St Andew's return from Halong Bay 'magical' experience

Hi All,
Just a quick blog to let you know how we are going. Resting in the hotel in Hanoi at the moment while we wait for the bus to take us to the train station. We board at around 11pm and should arrive at Danang at around noon tomorrow. Then we will head to Hoi An.
We arrived back from Halong Bay at about 3pm this arvo and went out shopping. Had a great morning kayaking through caves in the Bay. Still, nothing beats the jumping off the boat which we did yesterday. Almost everyone - even Ms. Sugden - jumped from the top deck of our boat!

Then we had dinner at 'Koto' - a famous restaurant run by street kids. Julia Gillard even has her own plaque in the dining area! Everyone is going well but I am sure we all cant wait to be home! We all got so excited yesterday when we got our clean washing back!

Anyway, better be off - Have to re-pack my bag for the train
Until next time, Claire

From Moi village to Hanoi - St Andrews team take in the sites of Vietnam

Hi all!

We are back in Hanoi after our stay in Moi village, 5 hours from Hanoi
in the mountains. The group stayed in a traditional White Thai stilt
house with Zhung (the mother), Loi (the father) and Tuan (their 7 year
old son). We slept on mattresses and under mozzie nets upstairs, while
the family stayed downstairs. We ate very well and the group
definitely enjoyed some amazing fresh Vietnamese food and produce from
the Mai Chau region.

The kindergarten was finished the day before we left and the kids were
excited to see a special plaque that honored them for their donation.
The new kindergarten replaces an old small wooden building which was
freezing and damp during the 5 long foggy winter months. The local
kids now have a brand new building that will keep in the warmth and
the damp out. Our homestay mother Zhung is the teacher, and was very
excited with the gifts of toys that the group donated to the kids.

We now have a night in Hanoi and are getting ready for our trip to
Halong Bay tomorrow morning at 7.30am. After a week or so in the
mountains the team is very excited about starting the travel leg of
their journey.

Everyone is happy and healthy and we have had lots of fun.The kids are
planning to blog tonight- so hopefully you'll hear from them very
soon!

Cheers,
Kirsten.

St Andrew's Anglican take in the sites of Hanoi

Hey everyone!
We are here, in Hanoi safe and sound. We got into Bangkok last night at 11pm and went straight to the hotel. After settling in, we soon discovered we need to buy some water and India was the only one with any Thai Baht!

At 4am we were woken by the sound of our VERY loud wake up calls. We left for the airport at 5am and got into Hanoi by 9am. After we all organized our transport and accommodation we arrived at the Hanoi Phoenix; our hotel for the next two nights.

As I write this, have just gotten back from a couple of hours out, exploring the bussling city of Hanoi. It did not take us long to realize the Vietnamese culture is very relaxed according to road rules!

We had lunch at a little restaurant which served us some delicious noodles, spring rolls and other Vietnamese delicacies.

In a couple of hours we will be heading back out to shop and go for dinner. However, currently is is pouring down with rain.

Looking forward to a wonderful day of sightseeing tomorrow, including the water puppets!

Speak to you all soon.
India, Lauren and all.