Vietnam Cultural trip - 2010

GALLERY

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The Vietnam adventurers left from Christchurch early one -2 degree morning. We arrived for a brief stopover in Singapore some 12 hours later. The next morning it was off to Hanoi. At Hanoi we were met by the lovely Ha (our local guide). What a wonderful mix of cultures we discovered - some gorgeous buildings (all one room wide, but multi-storied) and extremely friendly people.

While crossing the road involved some trepidation as all 4 million scooters in the city seemed to be on the road and heading in our direction every time we ventured out. We left Hanoi amidst a tropical downpour - we thought it was fun wading through the foot deep water to get to the bus and head to Ha Long Bay. Unfortunately for Hanoi the rain did not let up as usually happens and they suffered some temporary flooding.

ImageWe spent the night on a junk in Ha Long Bay. What a beautiful place. The boys all went swimming in the South China Sea - thankfully the boat was moved to a safe place for this to happen! And we basked in temperatures in the high 30's.

Even on a journey back to Hanoi to catch a flight further south we saw some interesting sights. People with two and three pigs draped over their scooters and others balancing maybe 100 dozen eggs as they take them to market.

We were grateful to have left Hanoi before the remnants of a typhoon hit. Our next lodgings were in Hoi An, a lovely little town where many of the boys decided to get a custom made suit. Seeing them all being attended to by (in comparison) small Vietnamese woman was delightful. Seeing them in their finished suits made within 24 hours was amazing. The shoes that some got handmade were made even quicker. ImageAt Hoi An we also biked to a local market garden where the group were put to work before being given a foot massage to ease their weary bones (must have been all that shopping!).

We then headed to Dalat, a very French colonial town. Here we had to move hotels as the hotel we had been booked into had an ASEAN ministers meeting we could have been a security threat!! From here we flew to Ho Chi Minh City. It was interesting to see and hear the contrast between the north and south.

It seemed a long time in the planning and all too soon this trip was over. My thanks to Simon Hocking for the planning and the parents and boys for their wonderful company.

Little whispers are happening about the next trip. If you are interested (probably 2013) and have a suggestion then please get in touch.
Kris Martin

GALLERY