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Vietnam Grey – Day 11: Walking through historic Hoi An, a cooking class

November 16, 2017

By Veronica and Emma

We started Day 11 with a luxurious buffet at the Belle Maison including dragon fruit slices, waffles and an endless array of breakfast foods. Although the weather may not have been as preferred (there was mild to heavy rain today), we still managed to entertain ourselves games room or the lobby instead of swimming in the pool. Next, we made our way to the old town for a historic walking tour by our guide, Hai. It was pouring down, but everyone’s positivity and chatter made it very pleasant. Once we arrived at the main market, we saw a great amount of food that the locals had to offer. There was a wide variety of fruits, meats and fish, clothes and many more!

We then all arranged ourselves into our small groups of between 3 – 6 students and headed out to either shop and bargain, or hide from the rain in an authentic Vietnamese tea and coffee shop. Being in smaller groups helped us students gain a sense of confidence and independence. Becoming increasingly seasoned at bargaining, the groups were able to reach reasonable prices on gifts for their families and friends, not to mention ourselves. After the 40 minutes of shopping or tea and coffee, the groups made their way back outside the famed tailoring shop Yaly, then went for lunch. The old town is filled with beautiful, culturally diverse restaurants such as Greek, Italian and believe it or not, majority were Vietnamese! There was also a second, and sadly last, opportunity to shop in Hoi An.

We then made our way back to the hotel and had time to relax, play a competitive game of pool in the games room, and for willing to put up with the rain, go for a swim in the pool. At around 5 o’clock, we all enjoyed an evening walk back to the old town where we took part in a traditional Vietnamese cooking class. Whilst on our walk, we were mesmerised by the glowing hanging lanterns that lit up the old town’s road. Crossing the bridge, the radiance of the lights from the other side of the town reflected magically on the river. Many of the boats had lanterns and the floating candles that were slowly carried away by the current.

Not knowing what to expect, we now arrived at the cooking class. Walking into the kitchen the ingredients were laid out as if it were Master Chef, quoting the students. Firstly, we marinated chicken for skewers with ingredients such as blue ginger, turmeric, sliced lemon leaf and many other different types of herbs and spices. Next we handed those in to cook and began making our spring rolls. Firstly, we were given two different types of rice paper, one plain and another half that was laced. Then we added the pork and herb filling in the centre and rolled them as instructed. Once everyone’s were rolled, we handed them to the instructors who were then going to deep fry them. While everything was cooking we prepared the last dish which was a simple Vietnamese salad containing vegetables, herbs and sauces. Finally, we made our way downstairs to eat what we had created. In the end, the food was absolutely delicious and we are certain everyone enjoyed themselves during the cooking class and the day!

Veronica – Hi Mum, Dad, Arie, Zoya and Monty! I miss you all so much, especially Monty boo <3 I’m having the best time, all is perfect! I hope you are all doing well without me. It must be tough missing your favourite child at home (sns Arie). See you soon! Love Veronica xoxo

Emma- Hi mum and dad all is good here, I am having a great time and have enjoyed the shopping very much. Hope all is good at home can’t wait to be back. Love Emma xx

China Day 11 – Xi’an and O/N train to Shanghai

November 15, 2017

By ascott

[ Sophie ] We awoke to a crisp cold morning in Xi’an, preparing our bags for the overnight train later today. We got on the buses and made our way to the area and once we arrived, as per usual, we were gawked at by all the locals (one even tried to film one of the boys.. it was quite entertaining to see the teachers shoo them away). We got to ride in these little shuttle carts that took us to the third digging site of the area after we gathered all our tickets and went through security. The Terracotta centre was mainly broken into three parts (three digging sites dare I say) that have the different areas where the figures were dug up. Before I continue this most exciting tale however, I should probably give some context.

