Vietnam

In Summer 2002, Emma Dodd, Marc McBride, Alyson Granger, Jonathon Wood, Sophia Rudd and Emily Skinner from Whitley Bay High School visited Vietnam on an expedition of a lifetime. Each member of the group has chosen to write about a different aspect of the expedition.

Expedition to Vietnam
by Emma Dodd

After travelling for about twenty four hours and passing through several time zones, the fifteen students from Whitley Bay High School, two teachers and safety back up leader, Richard arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). The journey seemed to have taken us forever, and this feeling was only heightened by our excitement and apprehension. During our trip, each student member of the team was given the task of leading for a few days at a time. This person's job was to make most of the important decisions, allocate tasks to other members of the team and generally organise things. The leader's responsibilities can vary dramatically, depending on which part of the trip they are leading.

I was the very first leader on the expedition, and it was my job to get us all safely from Whitley Bay to Ho Chi Minh City, via Heathrow and Kuala Lumpur. My task varied quite a lot to that of later leaders, as I didn¹t have to worry about finding a place to stay or food, but had other tasks, like making sure we all regrouped for the flight to Saigon, after a six hour wait in Kuala Lumpur airport. I also had to find out what people expected from a leader and was the first to realise that sometimes you just have to make a decision, one way or the other, even if everyone's not one hundred percent happy with it. So when we arrived at Ho Chi Minh City airport I was quite relieved to hand over to Michael Speedie.

We all had to get into the centre of town before we could even start to look for somewhere to stay. So we decided on a landmark from our maps, and the group split up into about six different taxis, asking to be taken to the People¹s Community Hall. Each group ended up at a different one of the very plush and expensive hotels nearby. We all orientated ourselves and eventually met up at the front of the building, some people having walked further than others.

From here, we set about finding somewhere to stay: not an easy task, for eighteen people on a budget in South East Asia! Speedie decided to base us in a small cafe, where we could leave our bags and we went out in groups of three to find accommodation. We went into loads of places, first of all, asking if they had room for eighteen people, and secondly, whether or not they could accommodate our budget of about $3 each. Eventually, Speedie, Ali and I ended up at the Hong Kong hotel, where we did a deal, and got us all beds for $50 altogether.

After settling in we then had to find somewhere to eat, and by this time it was quite late and beyond the time of wondering around until we found somewhere, so we reached for the Lonely Planet guide. We managed to find a traditional Vietnamese barbecue restaurant it had recommended, whose menu included snake, and Richard barbecued his own wild boar on the table in front of us!
There wasn¹t much choice for us vegetarians, but we managed to get plates of rice and vegetables. The task of learning to use chop sticks, which proved very useful, started there. The meal ended in negotiations over the bill - we learnt quite a lot that evening.

The next day was our first full day in country and started early with a meeting in the boys room, where tasks were allocated and the team was organised. Some members of the group went to the Embassy to hand in the Embassy pack, whilst others went to organise a trip to the Mekong Delta and a bus to take us on the twenty six hour journey to Hoi An. Our group went to the market to buy lunch for the whole team and practice our haggling skills. We had to make sure no one was hungry on the money the accountants had issued us for lunch. We bought bread, (Vietnam used to be a French colony and they brought bread to the region), laughing cow cheese, tomatoes, Vietnamese biscuits and fruit. The most exciting of which was dragon fruit, which has bright pink skin that you slice open to reveal white flesh with tiny black seeds, and tastes of sweet kiwi fruit. This became a particular team favourite.

We ate our lunch in the park, in a large circle, picnic style, discussing the mornings activities, amongst Vietnamese children and people passing by. We spent the rest of the day exploring the city, getting our bearings, experiencing the culture and buying conical hats, in preparation for our trip to the Mekong Delta.

Ho Chi Minh City
by Marc McBride

The recent expedition to Vietnam, which I participated in, was no doubt a life changing experience. Where else would I have learned that it was ok to wear just three pairs of underpants for a whole month, or that really, you only have to wash your clothes when they start growing things on them, or even, and possibly most worryingly, that in Vietnam, it is apparently ok to wee out of bus windows onto passers-by on mopeds…(yes, it actually happened!)

