Day 8 - Ha Long Bay to Hanoi

Today we had a relaxing morning after a good nights sleep on the boat. Everyone rose slowly and got organised for a bacon and egg brekky at 8:30. After breakfast everyone went up to the top floor to enjoy the sea breeze, while listening to music. The girls decided that to combat the weather conditions they would braid each other's hair and then I (Cameron) thought that it was a good idea to get mine done in the same style. 

We hit the mainland at 10:00 after cruising our way back through the bay. As soon as everyone one was on shore we piled back on the bus for an hour and a half long bus ride to the small village of Dong Trieu to meet Mr Vu, who served for North Vietnam as a spy. We went to Mr Vu's house to have a talk with him about his experiences in the Vietnam War. We found out that he was conscripted at the age of 18 and had only three months of training before being deployed to south Vietnam as a spy. As part of his job he was unable to have any contact with home. To be able to conceal his identity he had to learn how to speak in a Southern Vietnamese accent. The whole group found it incredibly humbling that despite being on opposite sides of the war, Kev and Mr Vu could sit across from one another and share a cup of tea.

After visiting Mr Vu we went to a local home stay and had lunch made for us. The food was delicious as per usual, including deep fried sweet potato and zucchini which were my two favourites. After filling our bellies we then proceeded to Nguyen Binh high school which was 15 minutes away. As soon as we got off the bus the students ran to the courtyard to greet us. We got to see one of their classrooms and meet a few of their teachers. We then got ready to play a friendly game of soccer against the local Vietnamese boys. It was a very close game with both teams having a score of 3. Chloe, Josh and myself (Bobbie) all scored magnificent goals. 

We then challenged them to basketball thinking we could easily beat them. Ha. We thought wrong, it was another close game. Their jaws dropped in awe when Cameron and Connor were slam dunking into the basketball rings. A lot of the locals came from all around the village to witness the two schools battling it out. Once the sports were all over we took some photos. Some of the Vietnamese boys were very fond of some of our girls. 

We then finished the day off with a 2 hour trip back to Hanoi to watch a water puppet show which involved the puppeteers standing in the water manoeuvring wooden rods behind a screen. We thought that they were pretty clever. We headed to a small restaurant where we got to eat some western food such as wedges and chicken nuggets! There was also a piano that some students and Mrs Curran played a song on. 

Now we're off to bed to get some sleep before exploring the city of Hanoi and heading to Hue tomorrow evening.

Cameron & Bobbie Jo