So much has happened in the past few days I barely know where to start!! Flew from Perth to Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, then spent the night in KL. Then we were back at the airport early Sunday morning to get our flight to Saigon.

We arrived at the Ho Chi Minh airport, and there were a bunch of people from the orphanage waiting with a big sign - felt a bit like a celebrity!! There were so many of us that we had to go in two different cars, so Sal and I - and all the luggage of everyone - was packed into a taxi and taken on the way to the hotel. Well, I don't think Sal and I stopped laughing the whole entire way!! Never in my life have I seen so many scooters - in fact, I don't think I've seen a car - it's scooters, buses and trucks. As for the road rules, well, I've pretty much established that other than wearing a helmet, there are none!

So on this trip to the hotel we dodged in and out of scooters, on which were up to four people on each - so family sedan here - we spotted people carrying doors, windows and massive poles while on scooter, even came across a guy with ten single bed mattresses on the back of his. Never had I thought it was possible to move a house on the back of a motorbike - now I know it is.

Arriving at the hotel, the poor baggage handlers thought all the luggage belonged to just the two of us, not the six volunteers we are traveling with. So needless to say we got a lot of funny looks! We knew that English would be limited, but were expecting a hotel catering to international tourists to have at least one staff member with a basic knowledge. Apparently not! Spent over an hour doing sign language and drawing pictures to try and explain ourselves. Looking back on it now, it was actually hilarious, although when extremely tired from two days of travel, at the time it wasn't so funny.

We were taken to the hospital to meet the lady I had been dealing with the preparation for the trip. She runs the orphanage, but ended up in hospital the week before we arrived with a broken femur and broken hip. She was lovely and very welcoming.

Then it was off to the orphanage. Well, from the outside, it looked like a castle, but once we got in it was another story. There are110 boys aged 6 - 24 living in this orphanage. They are piled into rooms holding 20 people, and on each bed is a bit of material - no mattresses, and not enough beds for all the kids. When we arrived, kids were laying all over the place on a tiled floor, apparently getting their afternoon nap, and the floor being more comfortable and cooler than the beds.

We had a bit of a tour, our two older boys who had been with us since the airport, Wan and Vinh were absolutely amazing, both teenagers, and went right out of their way to help us out. They even sat in the hotel lobby for two hours waiting while we unpacked and had some lunch. So they took us and showed us everything.

The toilets are literally holes in the ground and smelled awful. The shower rooms contained a tap, and the whole place is in serious need of maintenance and a makeover. There was a group of volunteers from a university there doing games, and when they found out I could dance, an impromptu lesson happened with one of the older ones. The kids were extremely reserved, totally the opposite to what I'm used to in Africa where when you walk into a room, kids come from everywhere to jump on you, despite the fact they have no idea who you are.

When we left, we got a bus back to the hotel - and I can tell you now, I thought minibus taxis in Africa were an adventure, but this took things to a whole new league! When the bus came, we were told to hurry up and got on in the back door. I was so thankful that Wan was there, as I don't know how we would have got through that trip without him (and that's without taking into account the driving, which was an amusement park ride in itself). That bus just went where it wanted, and a very angry ticket lady while rolling her eyes kept yelling at us to move forward, move forward - honestly, if we'd been any further forward, I would have been sitting in the driver's lap! Between that lady, peak hour traffic, the driving, and the adventure of crossing the road while thousands of scooters are zooming past you, I still don't know how we made it back alive. What an adrenaline rush though, and something we will remember.

This morning we were back at the orphanage. This time our bus ride was much safer, obviously the key is to avoid peak hour. We were taken to the kids, who were all playing marbles with a skill that amazes me - they sort of put their thumb on the ground, bend their entire finger back and let them fly. I have never seen anything like it.

The kids were very reserved, and didn't really want to know us - I later realized that the man running the orphanage in Caroline's place while she's away is not a nice man, and I think the kids were petrified of why we were there. I pulled out the friendship bracelet thread and started making one. That then attracted the attention of one child, and more soon followed. With no understanding of English, the whole concept was difficult, but through demonstration we were able to get it across. We then spent the next two hours sat on the floor with varying boys.

It was very hard because once you won them over, they demanded your full attention. I was helping one little boy out, and when another came to also asked and I turned away, this little boy started yelling "Oi! Oi!" and banged at my hand til I turned back to him.

Mid morning a bell rang and everyone disappeared - they soon returned with snacks, this weird looking jelly shaped as hearts that to be honest tasted absolutely awful. But the kids came to us proud as ever, holding them in grubby dirty hands for us to take them to try!

There was one boy who was fourteen who came up to me and spoke the tiniest bit of English - he wanted to know my name, then he wanted to know if he could use my camera to take a photo. I now have about 100 photos on my camera of sky, poles and the floor, but this kid had an absolute ball. Thank god for digital cameras.

Anyway, he then made a bracelet, and took me to show me his bedroom. Then came the best bit - I asked him to show me the marbles game they were playing. He was shocked that I wanted to learn. So there I sat for the next half hour with this very patient fourteen year old (who has told me he wants to be a teacher when he grows up) and he showed me. For everyone who is going to laugh at this next bit, I assure you, it is a lot harder than you would think! So this boy took my hand and got it into the position he wanted, and proceeded very patiently to give me this lesson. When I eventually got it right, he would jump up, high five me and say "Yes, good!!". Then on the next time when the marble went the total opposite way to where it should, he would sadly shake his head and say "no, no, bad!". Then he'd take my fingers again and reposition them, demonstrate, and we'd go again.

Never have I seen a child so focused on one thing, he was determined I was going to get this right (which I eventually did I'm proud to say!!). When we were done he taught me his secret handshake, which I was thrilled with, then before we left, he came and tied the bracelet he'd made on my hand. What an amazing experience - forget all the five star hotels, fancy tourist places and everything else, something so simple can really make your day. I really felt like in such a small way we were making a difference to these kids, who showed it in their own way. When one came up to me and shot at me with a water pistol he'd made himself (poked a hole in the bottom of a water bottle then blew in it to get the water spurting), I knew it was his way of telling us we were ok.

Then came my second major Vietnamese experience of the day - Caroline wanted to see me at the hospital, so one of the girls took me - on the back of her scooter. Oh my gosh, what an experience - thousands of bikes on the road, doing u-turns while dodging trucks and buses, horns honking anywhere, what a scary and yet exciting experience at the same time. I couldn't stop smiling, it was great! And of course, we parked in with about a thousand other bikes.

All that and we are only at day 2!! On Thursday we are planning a massive party for the kids at the orphanage. All my dancers - we are going to do that Macarena combination dance I taught you with them. And we're going to cook for them (so hope no-one gets food poisoning), and give them lots of games and just a really good time. Can't wait!