The first thing that you notice when you arrive in Vietnam is that there are hardly any cars at all, but instead, millions of mopeds, each with 9 people on. Really, the only cars in Vietnam are the taxis, which, it turns out, just take you where they want. So, once you've left the airport in your taxi, and the driver has dropped you off wherever he sees fit, it's quite likely that you'll have to walk around and find wherever you were trying to get to in the first place. Crossing the roads could pose a problem, as there seems to be no Highway Code in Vietnam, everyone just drives where they like at whatever speed they like. The best bet is to just walk at a steady pace in a straight line, letting the mopeds dodge you.

While we were there, we went on many adventures, including trekking through national parks, working with disabled children who had been affected by agent orange in the war with America and meeting the people of the "Mong" hill tribe. We started our journey in the South of Vietnam, In the Capitol Ho Chi Minh City. We stayed there for a few days before leaving to go to the Mekong Delta, where we travelled around on small boats with our tour guide Yin, possibly the greatest, most intelligent man ever to walk God's green earth. Once we'd been there, and seen the floating markets and stilt houses, we returned to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City's other name) and stayed there for another couple of days before we left on the monster 27 hour bus journey halfway up the country to Hoi An, famous for it's clothes shops.

We stayed there for a few days and saw some of the sights, readying ourselves for the trekking phase of our journey. We travelled on another bus up to Bach Ma National Park where we stayed for three nights in HAMMOCKS suspended from trees. We trekked along waterfalls and swam in their plunge pools, the coldest water in the country.

Feeding cucumber to the monkeys in the Vietnam National Park.

Then on the last day in Bach Ma, the small group of uninjured and un-unwell took the long trek all the way to the summit, where the view was amazing. We left the national park and went on yet another bus journey up to Da Nang, which was when it was my turn to be the leader. The hotel we managed to get in Da Nang was the best of the journey so far, and because we had had such a strenuous time trekking, I made the genius decision to spend the day relaxing on the beach. The beach was very nice, and the sea was WARM!!! Amazing. At one point, some Vietnamese men decided they would challenge us to a football game, and after a hard fought game, we emerged the victors!!!

Next, our journey took us to Hué, where unfortunately everything took a sinister twist, as Emma was rushed to the hospital to have her appendix taken out. Because the teachers and leader had to rotate their time with her, the rest of us were just left to do whatever sightseeing we wanted. Our guide, Yin, took us to a pagoda to see the monks praying.

Yin the guide.	Drums were played while the monks were praying.

We left Emma and Ms. O'Farrell and got on a train to Hanoi for 13 hours. We went exploring the city for a couple of days before we travelled a few miles out of town to do the project phase with the children at The Friendship Village. This was the part of the trip that many of us found the most enjoyable and rewarding, as it was good to know that we were actually doing something helpful and useful for the people. We spent a week gardening at the friendship village, meeting the children in the evenings and giving them gifts etc. to give them an idea of some of the different things we have in England. Afterwards, we went back into Hanoi for another couple of days before we went on to Sapa for more walking. Here, we met "Mong" people, and stayed over night in someone's home/barn.

Having finished the second of our two treks, we had just about enough time to go to Halong Bay and spend the last two days and one night on a boat, relaxing and having fun. It was fun jumping off the boat into the sea, and we had a great time. All in all, this trip was a once in a lifetime experience for which I am very grateful, and I would recommend it to anyone thinking about doing this sort of thing.

Mekong Delta
by Alyson Grainger

The month I recently spent in Viet Nam was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I'd say that it is impossible to describe the way it has changed and affected the whole team but I'm going to have to try!

We had quite a relaxing two days in the Mekong Delta as we were on an organised tour so all the arrangements were made beforehand. We took a boat trip through the Delta's river to see much of the beautiful scenery there was to offer. For many of the team it was their favourite part of the country. We were given the chance to meet many of the locals to discover how they live and find out just how different our lifestyles are. We were taken to two factories along the river. The first was a coconut sweet factory where we were shown how one of the local fruits is used. The next was a rice factory, which we were told is the smallest factory in the world. It was tiny! The Mekong Delta covers so much land that it provides enough rice to supply the entire country!

We made regular stops along the river including a stop at one of the endangered Monkey Bridges. These are bridges used by the locals to cross from one side of the river to the other. Our guide gave us all the opportunity to cross the bridge. It was nerve wrecking, as the bridges are only the width of a plank of wood. For many it was quite challenging as a number of the team suffer from vertigo. One of the local children then showed us all up by running across the bridge with ease! Unfortunately, the countries government wants to replace all of the bridges with concrete bridges. To us this is quite disappointing as they are a beautiful sight and it seems a shame that others won't be able to experience this.