Back in the good ol’ age of 1974, some farmers in need of water decided to dig a well (running water wasn’t available to them if you can believe that – shocking, huh?). After digging 20 metres into the ground, they discovered some old bricks. Why were they here? Well, they asked some archeologists the same question and after some digging around and dainty brushing off of some dirt, they had a proper answer. Basically, in short, the first Emperor of the Qin dynasty didn’t want to give up his pretty little crown and legacy so easily after he died, so he decided to take an army with him into the afterlife in hopes that he would keep his power with him. Don’t worry – they weren’t actual people he buried alive, they were made of clay. Every single one of them was distinct in one way or another so that it would feel more real. Unfortunately, when they brought the warriors into the light too long, the paint on them would fade within a few days. They have kept a majority underground to preserve the paint until they can one day produce the right technology to preserve the paint under the light. As well as the warriors, they found an underground temple as well. When they wanted to show to the public, they were worried about moving everything so they instead decided to build the entire centre around the discovery.

In the first digging site area, there wasn’t that much to see. Mainly landscapes of the temple and a few broken pieces of the warriors. The second area had a few more things to look at, including headless warrior men and a few clay horses. Some of the digging sites included little museums with some of the other warriors and horses, including possible designs for the warriors. Finally, in the final section, we saw what everyone was waiting for. There was a huge section of Terracotta warriors standing side by side with different facial features. Some had rad moustaches and others were clean shaven. Some had long hair and others had shorter, but either way, it was amazing to see this sort of thing so close. Overall, the day was fun for everyone! But the overnight train was just around the corner (quite literally).

[ Jackson ]
After seeing the warriors that were made of terracotta we had lunch/dinner at a restaurant. This involved eating some Chinese food such as rice and noodles. After the food we eventually made it to the train station. There, we had the opportunity to shop for second and third dinner that for most of us consisted of Chinese “two minute noodles” (that I find are not a good idea to eat). After what felt like three days we got onto the train. We were led to believe by Mr Toohey that it looked like the ‘Hogwart’s Express’, but this wasn’t the truth. Apart from the similar shade of brown/green the trains were completely different. We all got into the seventh carriage that was apparently A/a class. There were four people in each cabin and I was in cabin seven. I was highly optimistic when I laid my eyes on the tv. To my utter dismay I discovered that the tv was working but the only channel was a blue screen (I would have been happy with static). Apart from the unuseable tv I was enjoying the rough jolting and harsh swaying of the carriage. After my luxurious four hours of sleep I was awoken by Taine’s bag falling from the overhead compartment onto the ground. I was relieved that none of us had been killed by the falling luggage. Because we had four hours before we needed to get off at 8am I played ‘Exploding Kittens’ to blast the time away before getting off the ‘Hogwart’s Express’ train.

Dear Parents and friends,

We are beginning Day 11 of our trip and will spend time today at the Terracotta Warriors, before catching the overnight ‘Hogwart’s Express’ to Shanghai. We will arrive in the morning and go straight into our Great Race around Shanghai. Wifi will not be available for about 36 hours, so the next blog post will likely be Friday morning. All are travelling well! See you next Wednesday 👍

TLC Temples – Day 10

November 15, 2017

By chyde

For our first full day in Laos, we enjoyed the luxury of sleeping in until 8:30, when we rose to a sky full of sun and a cacophony of chickens, motorcycles and car horns. Our first adventure was visiting the glittering Laos Royal Palace. Although incredibly hot and bustling with tourists from all corners of the globe, the palace was beautiful, featuring glass mosaics depicting the lives of Lao people, many impressive glinting gold swords and a delicately embroidered throne. After taking a couple of group photos on the gleaming white steps of the palace, we boarded our buses once again and headed countryside to visit some very special creatures.

