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So sorry we have been a bit slack on the blog front but unfortunately we have been working like the rest of you!!! (well almost). So we arrived in Hanoi nearly three weeks ago to start our volunteer project. Hanoi is pretty mental and the traffic is unbelievable but we love it here. There are thousands of motorbikes everywhere and it took us awhile to get the hang of crossing the roads. The technique is to just walk out into the traffic dodging the motorbikes- or else you just stand there waiting all day. The pollution here is pretty intense, so we all came down with a horrible cough and cold, but we have had some amazing weekends away in other areas of Vietnam. The Vietnamese people are lovely and we have learnt a bit of the lingo - including 'Oi Choy Oi', which means 'My God' - the locals find in hilarious when we use it!!
The volunteer projects took awhile to get used to. It's probably fair to say that we have been let down quite badly by the company we have booked it through (but they will be hearing all about it when we get back). The hotel is nice and the receptionist is lovely, but the maid was stealing from everyone's rooms until we made a massive complaint. We have been spending our mornings in a school for older children with special needs and our afternoons in a different school for younger children with special needs. Then on Tuesday and Thursday evenings we have been visiting an orphanage which is fantastic and probably our favorite. The children in all the centres are adorable but the language barrier has defiantly made it more challenging. There have defiantly been some highs and lows but the small little differences we feel we have made helping the children with their maths or just playing with them, has defiantly made it worth while. We plan to visit the orphanage again on Saturday to say our goodbye and give them some printed photos of the 100's they have taken!!
We did a city tour of Hanoi on our first weekend which included visiting Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum where we got to see his body embalmed. We (or Sam) has spent lots of time shopping too. There are lots of other volunteers on other projects too so we have made some great friends.
On our Second weekend here we went to Sapa, which was amazing. It is like another world high up in the mountains North West of Vietnam -near the China border. We took an overnight train there and back which was interesting. The cabins are like little prison cells with 4 bunk beds in. The train was mega loud and shaky and on our way back for some reason the train performed an emergency stop which was a good way to wake you up when you are sleeping on the top bunk. The air was so nice and fresh in Sapa. We got to visit all the different tribes and villages and went trekking on Saturday and Sunday. We were joined by a group of ladies from a local tribe. They were lovely, looking after us and making us things… until it came to buying from them and Sam got told off by her lady as she brought from another!!! We did a home stay too which was fantastic staying with a local family in their home. They made us a lovely meal and tried to get us drunk on rice wine (or happy water as they call it) which is very strong. The three of us (our friend Ashley from America too) then spent nearly an hour watching a huge bug crawl outside our mosquito net doing David Attenborough impressions (may have been due to the rice wine). The family live right by a gorgeous river so we went swimming there too. Overall a fantastic weekend, we didn't want to leave!!
Last weekend we went to Halong Bay which was also beautiful, but a little sad as there are so many tourists and lots of rubbish in the water. We spent the first day and night on an old junk boat which was a lot of fun. We visited a cave and did some kayaking. We also did some swimming in the sea (for a very short while) and jumped off the top deck of the boat. This was extremely brave of us as the water was infested with jellyfish with very long tentacles!! We met three brothers from Australia who were a lot of fun and it was hilarious because as we each jumped into the water, the people left on the boat were shouting to direct us around the jellyfish. Or we would all stand there jellyfish spotting and then shouting 'CLEAR' when it was safe to jump!!! On the second day we went to Cat Ba Island where we went trekking (getting very fit now…. Not) up a very high mountain, which was quite tricky. Everyone that climbed to the top looked like a drowned rat as we were sweating so much (nice). We also visited Monkey Island, which is a lovely little beach on an island full of monkeys (pretty self explanatory). You have to lock your stuff away so the monkeys don't pinch your bags. One guy got chased by a big monkey which was very funny to watch.
Overall we have had a fantastic time in Hanoi and places nearby. We both really like it here in Vietnam and look forward to seeing more of the country. We finish our project on Friday so on Sunday we head south, we plan to visit Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City…. So we promise to keep you a little better informed!!!
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