URBAN DOMAIN 2024

Vietnam Red- Day 17

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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.

Vietnam Grey – Days 14 & 15

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imageYesterday our day started with the usual buffet breakfast shortly followed by a comfortable cyclo ride through the streets of Hue to one of the local markets. After the successful bargaining in the market and making purchases, Vietnam Grey looked forward to the overnight train ride ahead. We surprised our selfless teachers with some fresh flowers to celebrate National Teachers Day and everything that they have done for us. We enjoyed the experience of Vietnam’s unique culture inside something as simple as a supermarket. Here we were given time to consult with our train cabin groups and buy dinner for the train ride. We got to witness the foreign food and drinks of Vietnam as well as grabbing some cheeky snacks to last us the 13 hour journey ahead.

After a 10 minute delay it was finally time to board the train where we would be travelling to Vietnam’s capital city, Hanoi. We enjoyed our time bonding with our roommates in our tiny, shoebox cabins while eating one of Vietnam’s most famous dishes, two minute noodles. After countless card games, friendly conversations and endless packets of Oreos, m&m’s and lollies, it was finally time to call it a night and get our beauty sleep before our 4:50 am wake up.

 
It was buzzing with excitement in Hanoi and some of the locals were already out and about going about their day. If before, we hadn’t stood out as tourists, we most definitely did now as while the locals were bright eyed and happy, we were all half asleep and dreary. To keep us awake, we headed to the Lake of the Restored Sword where we joined in with the locals, participating in their early morning exercises such as Zumba, soccer, aerobics and Tai Chi. It was the perfect way to wake us up, just like a shot of Espresso in the morning.

 

 
  


   

  It wasn’t long before our tummies were grumbling and we had set off to the hotel to enjoy yet another buffet breakfast. As it wasn’t time to check in yet, we had to fill in time somewhere so our tour guide Hai planned for us to visit the Temple of Literature where we learnt all about Confucius and Vietnam’s first university. Although the thought of school makes us squirm, it was nice to see the respect Vietnam has for its teachers and made us appreciate the work that our teachers do back home (no student has been bribed during these comments!).

      
As we were all exhausted, we spent the afternoon in our hotel rooms, catching up on our Journey Docs and getting some more sleep before heading out again this evening.

Currently we are sitting in Highlands coffee shop at the base of our hotel writing this blog before we head out to see the Water Puppet show, have dinner and return to the hotel for some well deserved rest. Tomorrow we treasure our last full day in Vietnam and we couldn’t be more happy to return home to see our beautiful families.

    
To those at home, we love you and we will see you soon!! – Brooke, Luke and Chloe

TLC Pagodas – Day 14 – Angkor Wat

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Today we were lucky to have a bit of a sleep in with everyone waking up excited to visit Angkor Wat, one of the major areas of interest in the Pagodas team. Even with the hottest day we’ve had so far this trip, we visited three temples that looked like a stunning movie set and one temple actually being a movie set! Most of us explored the temples in small groups, but a few of us chose to walk around on our own as we then got more of a chance to take photos and take in the ancient structures. Although a lot of us felt affected by the heat, we still managed to stay positive and focused on taking home a good experience at the Angkor Wat Temples. 

First of all, we visited the more historical side of the Wats by exploring Bayon Temple. Even with the restoration projects happening, we walked through narrow areas and up steep staircases covered with moss, and we got a bit lost while walking through what seemed to be a maze. The size of the temple felt overwhelming as there was so much to see and explore, so we didn’t get the chance to cover every corner of the ancient ruins. There were so many tourist groups especially at Angkor Wat, all keen to learn about the history of the temples. 

At Ta Promh, the second temple we visited, the relationship between nature and mankind was magnificent to see. From tree roots growing up against the walls of the temple, to insects crawling between rocks, the nature was definitely the highlight of the historic monument. The temple was also a set for the movie Tomb Raider which lots of people coming to the temple to see a Hollywood set instead of taking in the nature and beauty of what was happening around themselves. It was an interesting place with it being a Hindu temple in a country that mostly practices Buddhism. After walking around for two hours and taking in all the sights, we all headed to lunch being exhausted from walking around in the sun for a this time. 

After a nice refreshing drink and a big meal we wandered around Angkor Wat – the biggest temple of the grounds by far. Angkor Wat was a lot larger and busier than the other two temples, where we got the chance to experience one of the great wonders of the world. While walking through the Wat, we saw monkeys on the roof and even got the chance to take some photos of them. We took some time out to stroll through the gardens and appreciate the atmosphere. After finishing up at the temples, we took a bus back to the hotel to freshen up and get ready for yet another night at the markets.  With that we split off into groups and strolled around the vibrant city of Siem Reap for the last time before heading off on a long bus ride to Phnom Penh tomorrow. 

