Category Archives: Viet Nam

Sai Gon by Night – AO show

A great 1 hour spectacle of acrobats with a Vietnamese theme in the Opera house in Sai Gon. The invitation starts with a cup of tea on the upstairs balcony,….

TeaBalcony Opera InOperaHouse

OAphoto

The view in front of the  Opera…. one could think to be in Paris!Sai Gon centre

Last day performance at Vinh Son School

A beautiful dance performed especially for us. What a special gift! Yes, a nice way to place Sai Gon, the school and Viet Nam in our harts!

Hatsloop GirlRed vilageGroup

 

Oh, and of course, the kids are not the only ones performing!

HoTeach

 

Sai Gon – the teaching ladies….

mother and daughter in teaching moments. A true pleasure to see; and how about that for  a ‘good night Sai Gon’ picture….

Alicia teaching HeidiClass

SaiGon sundown

The route to school… and images of daily life

This is the daily track we do twice. Public transport, 6000 Dong per trip (about $0,25 per person). The 1 hour and a bit ride is actually a nice snapshot into Sai Gon daily life.

SaiGonHostaltoSchool

 

Leendert in front of the classroom. LeendertFrontClass

And lunch is definitely one of the wonderful moments. The Viet Nam kitchen is wonderful and the hospitality phenomenal.LunchTableSchool  LunchSchool

In the classroom,…. Sai Gon

Wonderful moments of helping to teach English. The school is well run. Kids have a good meal at lunch. The impression in class is that we have them truly engaged. They learn, laugh, and when the ‘end-of-lesson-drum’ sounds they encourage us to ‘please go on’!

We are putting a lesson plan together so that those coming after us do not have to start from scratch.   A great time!

LearningFaces SchoolLunchSaigon       Encouragement

To and At the Pagoda – Orphanage in Saigon

 

A 1.5 hour bus ride (actually 2 different busses) take us through Sai Gon to the Buddhist Pagoda serving as orphanage.

The sites on the way are worth the trip. The explosion of people in Sai Gon means electricity is a challenge, see the intersection of wires.       =>  And who still thinks that Rice is just Rice?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA WhatRiceisRice

Arrival at the Pagoda, and inside the orphanage (sorry bit of a dark picture). Heidi in the middle of the group with other volunteers helping to feed the disabled.

Arrive at Pagoda Orphan TheOrphanageMomFeedingOrphan

 

 

The Site itself is incredible. The temple is something totally unique I’ll let the pictures tell the story (note 3 family members are present in the first picture)

SpotFamilyinTempleBuddahs

Cu Chi – Tunnels

With speed boat up the Mekong (ignore the red straight line – that is the flight in from Hoi An).

CuChiTunnelsGarmin

MekongRiverSide

Then into the tunnels:

seeHoleGap really? Here?

AlicHole LeHole yup, they’re gone!

Into the tunnels – this is a bigger on Papa fit in as well (barely).

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Lunch is nicely fried crickets,….

CricketPlateCricketLeCrickAli crickets1

 

An incredible experience in Sai Gon

We were blessed today by getting an invitation from Anh, the wonderful young lady we met in the Galapagos a few month back.

Invited to get a snap-shot view on how the Vietnamese celebrate Chinese New Year at home with their family.

Incredible food, even more impressive hospitality, and beautiful singing!

AnhFamilyDoor AnhDrinkUncle

On way to HCM (Saigon)

Towards Airport Hoi An – Marble Mountain: climbing to see Buddha

AlLeSteps Buddah

 

Colourful Saigon New Year:  ‘Chuc Mung Nam Moi’SaigonSquare DragonHed

The Family biking around town – seeing the sites

Biking at times is rather easy, but traffic can get ‘hairy’

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Mom “window-shops” on her bike….HoShopBike

We visit a temple, and become one with the dragons,….

InChineseTemple DragonHeads

A nice old Japanese (covered) bridge… makes us hungry.JapBrigHoiAn

Lunch