Dodged the typhoon

Our Hagley College group sucessfully dodged the recent typhoon that went through Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The group were in southern Vietnam, the Mekong Delta, and on the South Coast of Cambodia when the typhoon went through Central Vietnam and North East Cambodia. I phoned the group at their homestay this morning, and heard that it's dry - not even a drop of rain in Takeo. The group are loving Cambodia, spent the day volunteering on the South Coast yesterday, and head to Phnom Penh today in great spirits - though I am sure all are a little sad their trip is almost over. The group haven't had internet access since Saigon, but will be able to email once they arrive in Phnom Penh, so I'm sure we'll hear from them later today.

Thanks,
Rachel Sanson

Southeast Asia Program - Beginning the adventure!

We've arrived!

The adventure begins; wandering the streets of Bangkok, sampling the local cuisine, leaping onto canal boats that don't stop - only slow down, and marveling at a city so grand in its contrasts. Our tour on day two highlighted the life in Bangkok, Thailand, where one fifth of the country's people live, from homeless people sleeping under bridges, to huge malls with Hermes scarves draped decadently on mannequins, to shining golden Wats (temples) exuding a peaceful vibe. Bangkok truly is the city of smiles.

The Southeast Asia Fall 2009 trip is underway and we've begun our journey into the mountain; ancient ruins, trekking with hill tribes and a rafting trip beckon. Our group of 16 enthusiasts are already having a ball together. Some silly games on the first day forced us into each other's personal space and shared experiences promise to bring us even closer.

Hillary and Leo

Some more memorable moments

The Hagley student group are about to set off for the Mekong Delta to test their cycling legs. Goodbye Saigon.

- Tash: A touch of blindness. Did she not SEE the 7-11 lady on the little boat below her as she bombed Halong Bay from the junk roof??
- Ben slept like a baby throughout the water puppet theatre performance.
- Louie strolled the aeroplane aisles sporting various whacky but oh-so-cute hairstyles.
- TK. First time blood donor. You rock!
- Dean summoned by security at the airport in Hanoi and whisked away behind closed doors.
- Mick: One of the pioneers of the woolly hat treatment. His sentence was for losing his train ticket which had to be shown at the Lai Cai exit to prove you weren't a stowaway.
- Alison and Janine for both managing to extricate themselves from bag snatchers in Saigon.
- Dean's underground grin at Cu Chi tunnels demonstrated that he was probably a mole or a bat in a past life.
- I love rice paddies I want to take a rice paddy home with me I want my boyfriend to buy me a rice paddy for Christmas: Alison.
- Buying weasel coffee at Ben Thanh Market. Coffee beans are fed to weasels who pass them and then they're harvested by people who know what really good coffee should taste like. Wicked!
- Negotiating prices with cyclo drivers in crazily busy Saigon. Some were stung. Ouch.

Janine :)

Cu Chi & WAR

This moring was an early wake up between 5:00 - 5.30am as we had to be down in the lobby at 6am. Breakfast was served with a massive bread roll including jam, butter and bananas. After breakfast we hopped on the bus and travelled for an hour and a half to the Cu Chi tunnel site - I think a lot of people learned something! It was very interesting and the majority of people chose to go through the tunnels and the lucky few left behind had to hold all the bags! We also went to WAR (Wildlife At Risk), a wildlife refuge center - it was inspiring, the work that they do. We all enjoyed seeing lizards and pangalins (look them up) and we got to hold and touch! It was awesome! A real highlight! I have to g0 now as it's getting close to 11! Will write a better blog soon!

Alison

Hanoi to Saigon

Day 10 started off early, with two wake up calls at 5.25! We all jumped on the bus at about 6 for an hour long ride to the airport. We sat around at the airport for a while and finally checked our stuff in, but just as we were about to head to customs, an attendant came over and started looking for some one from our group with brown hair! I knew I wasn't in trouble because I have red hair :) Lucky Ben got taken out to the "back room" and we were all pretty worried, but he returned moments later and Dean was ushered away. We got a little nervous when the door was locked, but we needn't have, because it was only a miscommunication. Phew! Off we went through customs and all was well. Once we had boarded the plane, we discovered that not only does Vietnam Air have old and very wide planes, but the most uncomfortable seats in the world! We think they were posture correcting, but they were horrible!

