Martha describes our day spent on the river: A lifetime that passed in the blink of an eye, our tour of the Mekong Delta was one of the most magical experiences of our time in Vietnam. In the wee hours of Wednesday morning, we boarded two small boats and set out into the dark expanse of water flanked by city lights hundreds of feet high on either side of the Bassac River (Song Hau in Vietnamese), one of the primary tributaries of the Mekong. The cool morning air quickly gave way to a balmy … [Read more...]
Educational Student Tour of Vietnam – Update #8
Amelia reports on our time in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon): On January 26th, we left Hoi An and took a short plane ride to Ho Chi Minh City. That night we took the public bus to our hostel where we set down our bags before going next-door to eat at a restaurant. A few of us were excited to order fried crickets. We were all impressed with the flavor, but the texture was a bit much for some. The next morning we walked across town to the War Remnants Museum. This was a museum of mostly photographs … [Read more...]
Educational Student Tour of Vietnam – Update #7
Henry Mariotti wrote this update from Hoi An: Up until we arrived in Hoi An, our trip to Vietnam had been moving at a rapid pace. We welcomed the opportunity to stay in a beautiful homestay in the comfortable city of Hoi An. This past week has been time well spent, resulting in a productive, rewarding week. Before arriving in Hoi An, a city situated on a river along the central coast of Vietnam, Explorations Academy made contact with Children’s Hope in Action (CHIA). This NGO was founded by an … [Read more...]
Educational Student Tour of Vietnam – Update #6
Our final day in the cave started slowly as cave karaoke went late the night before. It turns out our porters may not have felt very comfortable communicating in English, but they are experts in singing along to Michael Jackson and belting out Bohemian Rhapsody with Explorations students. They were also experts in providing plenty of strong coffee to get us moving once again and hearty bowls of phở to give us energy throughout the day. We soon left the comfortable confines of Pygmy Cave (only … [Read more...]
Educational Student Tour of Vietnam – Update #5
Eva continues her cave narrative: Day two consisted of walking all the way through Hangover Cave. While we were only covering 4.5 kilometers we took countless detours to explore the rock formations that took thousands of years to form. One of the strangest things we found were cave pearls. These baseball-sized, perfectly spherical stones take even longer to form than stalagmites. In addition, everything glittered as our lights illuminated the caverns. The stalagmites reminded me of Christmas … [Read more...]
