My good friend Jacqui runs the blog Raspberry Tea and Cake and she recently went to Vietnam for a few weeks with her school. I talked to her the other day about her trip and her experiences over there, so read on!
S: So you've just been to Vietnam. How long were you over there for?
J: 17 days.
S: Cool. Was the flight very long?
J: Yes, it was! On the way over it was 8 hours and on the way back it was 10.
S: That sounds kinda awful, I hate long flights! Take us through an overview of what you did there.
J: We started off in Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) and we did a bit of touristy stuff there. We went to the Cu Chi Tunnels which is where they fought the American War/Vietnam War.
We went to an orphanage there as well.
After that we went to the Mekong Delta where we visited an isolated village to build a house for the locals.
That was really good, though we didn't get to finish the house because the bricklaying took a long time and the cement had to dry.
Then after that we went up to Hoi An where we had [clothes and shoes] tailor made and had a look around. It was a beautiful city at night!
Then we went to Hue where we learnt about the history and the futile system. We went to a really interesting dinner where we dressed up as people [of the royal court]. We had an emperor and an empress, musicians and everything!
And then after that we went up to Hanoi where we learnt about politics and visited the embassy. We also did some shopping and went to the Hanoi Hilton Prison. Then we came back [to Australia].
After that we went to the Mekong Delta where we visited an isolated village to build a house for the locals.
That was really good, though we didn't get to finish the house because the bricklaying took a long time and the cement had to dry.
Then after that we went up to Hoi An where we had [clothes and shoes] tailor made and had a look around. It was a beautiful city at night!
Then we went to Hue where we learnt about the history and the futile system. We went to a really interesting dinner where we dressed up as people [of the royal court]. We had an emperor and an empress, musicians and everything!
And then after that we went up to Hanoi where we learnt about politics and visited the embassy. We also did some shopping and went to the Hanoi Hilton Prison. Then we came back [to Australia].
S: That sounds like a great trip! What would you say was the best experience you had?
J: I reckon going to the village and building the house. And giving the presents to the kids at the village.
S: And how about the worst part?
J: I don't know! Quite likely the embassy.
S: Did anything unexpected happen while you were over there?
J: Actually, it did! While we were at the village, it was at night after a long day of work on the house, and we went to see the fireflies which were down the road a bit (because our group name was The Fireflies). One of the teachers stayed behind a bit and while we were all [watching the fireflies] she ran up to us. But what she didn't realise was that there was a bridge over a small ditch and a pool of water. So that teacher fell in the mud, rolled down into [the ditch] and then got out saying 'I fell in the ditch, I fell in the ditch!', laughing her head off.
We also saw a guy with a monkey on his back at the train station!
S: That's actually very funny! What were the best and worst things you got to eat?
J: I don't even know what to say for best, but worst can I say aeroplane food?
S: Yes, that's definitely a valid answer!
J: Everything was really nice.
S: I assume you would have done lots of shopping since that experience is so unique in Vietnam. What kinds of things did you buy?
J: Well I bought a lot of presents actually, as Steph knows! I had some dresses made, very nice, very nice dresses. I got some jewellery, some scarves, some shoes, all that kind of stuff.
S: You also would have had one of your first experiences of haggling with the shopkeepers. How did that go?
J: Bargaining was fun. It was hard at the start, but once you got the hang of it, it was really fun. You could always play the 'Ohh no, I'm a student, I don't have that much money!'.
There was one market in Hoi An where they had signs saying 'No pressure, no pushing', and then the [stallholders] would walk up to you, tap you on the back and go 'No pressure, no pushing!', which was kind of pressuring in itself.
S: Are there any other experiences or funny stories you have that you'd like to share?
J: A different teacher whilst at the village had bought a boomerang for the villagers and he was demonstrating how to use it to one of the locals who didn't speak much English. He explained by saying 'And you throw it...and you kill it...bang!'.
Jacqui waves her hands around in a demonstration as she explains.
And the other teacher fell in the swimming pool while we were playing ball on the eleventh floor. They were playing with a football and it didn't actually go over the edge!
S: I think that's all the questions I have for you today, thanks for joining me.
J: That's okay! Thanks for talking to me!
Jacqui and I had lunch together before spending a lovely afternoon catching up with each other.
You should check out Jacqui's blog Raspberry Tea and Cake. Let me know what your experiences have been with travelling.
J: I reckon going to the village and building the house. And giving the presents to the kids at the village.
S: And how about the worst part?
J: I don't know! Quite likely the embassy.
S: Did anything unexpected happen while you were over there?
J: Actually, it did! While we were at the village, it was at night after a long day of work on the house, and we went to see the fireflies which were down the road a bit (because our group name was The Fireflies). One of the teachers stayed behind a bit and while we were all [watching the fireflies] she ran up to us. But what she didn't realise was that there was a bridge over a small ditch and a pool of water. So that teacher fell in the mud, rolled down into [the ditch] and then got out saying 'I fell in the ditch, I fell in the ditch!', laughing her head off.
We also saw a guy with a monkey on his back at the train station!
S: That's actually very funny! What were the best and worst things you got to eat?
J: I don't even know what to say for best, but worst can I say aeroplane food?
S: Yes, that's definitely a valid answer!
J: Everything was really nice.
S: I assume you would have done lots of shopping since that experience is so unique in Vietnam. What kinds of things did you buy?
J: Well I bought a lot of presents actually, as Steph knows! I had some dresses made, very nice, very nice dresses. I got some jewellery, some scarves, some shoes, all that kind of stuff.
S: You also would have had one of your first experiences of haggling with the shopkeepers. How did that go?
J: Bargaining was fun. It was hard at the start, but once you got the hang of it, it was really fun. You could always play the 'Ohh no, I'm a student, I don't have that much money!'.
There was one market in Hoi An where they had signs saying 'No pressure, no pushing', and then the [stallholders] would walk up to you, tap you on the back and go 'No pressure, no pushing!', which was kind of pressuring in itself.
S: Are there any other experiences or funny stories you have that you'd like to share?
J: A different teacher whilst at the village had bought a boomerang for the villagers and he was demonstrating how to use it to one of the locals who didn't speak much English. He explained by saying 'And you throw it...and you kill it...bang!'.
Jacqui waves her hands around in a demonstration as she explains.
And the other teacher fell in the swimming pool while we were playing ball on the eleventh floor. They were playing with a football and it didn't actually go over the edge!
S: I think that's all the questions I have for you today, thanks for joining me.
J: That's okay! Thanks for talking to me!
Jacqui and I had lunch together before spending a lovely afternoon catching up with each other.
You should check out Jacqui's blog Raspberry Tea and Cake. Let me know what your experiences have been with travelling.
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