We were told it would be a 2 1/2hr drive and then 4hrs on a boat. The drive was a bit scary as the bus was passing on blind bends, scooters were constantly swerving in and out and trucks generally cutting everyone off the entire way. The tour guide told us that it is was probably best not to look out of the front window. I guess he has had western tourists turning pale before. We were reading a guide to Vietnam guide book on the bus and were led to a couple of useful points.
1. If you are in dangerous car accident in Vietnam that was your Karma and it was meant to happen. So, drive like crazy and if its not your time to die you are pretty much invincible. Hmmm. I cant seem to find any road traffic accident statistics on-line. 2. In the absence of Judeo-Christian 10 commandment (particularly ‘do not lie’) morality guidelines the general rule here is to say what people want to hear so as not to offend them. Ie ‘no I did not damage your car’ and then think quickly of a way to break the news to them later while drinking a glass of tea together, Which brings me back to the 2 1/2 hr bus ride with was actually a 4 1/2 hr bus ride with a 1/2hr stop at a conveniently located souvenir shop and cafeteria. Therefore the 2hr bus ride was explained as a ‘Vietnamese 2hrs’ (laugh, laugh) and we will be there soon.
Ha Long Bay was worth the 10hr return trip, however. It is listed as a Unesco world heritage site. It was a bit foggy and cloudy but not cold.
The past two weeks have been the same. We broke out into four classes each with 12-24 students each. We have been teaching new vocabulary words, watching inspirational videos, doing tongue twisters and then breaking into small groups to get to know the students better. Ryan and Jemma have been great teachers and helpers.
As of yesterday we have our revised tickets home. I can’t remember if we mentioned that we have been looking into staying on for a few extra weeks to explore southern Vietnam and then pop over to Thailand to see friends up in Chiang Mai. This is now all booked so we will be in DaNang for a week (middle Vietnam beach area), Saigon or ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta for a week and then another week in Phu Quoc a little island off the coast. For the last week we will fly up to Chiang Mai in Thailand. We will be home on Thursday March 24th in time for Easter. We have a Timmys card (thanks Neets) with some credit on it and we cant wait to get a double double and a Boston Cream. In the meantime we will enjoy Bun Cha and Pho for breakfast, dinner and lunch for the next 8 weeks!
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| Ha Long Bay |
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| The judging panel for a talent show |
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| Lunch on the Ha Long Bay boat trip |
3 comments:
Great pics, its good to get your updates. Sounds like you have a nice trip planned for your final weeks. We liked the video of Ryan and Jenny speaking Vietnamese!!
Nice Hoodie!
I'm almost done my H2omans Blog Post catchup marathon. This is awesome!
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