A Vietnamese "Monkey Bridge"

After a night in the Delta, we were up early to try to see as much as we could before we returning to Ho Chi Minh City. The next morning was spent visiting the Delta's floating markets where locals come and sell goods from boat to boat. This was an interesting time for us all as we have now been right in the middle of it all. We had to leave the river and many of the team felt disappointed that it was over but the bus didn't take us directly back. We stopped en-route at a Buddhist temple. We were lucky enough to arrive during the monk's prayer time and we were able to witness them in prayer. It was a very thoughtful time for all of us as this was an in depth look into not only at another culture, but also another religion. Another stop was the Banzai Gardens. This gave us the opportunity to see many of the trees and wildlife we had read about and researched before we even arrived in the country.

Overall, it was an amazing part of the expedition. We were lucky as our guide was very knowledgable and he taught us a lot along the entire tour about the culture and the people. It was a great experience because it was still early in the trip so it seemed like all the hard work had paid off.

Hanoi
by Jonathon Wood

We were to spend a total of 4 days in Hanoi (separated into 2 sets of 2 days), but half of the first day was taken up with the train journey from Hué. We arrived in Hanoi train station at around 4pm. At this point, I was to be the team leader and my first responsibility was to find accommodation for the night. It was not an easy task, as Sarah (my deputy) and I found out. Apparently, it is very difficult to find a lot of rooms in one hotel for that night. As one hotel owner told us, the usual method is to book in advance. We were fortunate enough to find enough rooms without too much searching.

As a city, Hanoi is much more relaxed than Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), due to the fact that the latter is trying to develop from a poor industrial city into a busy metropolitan city. The streets of Hanoi are all lined with trees (a very rare sight in HCMC) and it has the feeling of being comfortably settled. It contains many beautiful sights, many of which I will mention later. The place where we found accommodation was in an area known as the "Old Quarter". This spans quite a reasonable proportion of the city. The old quarter is full of streets that can sell anything for tourists, from chopsticks and plates, to fake designer goods, to tailor made clothes. Much of this we were not able to find out about until our next stay in the city.

That evening, a group meeting was held to explain out what was to happen the next day. According to the secretary of the hotel, the rooms that we were in were already booked for another group of people. The amusing fact about this was that the other group happened to be the other World Challenge Group returning back from Sa Pa (our next destination). However, this left us with the problem that before 12-noon tomorrow we were to find different accommodation. This was not all that had to be done. We still needed to make contact with the Vietnam Friendship Village, to sort out the project that we were do the day after next. There were also itineraries to sort out for our trekking in Sa Pa and the rest and relaxation in Halong Bay. As we did not know what was happening in the project, other than gardening, we needed to get tools. We did have a little idea of what might be happening, through contact that world challenge had had with the Friendship village. At the time it seemed a lot to do but I split everybody into groups, making sure that the leaders for the Project, Sa Pa and Halong bay were involved with their respective roles.

The next day was busy. There were 4 teams to get things sorted. My team managed to find new accommodation, which was amazing considering the problems we had faced the previous day. Not only that, but we had also managed to get the cheapest accommodation of the whole trip. It did not take long to get all of our bags moved, and so by lunchtime we were ready to have a meeting to find out what other people had been doing.

The team for the Vietnam Friendship Village had managed to contact the place and were going to visit it that afternoon. They were planning to find out about what we were doing there and what accommodation was near by. The team sorting out an itinerary for Sa Pa had been looking at what was available. The conclusion that they came to was that it was best to sort transport there in Hanoi and to organise a trek when we go there. The Halong Bay team had found lots of tours that went to that area. The only problems were to find one that could be fitted into our time available there and a tour that everybody was happy with. There were two preferences, both different. Half of the team wanted to go on a fixed tour so that they didn't have to worry too much during Rest and Relaxation. The other half wanted to do what they wanted to do, without a guide, so that they could enjoy themselves as much as possible.

We set out for lunch and went about our tasks. My group's task was, now that we had found accommodation, to find garden tools. This turned out to be very difficult as there were none to be found. The few gardening shops that we found only sold fake flowers. In an indoor market, an ideal place to find garden tools in England, stall owners didn't seem to understand what we meant. We were lucky though, as we found a place were they sold shovel and fork heads, as well as bamboo poles. On arriving back at the hotel, we found out that we did not need to buy garden tools as the Friendship Village were to supply them, themselves. Also, they were to give us accommodation and helped supply food for us.

