Today we all woke up to the peaceful sound of crickets and the hot air seeping into our rooms. We had a 7am breakfast before departing the homestay. We then went on an hour and a half boat ride along the Mekong River. Towards the end of this journey, we got to view the floating markets. These markets are for the locals to sell their produce. They show what they are selling by tying the product to a large bamboo pole on the front of their boats. The shop owners sometimes transfer their goods to Saigon, which is a four and a half hour boat ride along the Mekong. We then got off the boat and loaded our luggage onto the bus to begin our journey to Vung Tau.
We made two stops along the way, one at the Mekong Rest Stop for lunch, and the other a bit later to enjoy a delicious icecream. Just out of Vung Tau we passed through Ba Ria where Kev gave us insight into his experience during his service over here. He was based mostly here and at Nui Dat and his crew helped rebuild windmills and pumping stations to get the South Vietnamese families back on track. His crew also had to patrol this area to ensure they were safe from the Viet Cong.
We then arrived at the Grand Hotel, where we had two and a half hours free time. Most of us enjoyed a swim in the pool or a snooze. This was the perfect opportunity for Shanice to go hunting for a new suitcase, because her current one had fallen apart causing a rather large rip in her long sleeve shirt.
We then went out for dinner to a restaurant with an open rooftop where we enjoyed our meal in the fresh air. Mrs McDonald went to place her chopsticks back down on the table, however one flung out of control narrowly missing Lauren's head. This caused the entire table to erupt in laughter.
After dinner our bus driver took us back to the hotel where Kev showed us his old crew photos. We all tried to guess which one was him. He then revealed that we were correct in picking him out of the bunch.
We are also pleased to see that Bec has returned to better health and has enjoyed a wonderful day in Saigon with Mrs Curran and Mr Blackmore. We are excited to meet back up with them tomorrow in Saigon.
We all headed to bed in preparation for the early morning wake up tomorrow for our dawn service.
Paige & Tristyn
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