Yasmin and Adrian

Vietnam Yellow – Day 14 – Hi Chi Minh City

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By Annabelle 

Today we woke up bright an early for a day that we knew would be jam packed! We were packed and ready to head to the airport at 7:15am. Our journey to the airport started by the girls and boys splitting into two mini bus’ and heading to the actual bus stop as our bus was too big to get through the streets to our hotel. After arriving at the bus that would take us the rest of the way, we all settled in for a rest. Most people plugged their headphones in and listened to some of their favourite tunes but for the rest of us, we either sat there looking at the crowded streets of Hoi An or we had a nice quick sleep. When we got to the airport, we checked in our bags in small groups. This has become somewhat of a skill so we were all capable of checking in our luggage with no hassles whatsoever. We finally boarded the aeroplane and we were off. This flight was a short one and I managed to sleep the whole way! When we arrived in Ho Chi Minh city we raced to get our baggage, praying that none had been lost. After around 25 minutes of bag collecting, we were able to leave the airport once and for all, well at least for the next few days. 
Ok, so we were finally at the hotel and ready to check in! Our eyes were filled with happiness when we saw the hotel. It is a massive hotel with white and gold features inside. The breakfast buffet room is in view of the entrance and one’s eyes are immediately drawn to a white piano placed in the corner of the reception room. We got settled until 2:30 and then we headed out for lunch at a restaurant called pho24. We all had a choice between chicken noodle soup or beef noodle soup. The vast majority of us chose beef but some people had chicken. The food was amazing and filled us all right up. When lunch concluded, we headed off to independence palace. It was a 20 minute walk to get there and the view was amazing. We were able to walk through the palace and see many of the conference rooms. Some of us also went to the top floor where we were able to see the two bombing points from the 1975 April attack. As we were inside the palace, it started pouring down with rain. Of course, being typical teenagers, we felt it would be fun to run through all of the puddles and and jump around in the humid rain. The walk back to our hotel was an interesting one with many of us quite wet, but we made it back in one piece. We had around time to get changed into some clean clothes, have a shower and relax.
Before heading off to dinner we all gathered around the piano to have a classic St Leonards sing along. What trip would be complete without one of these!? We were amazed by the voice of our tour guide, Hoang, who we had never heard sing until today. He was brilliant to say the least! Shortly after, we headed out to dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant called Restaurant 13. When served with a bowl of rice, a bowl of noodles and some chicken and beef we were all pretty happy. Dinner was done in a heartbeat and we all headed back to the hotel for a nice sleep before another jam packed day tomorrow, where we will travel to the Mekong Delta for an overnight home stay. After arriving at the hotel we were briefed on what would happen tomorrow and then we went to our rooms for a good night’s sleep. 
We are all having a great time and I can speak on the behalf of everyone when I say we are really missing our families back home! 
Lots of love,

Annabelle xx 
*** Day 15 and 16 will be posted tomorrow night as one blog for Mekong Delta. 

Vietnam Red- Day 16

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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. 

TLC Temples – Day 15

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As we are coming to the end of our trip, we had to say goodbye to Siem Reap this morning, and head off to our final destination of Phnom Penh. The trip was due to take about 8 hours (over 300km), giving everyone plenty of time to catch up on sleep or complete our Journey.docs.

Our first stop was at alongside a river that feeds into the large Tong Le Sap lake. As per usual, our large group was split up across a few tables; however, this time, each table was in its own bungalow complete with a couple of hammocks on either side of the table and great views. It was really nice to lounge in the hammocks and take in the beautiful riverside views, while we were served a large array of delicious dishes. We hopped back onto the bus after everyone had restocked their Oreo and snack supplies, and settled in for another few hours on the bus.

Our second pit stop, was the much awaited and just as much feared, Skuon spider market. It had many Cambodian delicacies for us to try: scorpions, cockroaches, crickets, and the main attraction, deep-fried spiders. There were buckets of these huge spiders in every stall and a few tourists walking around with live ones on their bellies and shoulders. It is thought that during the time of the Khmer Rouge, the locals began eating them out of desperation in their struggle to survive. Some group members were more willing than others to try them; with some trying a leg or two, others eating half, and some who ate the entire thing plus the other people’s leftovers.

After a few more hours, we finally made our destination, The Ohana Hotel in Phnom Penh. Once we were settled into our rooms and had some swim/chill time, we headed down the street along the waterfront to dinner. Dinner was a combination of Thai and Cambodian cuisines, and was very delicious. After dinner, we made our way back to the hotel where we were met by an army of tuk tuks, ready to take us for an hour long ride around the streets of Phnom Penh, the first capital city that we have stopped in on our trip! We were able to see the monuments and beautiful scenery that Phnom Penn has to offer, all lit up with lots of neon and fairy lights. 

After a breathtaking tour of the city, we made our way back to the hotel to prepare for our big day tomorrow learning all about the Khmer Rouge and the recent history of this country.

By Shelby and Molly