URBAN DOMAIN 2024

Vietnam Grey – Day 10

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Today we were excited to experience our first full day in Hoi An, and interested to see what else this beautiful city had to offer. 

The day started with a 7 o’ clock wake up call, shortly followed by a lovely buffet breakfast in the Belle Maison Hotel. We were offered a selection of fruits, pastries and hot foods from Vietnamese cuisine, but it was nice to be reunited with the Western food we all know and love. It wasn’t long before we had hopped on our bikes and begun our journey towards the sea on this sunny day Hoi An had delivered. Hai and Qien had a long bike ride planned on which we got to experience the densely populated area which drew a contrast with the Mekong Delta bike rides. This was the first time we got to experience riding through busy traffic alongside other road vehicles. It was tough to get through the intersections as there were cars and motorbikes coming from left, right and centre, heading in every direction at the same time. 

After the lengthy bike ride filled with beautiful views and a couple of stops, we had arrived at the desired destination. The beach we visited was formerly referred to by Americans during the War, as ‘China Beach’ as it was on the South China Sea. The local people never refer to the beach as ‘China Beach’. They call it a local name. They also call the controversial sea the ‘Eastern Sea.’ A three hour beach experience included some well deserved relaxing time after the village build, and also a delicious meal on the seaside, which we all enjoyed.

It was time to head back to the hotel where we were rewarded with a one hour long pool session, before we headed back out again to visit the streets of Hoi An. For us to experience the change from the atmosphere in the afternoon, to the atmosphere at night was fascinating as we got so see the streets come to life at night. People were coming out of their houses and into the different stores and restaurants where they were treated with a nice meal and some shopping, where we put our ‘bartering’ skills to the test. Hoi An’s culture is noticeably different to Ho Chi Minh’s, this is because of the French influence on this city during colonial times. The French architecture has been well preserved, such as French Windows, narrow laneways and roof tiles, which give the town its rich character. Once again, we visited the Silk Road tailor, where we were greeted by Twi the shop owner, to address the first round of fittings, where some were happier than others. Tomorrow we will finalise the fittings, and receive the final product. Our day concluded with some free time to socialise and shop, before heading back to the hotel for a good night’s rest.

We hope all is well at home – Carlin and Chloe 🙂

   
   
   
   
    
   
 
    

   

  

TLC Pagodas Day 9 – Pak Beng and Luang Prabang

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STL Blog-Day 9
Today we completed our two day journey from the Thailand/Laos border to Luang Prabang. Last night we stayed in Pak Beng in a river side hotel, overlooking the Mekong River. Today we experienced Laos though eyes not clouded with large cities and heavy tourism. We saw elephants bathing in the morning and wild animals grassing on the banks of the mighty Mekong. We also got a glimpse into the everyday life of a Lao villager when we stopped mid morning at a rural local village which relies on the Mekong for everything they need. Laos is very different from Thailand because it is a lot quieter, less busy, and when we first arrived we almost instantly noticed the difference. After visiting the village we continued along the Mekong to the statue caves of Tam Ting where we were able to see thousands of Buddah statues varying in sizes. Even though we have been in Laos for almost two days we didn’t really get to see what the country is really like until this afternoon when we arrived in Luang Prabang. The hotel we are staying at for the next three days is very different compared to the others we have stayed in. This hotel we are staying at tonight is incredibly luxurious which is a very stark contrast from where we’ve stayed for the past 4-5 days which gives us a really good chance to get so much need rest and washing. We are really excited to see the rest of Luang Prabang and explore Laos more in depth.  

Lauren A and Marcus S    

TLC Temples – Day 10

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We started with a 9 o’clock departure time to travel to the Royal Palace Museum. We looked through countless rooms, artefacts, framed pictures of members of the former Royal family, and gifts donated by countries like USA, Australia, Russia and Britain. One room was particularly memorable, as every surface of the walls and ceiling were covered in gold leaf and mosaics. 

Next we began our bike ride. While the morning got hotter, we set out to tour the city and country side. Managing the streets of Luang Prabang on a bike was tough. We can definitely say that we were relieved to reach our first stop, which was a Buddhist temple. Up to 35 monks can live in one temple, and if others came them they would need to relocate and find another temple to live in. In one of the buildings, which was a Buddhist chapel, lay an enormous golden Buddha statue. Our guide Joy also told us a lot about his life in the temple as child.

After that, we got back on our bikes and rode towards to country side. We headed towards a handicrafts centre out of the city, where we learned how the local people produce a paper called ‘sha’ paper. This paper has a rougher, bumpier texture than normal paper at home. Some sheets even had petals and leaves dried into the paper. Hunter helped decorate a sheet of paper which was being worked on as we walked through. 

The temperature continued to rise and we were all starting to feel progressively more tired as the morning went on, but that didn’t stop us from having to ride another 7km to lunch. Luckily the road we were on was fairly quiet, but it was not paved and and the potholes made our bike ride difficult. The roundabouts were also quite challenging! Everyone was really proud of themselves when we were done and our lunch in an air conditioned restaurant was much needed.