When we landed in Ho Chi Minh City, we had to wait aaaages for our bags, but we had a huge downpour to watch that kept us occupied. We all then piled in to taxis that could carry five, but acutally it was four passengers so we had to squeeze a bit! At our guesthouse, we were warmly greeted and offered refreshing drinks. We all then gladly dumped our bags in our rooms and headed out for lunch and a little shopping before our 1.30 deadline at the guest house. We then had a quick briefing about the museum we were about to go to and then headed off to The War Remnants Museum. A lot of us were nearly in tears as we saw pictures displaying the horrors of the Vietnam War, but it was interesting to learn about and many poeple gained some knowledge. We then walked (the long way) to the Reunification Palace and when we got there, no one decided to go in, but we saw the tanks that had helped break the gates, and be part of ending the Vietnam War. Most people got taxis or cyclos to the guesthouse and then hit the town for shopping! It was bargains galore and to chill at the end, we all had noodle soup and spring rolls for dinner!

Ali

Hanoi experiences

Woke up after a fantastic night sleep at the Gold Spring Hotel, very relieved to be on dry land and not be surrounded by water and not soooo much seafood! The hotel is lovely. I had breakfast with Laurentel at around 7 - juicy watermelon, potato, french toast, toast and a selection of other foods were available. The bus was a hour late, shock horror! But made it to the Museum of Ethnology, randomly walked around and saw displays and sculptures from different ethnic groups. A dragon dance was very entertaining - you could tell from the happy smiles on the children in the crowds faces :) Once we got back we were allowed free time. For most people this meant shopping. For me however I had to wait an hour for a pizza which luckily was amazing. Then I had to try explain to a non-english speaking lady at the drycleaning place that I didnt get my top back. This was a very difficult thing and after 20 mintues to my surprise she understood me enough to go get my top which had been misplaced. During this time Allison, Lewis, Lauren and Aimee waited while Hanoi decided to pour down! We tried to be fine with the rain and shopped, got soaked in the process though :( Tea was with the whole group at 69 restaurant which was quite good - a beef burger and fanny icecream went down very well. Then we went to the water puppet show which was entertaining for the people that didn't fall asleep (cough cough BEN, MICHELLE Hahaha). I found it really interesting though! Well yes that was friday the 25th waking up early for a flight tomorrow soooo bye!

Evy Schofield

Random memorable moments in Vietnam

Take a bunch of senior Hagley students to Vietnam and what do you get?

- TK, Casey and Annie leaping and dancing in a Hanoi downpour, much to the amusement of the locals

- Alison wearing an incredibly glamorous banana leaf hat on the trek in Sapa

- Jules, managing..somehow..to get himself locked in the bus at a toilet stop, all the while dying to do number 2

- Evy discovering her life's calling as a street vendor

- Michelle using her expert bargaining skills to get, after considerable negotiation, back to the original price. Duh!

- Simon being stung by the only jellyfish in Halong Bay. (But was it just a ploy to get a Vietnamese female staff member on the junk to rub lime juice all over his arm??)

- Aimee being stung by the same jellyfish which Simon had inadvertently cast off his arm right at her!

- Annie rising to the challenge and negotiating with a cyclo driver to swap places at Lake Hoan Kiem in Hanoi.

- Paul, on his birthday on the junk - walking the plank in the morning and treating us all to his rendition of 'Daddy Cool' in the evening.

- Rachel jumping of the junk in her glasses. (Did she possibly think that she would be able to see the fish better???)