With cameras in hand, we trod through grass and sand to feed and bathe ten ginormous, wrinkly and adorable elephants who lived in peace and splendour at the Elephant Camp. Although protected from being ridden all day by tourists, the elephants had special keepers who spent the day caring for their needs and occasionally boarding their wrinkly grey backs to lead them across the vast fields. Once we reached the banks of the Mekong, the elephants trod heavily through the powdery sand into the murky depths of the river, quickly disappearing underwater only to emerge soaking wet and very happy. With an affectionate nudge, the keepers lead the elephants uphill to their shady white-roofed stable where they received a generous handful of banana leaves.

After our enchanting encounter with the elephants we set off on another journey to a cascading waterfall for a picnic lunch and then an exploration of the sprawling pools and lush jungles. The waterfalls were a mesmerising blue, seeming almost unreal in their crashing splendour they were cool and filled with mangroves that crawled their way along the sandy banks. Once we had finished marvelling at the aquamarine pools, we trekked down narrow paths to a sanctuary for the preservation and care of abused and illegally trafficked bears. Although faced with many challenges such as a sun bear missing one of it’s front paws and others with mental issues leaving them fearful of humans, the bears were happy in their jungle environment with plenty of puzzles and mates to play with. As a collective group we decided to donate some of our fundraised money to the sanctuary in an effort to help provide the best possible facilities for mistreated bears.

As the sun began to set we embarked on our final activity to find dinner and shop and barter the wide and wondrous night market streets of Luang Prabang. Left to our own devices we split apart into groups and adventured north, east, south and west on a mission to find delicious and cheap food and many gifts and tokens for us and our far-away friends.

Sophie and Genevieve

TLC Pagodas – Day 9

November 15, 2017

By BHay

After a good night’s sleep at the Phetsokxai hotel just beside the Mekong River, we woke up for a western style breakfast of scrambled eggs, soft bread and delicious fresh fruit at 7:30am. Afterwards we promptly packed our bags in preparation for another lengthy boat trip down the river; after the action packed week we’ve had we were all looking forward to the the second leg of our Long Boat trip down the Mekong River. We loaded our luggage into a truck and walked down the steep road with our boat in mind and our snacks in hand.
As soon as we got on the boat we once again truly realised the extent of nature’s beauty. Luscious trees were ubiquitous throughout the gigantic hills, and the small scattered beaches were undisturbed by footprints or any signs of human residence. After a short few minutes of admiration, the cards were out and a rowdy but somewhat suspenseful aura suddenly surrounded the boat. Cheers and cries could be heard while others chose to sleep or complete their journey.doc with the future in mind. After about 2 short hours of travel our boat stopped at a dark cave decorated with hundreds of statues devoted to Buddha. It was a fascinating and somewhat exhausting sight if you dared to escalate the 140 steps to the uppermost cave entrance. At the end of 30 minutes of exploration we hopped back into the boat, all of us eager to reach our destination.
Eventually, following a total of 10+ hours travelling down the Mekong River, we reached Luang Prabang. We quickly hopped off the boat and heaved our bags up a steep hill, then loaded them into yet another truck before loading ourselves into 4 vans for the short drive to the hotel. The hotel appeared fancier than our previous one and also had a luxurious pool. After being given our roommates we settled ourselves in and prepared for dinner.
When dinner time came we all hopped downstairs with our money and our laundry – the clothes are finally being washed – and we walked a decent distance to our restaurant where we were served a delicious myriad of dishes. Shortly following dinner, excitement came as we prepared our wallets for the third bustling night market. We exchanged our currency for the Laotian ‘kip’ and started surveying and scanning the stalls with pace and precision. After 1 hour and 20 minutes out wallets were lighter and our backpacks were heavier.
With a satisfied and fulfilled strut we walked back to our hotel and arrived to our rooms at roughly 10 o’clock, quickly preparing ourselves to embrace our beds – eager for more of the big experience.

