre was Oscar’s group. The group consisted of Oscar, Mushtaba, Cameron and Nathan. The winners were awarded with a smoothie or milkshake.  However, luck was not on everyone’s side. Only three groups arrived in time and only two of the groups made it to the centre without the help of the teachers.

After, we went for a swim at the Olympic swimming pool to cool down and had our sandwiches for lunch there.but we got unlucky again. We then returned back to the resort and were allowed some free time. A group of us even got the chance to go to the local supermarket and buy some supplies for the coming days. After shopping, we are all resting and will have Thai food for dinner around 6PM at the Border Store.

Today has been a great and relaxing day!

Love,

Tony and Sunny on behalf of the Australia group 🇦🇺🏊‍♂️

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Please note: We will be unlikely to have internet connectivity for the next two days while we are in Katherine. I expect that this will return to normal once we return to Darwin on Sunday 19/11/17, so the blogging will resume then.

Regards, Linda