A bus had been booked to take us from Hanoi to Sa Pa after we had finished the project. When we were to get to Sa Pa we would know better what we could do. The Halong Bay team had found a tour that satisfied everybody's needs. The guide would be able to show us some of the sights, which we might not have been able to see if we were not on a tour, but it was also flexible enough for us to do pretty much what we liked.

The next morning we left Hanoi for our project in Sa Pa, and I gave my role of leadership to another member of the team. The next time we stayed in Hanoi was around 10 days later. We had completed the project in the Vietnam Friendship Village and the trek in Sa Pa. Now we had time to do some shopping for friends and family, and see the sights of Hanoi. During the whole trip we had been making sure that we did not over-spend at any time. This worked in our favour and we found that we had quite a bit of excess money. This allowed us to spend some more on the accommodation. After booking into what we called 'The Posh Hotel'. It was, actually, rather nice to be in, even though it was not expensive compared to Britain. We spent the rest of that day buying gifts for friends, family and people who had helped us to get to Vietnam.

On the second day we went to the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh. Ho Chi Minh (Bringer of Light) is considered to be the person who united Vietnam, campaigning for communist beliefs. Even today, some 35 years after his death, his is widely respected as a great politician. None of the team knew what to expect before they went there, and none of the team quite knew what to think of it after visiting there. The building is quite large on the outside, but it is quite a small room in which the body lies. His own personal guards keep watch in white uniforms. Bags, cameras and short-sleeved T-shirts and shorts are not allowed in the mausoleum.

On the way to the Mausoleum we passed a lake called Hô Hoàn Kiên (Lake of the Restored Sword). One tale of the reason behind the lake's name is this. Emperor Le Thai To (around 15th Century) had battled against the armies of the Chinese for 10 years with the help of a magic sword. After returning in triumph to Hanoi, he was sailing on the lake when a golden Turtle appeared and took the sword from him. This was seen as a sign that peace had returned and the sword "restored" to its guardian spirit. Whether this tale is true or not, doesn't matter. It is a scenic place to be when in the middle of a capital city.

That evening, after doing more shopping, we went to see a water puppet show. Water puppets are native to Vietnam and consist of a set of 1ft high puppets that float in a 3½ft deep pool of water. All of the scenes that make up one show involve traditional folklaw and tales, be they serious or comic. Accompanying in the background is a group of traditional Vietnamese instruments playing their own style of music.

The next day we left to see the sights of Halong Bay. I feel that I have gained a lot of experience from the trip to Vietnam. For a start, I now know that I can travel the length and breadth of a foreign country. I also now know that I can organise an inventory for many days in the future as well as raise a large amount of money to carry out the expedition. It is very difficult to capture the experience in words. All I can say is that it has to be experienced personally to understand what it is like.

The Vietnamese Friendship Village
by Sophia Rudd

After spending eighteen months raising money we were all thrilled when the time came for us to set off to Vietnam. It was quite scary at first - being in a completely unknown and unfamiliar situation but we managed to sort ourselves out and were soon settled into the country. We visited Ho Chi Minh City, and gradually worked our way up the country. Trekking in Bach Ma National Park was a particular favourite of mine, as we spent days going through the jungle, clambering over rocks and slept in hammocks at night. We spent a few days in Hanoi before setting off on what for many of us was the most important part of the expedition. For me this was also the most enjoyable part of the expedition.

We visited the village the day before we were due to start to find out exactly what we were to do. The Friendship Village is an establishment dedicated to helping children and veterans of the Vietnam war who still suffer from the after effects. The organisers decided that working in the orchard and gardens would really be beneficial to them and urgently needed doing as they were very overgrown. They believed that this would not only give the children safe places to play, but would encourage future sponsors. We bought some tools to work with in Hanoi before we started at the Friendship Village as we didn't know what they would be able to provide us with, and which we later left with them as a contribution.

We started work digging in the morning, had a break for lunch in the heat of the day, and went back to work in the afternoon. It was hard work digging, and it was very hot, but we stuck with it and it was worth it in the end. During the first two days we also constructed a bamboo fence to surround the orchard, with the help of a Vietnamese guide.

During the evenings of our time at the Village we played games with the children, and helped them with their English. This was great fun as many of the younger ones didn't speak much English so we had to almost act out what we were wanting to say. We developed a sign language for phrases such as 'what is your name?', 'how old are you?', 'do you have any brothers or sisters?', 'are they older or younger?', and basic opinions such as 'good!'. We also taught them songs which had fun actions to go with them. Most children could copy the actions and a few had a go at reading the words. Some members of the team starting to clear a section of the orchard.

