Hanoi Vietnam Wednesday January 6 2010

Vietnam Jan 2010 Tour

• Most of our group caught up at Bangkok airport in the early hours of Sunday morning (03/01/10) to catch the connecting flight to Hanoi
• Arrived at 9.30am after very long flights from all over Australia with Tony joining us later that evening from NZ
• First impressions - traffic, traffic and more traffic! Weather mainly fine - humid and in the low to mid 20's.
• Briefing at the hotel then off to the Flying Dragon for lunch
• Day 2 (04/01/10) An early start - 5.30am for a 6.30am departure to Halong Bay - a four hour bus drive. Opportunity to see the towns and countryside along the way. Stopped at a private business enterprise that supports the employment of people with a range of disabilities. They make and sell various art and craft items.
• Halong Bay contains around 2000 limestone islets. We boarded a boat for a tour of the bay having lunch on board. The boat travelled across to Cat Ba national park where we disembarked to explore the caves. A climb of 90 steps and there we were. The formations were spectacular - being highlighted by a range of interesting coloured lights (perhaps not to everyone's taste!). Vendors provided opportunities at every vantage point to purchase your usual range of souvenirs. All that aside the views from the national park and the boat on the outgoing and return journey were spectacular even though shrouded at times by mist. The time on the boat was restful and restorative after having little sleep in the previous 48 hours. Back on the bus for the return journey, a late dinner and bed ready for the first day of teaching at Nguyen Tat Thanh Demonstration School.
• Day 3 (05/01/10) A 6.00am breakfast of pho and then off to school at 6.30am. The school is a u shaped building within the university and is four stories - we were all in classes on the fourth floor! We have dubbed Hanoi the city of stairs. Everywhere you go you are climbing up flights of stairs - rarely a lift! Students start at 7.00am and finish at 4.00pm. After a briefing with the staff it was off to the classrooms. Around 45 - 50 students in a class, sitting on wooden benches at wooden desks. Platform and blackboard at the front. In pairs we worked with the students in Years 6 and 7 for 3 x 45 minute sessions. We'd all prepared a range of activities focusing in information about ourselves, Australia and giving the opportunity for students to practise speaking in English. It was fun, a great learning opportunity for all but exhausting. Try to imagine teaching in the middle of a major roundabout in an Australian capital city - the traffic noise from the streets of Hanoi are an interesting accompaniment!
• Off to Koto for lunch - check out Koto on www.koto.com.au- then across the road - always an adventure - to the Temple of Literature. The temple was founded in 1070, is dedicated to Confucious and honours Vietnam's finest scholars and men of literary accomplishment. Vietnam's first university was established here in 1076. The temple complex is an oasis within Hanoi.
• From there we moved onto the Koto training college where we worked with two groups of students developing their skills in hospitality. The course is two years and is targeted at disadvantaged students. It was a very positive experience to meet and speak with the students and see them achieving success. The program has a 100% placement rate for their graduates at a range of star restaurants.
• After dinner we took a short walk to the nearby National Water Puppet Theatre to see a 45 minute show representing Vietnamese folklore. A very unique experience with puppeters manoevering their puppets on long horizontal sticks behind a screen while standing waist deep in water. The narrative and song that accompanied the performance were done by a groups of talented musicians and singers.
• Day 4 (06/01/2010) Another early start for our second morning of teaching. Breakfast at the University then onto the school. After our morning session it was off on the bus to Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum Complex. Set deep inside the building is a glass sarcophagus containing the body of Ho Chi Minh. He is honoured for his role as the liberator of the Vietnamese people from colonialism as much as for his communist idealogy. This view is reinforced by Vietnam's educational system, which emphasises Ho's deeds and accomplishments. Entering the mausoleum is an eerie and moving experience - silent, no hats, no hands in pockets etc as you move around his sarcophagus.
• Walking out of the mausoleum we moved onto Ho Chi Minh's stilt house - a simple structure that he chose to live in instead of the Presidential Palace. Further along, but within the complex, the One Pillar Pagoda built originally in 1028, destroyed by the French in 1958 and then rebuilt to the original design by the new government.
• Another wonderful meal for lunch and then to Sword Lake and the old French Quarter for a short time before visiting the Museum of Ethnology.
• Dinner this evening was at the home of a local family (a professor at the university). Their home (and restaurant) is located on a site in the suburbs of Hanoi. The Principal of the University, who is also a cabinet minister joined us.
• Back to the hotel to prepare for our third morning of teaching and our move from Hanoi to Sapa. Overnight train trip coming up and preparations for much cooler weather while we are in Sapa.
• This is just a quick catch up as it has been incredibly challenging to access the internet and I have only just managed to do so for a few moments for the first time this evening. Apologies for sounding a bit like a travel guide but hope that next time I have access I'll be able to include some thoughts, feelings and impressions from members of our group.
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