Hoi Ann & Hue
Trip Start
Jan 04, 2008
1
6
13
Trip End
Ongoing
Hanoi,
Vietnam
Sunday, April 13, 2008
It's been some time since we updated our blog, so here is all the news since last time. Easter passed by here without any celebration, nothing mentioned at school due to the different religions I imagine. So we really missed the hot cross buns and Easter eggs . We worked on Good Friday - just another day for everyone here.
On Easter Sunday our school had a tennis tournament which Rod and I played in. We set off on the motorbike to find the courts. Along the way we met up with other teachers who were also looking for the courts. We continued on in convey all on our bikes - eventually we found the tennis courts. It was a very relaxed day, most people only social players so we had a some fun. I lucked out and drew a partner who could actually play, so we ended up winning the tournament! The PE teacher who organized the day even had winning pennant flags for the winners and runner ups! We were photographed and put on the school email system for all to see.
We had a great week away visiting Hoi An and the old capital of Hue. The New Zealand teacher _ Jenni Taylor came with us as well. She has traveled extensively and taught in Beijing for 9 years, so she has good tips for traveling. She had done lots of reading up about the places, so knew which restaurants to eat at, which tailors were the best, what places to visit etc. However we did contribute to the trip by organizing the flights and accommodation. The hotel where we stayed was old but quite grand.
Beach
It was used for the officers during the Vietnam war during their leave apparently. It had a great big pool set amongst its gardens so we had a dip each day after dealing with the shops and scenic sights. Breakfast was served outside in the gardens which was very peaceful. I would definitely recommend it to you when you come over. Rod and I had some clothes made for school - Rod cotton shirts and trousers, me cotton skirts and shirts. I also had a winter jacket and pants made for when we come home in June / July. The tailor shops are amazing - a great supply of fabrics and many girls at your disposal for fitting and sorting out designs. We were happy with what we had made and would go back to them.
Hoi An is a UNESCO world heritage site, so the old buildings were just amazing and had lots of character. The town was set on a large river so lots of transport was done on the river via traditional boats. We hired motor bikes one day and rode the 5 kms to the beach and had a swim. The water was clear and the beach lined with palm trees - not what I imagined for Vietnam.
We hired a driver to drive us to Hue where we stayed for 2 nights. The drive was very pretty along the coast. We stopped at a place called Marble Mountain where marble is quarried and carved into amazing statues and sculptures. They specialized in religious themes - Mother Mary, Jesus, Buddha as well as lions, dolphins and cherubs etc. Some of the statues were huge and quite expensive for Vietnam prices.
Bridge
In Hue we took a trip to see where the De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) was during the war between North and South. Our guide was a war vet who fought with the South Vietnamese army. He was very interesting and took us through fields where there were still some grenades and shells that had not been detonated yet! Fortunately he knew where they were so we felt safe ( sort of!). We saw the Ho Chi Min trail and saw the tunnels that the Viet Cong built to avoid the American bombing. I braved the tunnels (despite my claustrophobic tendencies) and saw where whole villages lived underground during the war to escape the bombs. These tunnels even had hospitals as they housed up to 600 villagers. The tunnels were only a metre and a half high and about a metre wide. They were pitch black and we carried torches with us to see where we were going.
Back at school now for the last term of the year. As with all schools, the pace picks up a bit during this term with reports due and uncovered curriculum to be taught. It's amazing how many of our kids will be moving on at the end of this term, either back to their home country or to another international posting with their embassy, business or school. Their places will be filled immediately by other families arriving in Hanoi and so the cycle starts again. Student positions at UNIS are very sort after and there is a waiting list for each grade level at any stage throughout the year.
We have booked our flights home and will be landing in Melbourne on the 19th June. We plan to spend the time catching up with our girls, family and friends. We fly our on the 26th July for two weeks in Bali before we head back to Hanoi to start the new school year on 11th August. We have a week at school with not kids, doing various forms of PD and planning. So hopefully we will catch up with with you somewhere in those five weeks, either in Melbourne, Bendigo, Elmore or Kerang....looking forward to it.
Cheers
Jenny and Rod
Comments
hoi ann - very cool
great holiday! - this is going to be on the my 'to-do'list when we come over - mum post some photos of the new clothes!
keep on enjoying the old nam- rexona is the key
and trust me - i ate enough chocolate for us al over easter...
love us xxx