We took small presents for the children at the Friendship Village, and when we left we gave them a contribution of $400 out of our budget. We asked that it be used to redecorate the childrens rooms. The children stayed in houses specially built for them, and when we arrived they had just finished building a new one, which we were able to stay in while at the Village. This meant we could play with the children in the evening when they had finished school, which we would not have been able to do if we had been commuting in each day.

We hope that in completing this project we gave something back to the Vietnamese community. We made many friends there and we hope that other groups may be able to visit there in the future. After the project we did another trekking phase in Sapa. This was very challenging as it involved walking around fifty kilometres. Finally we went back to Hanoi and Halong Bay for some rest and relaxation and shopping.

A high point for me was sleeping on the deck of a boat for one night. I bought many gifts for people who have helped me in Hanoi, and threw away a considerable amount of my kit to bring them home! On the whole I think the expedition was really worthwhile and I would encourage others to achieve the same, no matter how daunting it seems at first. I would also like to greatly thank Colin Graham Challenge Fund for helping to make this possible for me and the rest of the team.

Sa Pa
by Emily Skinner

The part of the expedition I was most looking forward to was the trekking phase where hopefully we would have the opportunaty to challenge ourselves physically and work together as a team to help everyone through the difficult parts. We chose to take our main part of the trekking phase to Sa Pa which has to be one of the most beautiful places in Vietnam. After an 8hr night time bus journey along the bumpiest road in Asia, we found a cafe in the small town of Sa Pa and I looked after the bags there whilst others went about the arduous task of finding accomodation for 18 people within the budget we'd been given by the accountant for that evening.

After finding accomodation, we split off into groups for the afternoon. Some people went off for a walk up to the top of a waterfall in order to prepare for the next day and others went off to have a little look around the town of Sa Pa returning with many amusing tales leading us to believe that Sa Pa is actually the craziest place on Earth!!

The next day we were all up bright and early ready for the long day ahead. Our guide which we had organised the day before was called Cahn. He took us out of the village into the hills along 'up to your knees in mud' tracks (which was fun) in between rice paddy terraces cut into the hillside.

The first day it rained non-stop so we had to wear our cheap vietnamese ponchos. These create a greenhouse effect trapping the heat on the inside as you walk. This means that you end up with your very own humid climate on the inside whilest the rain is still tipping down on the outside. Half way through the day we were meant to shelter in a small village in the hills (which would have been well received) but unfortunately there had been a death in the village the night before so as a mark of respect we were asked not to enter it.

As we neared the end of our first days walk we had to climb a relatively steep slope in order to reach the barn-like, two floor wooden building in which we were to rest for the night. We were cooked the most amazing food over a fire by the people running the tour and offered traditional rice wine which was extremely strong and we mostly disposed of discretely. After food we sat out and had our nightly meeting under the stars. This was my favourite part of the whole trip because we were surrounded by huge, rolling hills and valleys and you could see for miles around. (Im not so keen on cities). We had to wash outside from a tap within three walls and a curtain. The most amusing part of that evening was going to the toilet. We had to go missioning 100 metres away from the hut to a bamboo shelter where we had to squat over a 2 metre deep hole in the ground. Because it was pitch black no one would go by themselves or accompany anyone else so throughout the night I had to go on about 8 missions to the toilet acccompanying others. According to other members of the team there was a scorpion down the toilet but i must admit i never looked.

Next day we had yet another delicious meal provided for us at breakfast time and then we set off to get muddy for a second day of walking. This day we passed through hill sides of bamboo forest and met and talked to lots of hill tribe H'mong people on the way. Cahn was an excellent guide and as we went along he would point out things and tell us stories to entertain us.

On the second day we finished at a beautiful waterfall where we went swimming and slid down the smooth slippery rocks into the pool. Then we had a bumpy ride back in a jeep to the town where we had a bit of time to buy H'mong made fabrics, bags and jewellry from street sellers that wouldn't take no for an answer and have amusing conversations (of broken Asian-English and lots of hand gestures) with friendly bread sellers and other people of Sa Pa. By the time we came back from Vietnam we were all speaking Asian-English to each other which our families didn't seem to find as entertaining as we did! That evening we got back on the bus to Hanoi in order to start our last phase of the expedition.