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,….

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

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!

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

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

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.

Leendert in front of the classroom. 

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

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!

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?

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.

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)

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

Then into the tunnels:

 really? Here?

  yup, they’re gone!

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

Lunch is nicely fried crickets,….

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!

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

Colourful Saigon New Year:  ‘Chuc Mung Nam Moi’ 

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

, 

Mom “window-shops” on her bike….

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

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