After lunch, we headed to some mini vans for an hour trip towards a beautiful Krungi waterfalls. The waterfall was a popular spot to take photos. There were many tourists doing the same thing as all of us kids.. taking photos. It was a relief to get a break from the heat as the the mist from the base of waterfall hit us a gave us some cool relief. As we progressed further down the waterfall, we came across many tourists swimming in rock pools at the base of the waterfall. At the end of the trail, we came across a brown bear sanctuary which was home to about 10 brown bears, several of which had missing limbs. These bears had been rescued from places that were keeping them for their bike. Just before the sanctuary, our group discovered a huge spider hanging from a web above our heads. Sent so many of the group running, screaming in the other direction! After our trip at the waterfall was over, we got back in the mini vans, greatly anticipating our clean laundry that we were about to go and collect from the laundromats.
We finished our day having dinner in groups of four or more, with some people taking the opportunity to pig out on hamburgers. Near the end of the journey of the night market, we bumped into the other TLC group and were greeted with hugs and screams as we shared stories, but it did not last long as we had to head home to our own hotels. 

Overall a very action packed day! We are excited for what else is to come on our slowly ending trip that we wish would last forever. 

By Zach and Jade

Vietnam Red- Day 11

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With a rejuvenating long sleep in we set off at 9:30 for a walking tour around Hoi An. Sunny informed us that during the wet season shop owners are forced to relocate their business to a higher platform: usually shops have two levels and the owners would move their products up to the highest level.

After a sticky walk with some interesting smelling alley ways we sat and watched a live traditional performance, including instrumentals and dancing. Even though the music was great one of the performances left us wondering what they were trying to convey: this performance included a lady in a blue dress with a large head piece yelling in Vietnamese (or was it Chinese?) for about 3 minutes. At the end of the performance Sunny explained what this lady was talking about: it was apparently about two lovers who were torn apart. A lot of us were still very confused afterwards.

For lunch we went by boat to a red themed restaurant called “Red Bridge”, Although it was quite expensive, it was a delight.

During the afternoon we had a quick interval where most of the group swam or got our final fittings at the tailors. For dinner the teachers decided to mix it up and make us cook most of our own dinner, this included spring rolls and chicken skewers. Lulu our lovely local cook showed us which ingredients to use to make the best chicken skewers and spring rolls ever! We enjoyed making our own food and seeing what the people of Vietnam have been preparing for us for the past 11 days. We also realised just how easy it was to prepare the simple food we had been eating.

Tonight we were treated with an evening swim, as it is our final night in Hoi An. We are all very sad to be leaving this amazing hotel.

To the parents: we are all missing you and are all very excited to see you in a week.

Harry and Steph

Photos: group shots on the walking tour; lunch at Red Bridge; preparing chicken skewers and spring rolls at the cooking class. 

China- Day 9

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Hello to all back home! We have now arrived in Xian after another big travel day.
It was the earliest start of the trip this morning with a 5.30 wake up call, made bearable by the fantastic breakfast prepared by one of our Guizhou guides, Billy. We made our way up to our coach and for the last time, used the shuttle bus that is like a rollercoaster. Nathan tried to sleep but he kept getting thrown around. We then boarded our coach for our long trek (3 hours) back to the airport.
As we journeyed along, we reflected on our past two days in the Miao Village and how different their lives are from ours. For us two personally, we both felt satisfied at what we had done to help the community, and we are sure that this is a feeling that is shared across the China Trip Group.
When we arrived at Guiyang Airport, a reward for our hard work had arrived. After we had checked in, we headed for Burger King (as pointed out in the group- Hungry Jacks in Australia), and feasted on our first non Asian meal. While we are ensuring to emerse ourselves in the Chinese culture, it was a nice change to have a western style meal.
Once we all felt bloated (not literally!!) from Burger King we proceeded through security and headed for our gate. What the group has discovered is that going through security in Australia for domestic flights is like a piece of cake compared to security for Chinese domestic flights. Eventually we boarded our Shandong Airlines flight for Xian. Despite some turbulence, it was a great opportunity to do our journey docs, write postcards or for some (including Nathan) have a little snooze.
We arrived in a chilly Xian, and entered back into the chaos of cities in China after having spent quite sometime in rural areas. Xian used to be the worlds’ biggest city and was one of the ancient capitals of China. Once we arrived at our hotel we had some chill time with our new room buddies. Our rooms finally have some English speaking channels (CNN- so we have caught up with all the Trump developments!)
Now that we are in the Eastern part of China, we are now having noodles and dumplings at dinner, and the group certainly is looking forward to more dinners 

like this! After dinner we walked around the bell tower and the Muslim quarter. It is a very busy area but the group handled it really well- practise for Beijing!!
We hope everyone is well (apparently it is raining a lot back home- we saw some blue sky today!) and we are all having a fantastic time but we look forward to seeing you all soon.
Gab and Nathan :))