Jaiden Pant and Nick Beaumont

Vietnam Yellow – Day 10

November 15, 2017

By lbinge

By: Harry and Tilly

For our second day in Hue we started off with hiring bikes and starting our ride through the busy streets. The ride was an enjoyable but frightening experience at the same time! We were right in amongst all the traffic trying reach our destination through the rain. We arrived at a primary school and were greeted by excited noises from the 7 year old children from the school. As part of our arrival we sung the Australian national anthem and in return the children sung us a traditional Vietnamese song which was very cute. We had an opportunity to present the students with gifts we had brought from home which included textas, puzzles, colouring books, sports equipment and more. We taught the students how to use the sports equipment that we bought for them and it was extremely rewarding to see the smiles on their faces. We were all surprised to note the academic standards set by the children as no one was expecting such organised and advanced work from 7 year olds. Their handwriting was impeccable and their maths skills also impressive. Unfortunately we were not able to go outside with the students as it was raining however this didn’t prevent us from enjoying our stay at the school.

After leaving the school we continued our bike ride to the tomb of the fourth king of Vietnam. The tomb was surrounded by large walls to preserve the tomb and protect it from the elements. The entire tomb was specialised for the king’s interest in poetry and literature and so had a very romantic feel. Although the king spent most of his time in the palace, he would often escape to the reading sanctuary made within the same walls of the tomb. Vietnam Yellow also enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere here. The king had a large tomb buried thirty metres underground and on a nearby hill his first wife, the queen, was buried. The King had a total of 138 wives – some of which he had never even met! Despite having so many wives he never had any children as thus was the last king of the Nguyen Dynasty. He ruled for 18 years, but was very egotistical and raised taxes by 300% so that he could afford to build this tomb.

After the exhilarating bike ride through the rain in our fancy rain ponchos we walked to some markets which were unlike any markets we had seen before. Floor to ceiling of t-shirts, watches, bags and shoes was a haven to many of us! After bargaining up a storm we ventured back to Ushi for a yummy dinner.

Many of the students commented that today has been the most fun of the trip. The excitement of the bike ride and walking through torrential rain to the markets was unforgettable! We have all loved Hue and will be sorry to wave goodbye tomorrow morning.

Day 11 – Vietnam Red – Touring, assisting and cooking our way through Hoi An

November 15, 2017

By nburke

Like previous days in Hoi An, we woke up to the sound of an alarm, got ready for the day and went down to the breakfast buffet. As Hoi An is a world heritage listed site many of its historical land marks are still present. Sunny, our tour guide, started off our day with a tour of the history of the town. It began with the Japanese bridge in town which was made in the 17^th century. She then moved on to the Tan Ky House which was a traditional Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese styled house that has been passed down for 7 generations of families. In comparison to Melbourne much of Hoi An has been kept near identical to it’s original state and comparatively Melbourne has been majorly changed and urbanised over a much shorter period of time.

After our tour, we were allowed 4 hours to ourselves to pick up any clothes we had got made at the tailor, eat lunch and roam around the town to either shop or explore. Two of the students were chosen to represent St Leonard’s at Children’s Home In Action (CHIA). CHIA is an organisation designed to help children with disabilities – most commonly Cerebral Palsy – who are at an unfortunate position in which the school system is subtly denying their education. Many of the children suffered of Cerebral Palsy which is a physical disability. Because of their disability they cannot spend the full day at school, CHIA provides a space for the children to go to in the middle of the day so that they can have a break in the middle of the day so as to continue their education. While this was happening across town, the majority of Vietnam Red were allowed to spend some time by the pool. Afterwards, there was a small fashion show to happen after everyone had gotten out of the pool, which was a way of displaying any items people had tailored. Surprisingly the turnover from three days to today went by way too fast.

For dinner, we went to a restaurant where we were taught how to cook our own Vietnamese meals. This was definitely the highlight of the day for some, and having a person instruct how to make the food allowed us to learn new skills and techniques that we could possibly take home. Overall, the cooking class was an enjoyable experience, taking on the Vietnamese way of making food. Tomorrow we venture out to Hue to do absailing on the marble mountains down 20m cliffs, it may be a challenge for some but an adventure for all.

Harry Q and Ashley D