More to come! :) Janine

Hello from Humid Hanoi

Hello there from insanely busy Hanoi. As I sit and write a chorus of toots accompanies me and a light monsoon drizzle adds to the humidity outside. It is hard to believe that just a week ago we were in Singapore which is definitely "Asia lite" compared to Vietnam - more like one big shopping mall - the kids loved it! We spent only 12 hours there, breaking up our flights. The second day saw us arrive in Hanoi and visit the Temple of Literature in steamy heat, before eating at KOTO cafe, an NGO that provides education and employment to Vietnamese street kids. We caught the night train north to the mountain town of Sapa (as described by Michelle and Casey on the Pacific Discovery blog - just go to the website for student updates). The cabins were small, the toilets were dodgy and the sleep was slight. Once in Sapa, half the group took off on the trek and the other chilled for the day and evening wandering the streets of quaint Sapa and practising their bargaining and fending techniques. The following day we flip flopped. Both days were extremely hot and the students really suffered trekking in those conditions - i was proud of their tenacity. The homestay had great food and marae style sleeping. A monsoon deluge with lightening and thunder in the night meant our return journey a bit cooler, and much more slippery. Day 5 saw us back together and catching the night train back to Hanoi, arriving before 5am to see the streets around Hoan Kiem Lake pulsing with locals out walking, stretching, and dancing getting their daily constitutional. After breakfast we had a 3 hour bus ride to UNESCO World Heritage Site, Halong Bay. Rising from the waters of the bay are around 2000 karst limestone islands - picturesque and pristine. We boarded 2 junks, our home for the next 2 days. The junks have 3 levels - sleeping quarters below, with en suites, dining in the middle, and a viewing, lazing deck up top. Diving off the boats into the ridiculously warm waters was our first mission! In the afternoon we took to the kayaks and cruised around some islands as a group. Unfortunately quite a lot of us took ill at one point or other on the boats - whether it was a virus or travel catching up with us I'm not sure, but it really took its toll on some. X-fingers for healthier days ahead! Those who were up for it did some more kayak exploring the next day into a cave and swimming off a beach. This morning we walked through an enormous cave before heading back to land and the bus ride back to Hanoi - where we stay in a lovely hotel for the next two nights before flying south to Saigon. Hard to believe it's so cold back home when we drip in the humidity here. Last day of term for you all - enjoy the beginning of your well-earnt holidays and I'll send another update before we leave.
Squeezes to loved ones,
Rachel and Paul.

Trekking in Sapa, Vietnam

We were finally in Vietnam. The doors of the bus swing open, and within seconds we were befriended by the local women of Sapa. Doesn't that sound nice...more like bombarded! And when we say bombarded we mean 10..no 20...might have been 30 women and little girls all vying for your undivided attention to buy things from them. They weren't afraid to be ruthless. One of these little girls, Jew , took a shine to Mick. And when someone takes a shine don't expect to be walking down the streets without them by your side - into shops...out of shops..up the street...down the street..you get the jist. The only way to free yourself is to purchase. But to tell you the truth, Mick seemed to enjoy it more than he should. After all Mick "can't say no to the girls" - ha ha.

At about 10 am half the group (the lucky group) set off on a nice afternoon walk to our homestay. About 3 minutes into our 'hike' we all had sweat patches the size of the Pacific Ocean. I don't think either of us had dry patch on our shirt, so you can imagine how smelly it may have been. Ew. Who ever said treking was an enjoyable sport?? Obviously never trekked in Vietnam. Trek? More like a death hike. So now we're an hour into our mission but thank goodness we were able to go for a swim in the local river. Mm. You can just imagine the look on the locals faces when they saw 9 students crawling their way to the river bank, ripping off their clothes and piling into the water. Sigh. The single most satisfying swim in our lives. But that was short lived. We thought the worst was over, but then after 4 intense treturous hours uphill, downhill, climbing we finally started emerging at the top of the hill (ha, mountain more like), and one by one we collapsed. Overheated, sunburned and half eaten alive. We slowly drifted back into conciousness to the sound of laughter. We look over and see a man in his rice straw hat (Alison looks amazing in a rice hat) chuckling at the sight.

After ariving at our homestay the only thing we could think about was getting into the nice cool shower, getting clean and refreshed. It was a fight to the death for the luxury of getting the first shower. We were stopped in our tracks, shocked to find that our highly anticipated shower was a scoop bucket under tap in a shed. Wasn't exactly what we were used to but AMAZING all the same. Things were looking up when we were served a traditional Vienamese dinner overloooking the village. Delicous. Meanwhile in the upstairs bunk Michelle was spending her evening throwing up in a bowl.

We had the most AMAZING experience of our lives. There might have been a teeny bity of complaining but overall we handld it pretty well. :)

Michelle and Casey

[A wee note from Pacific Discovery: The young minority girls in Sapa are amazing in that they often make this trek both ways in a day just to go to their nearest market to exchange goods and buy food]

First day of our adventure through Cambodia and Vietnam

Aimee here. I am with the group from Hagley Community College and as we speak I am standing at a computer with swollen feet and red face from the heat. Walking out of the Singapore airport terminal and onto the footpath I walked into the surroundings of what felt like a sauna. Most of us wanted to head back into the airport and onto the plane because it was so much cooler. But we had a bus to catch. Everyone loved the bus ride to Habitat hostel where we slept, 8 to a room! Back to the airport this morning for our three hour flight to Vietnam! Update soon! bye bye.