For starters, it was 90 degrees with a fan blowing on me last night. This is a little more rustic than I planned. I just switched mattresses and fans...I am hoping to sleep better. I am getting more bruises coming out. I have a big one on my inner ankle and a huge bruise that just came out today. It does not hurt. New comers are still asking about my eye.
WE were off to the silk village this morning. We walked 10 min on the dirt road with pot holes and shared the road with construction trucks, cars, many motor bikes and regular bikes. WE finally came to a big intersection with no light. We carefully crossed the road, our group of 10, and waited on the otherside for a public bus to come by. We saw one motor biker loose his balance, and took a little tumble. Lucky he had on pants. The vietnamese are so practical wearing their long pants, face mask because of the large amount of dust, and long sleeved jackets that the sleeve actually covers their hand. O.k. we got the bus. We stood and held onto a bar for 20 min...not too crowded. We got to the silk village. Everything was very pretty. We saw the machines making the silk cloth operated by a generator. Can you believe this still exists? We waited about 30 min for the public bus to pick us up and took a great group pic which we will post later. We waited under a palm tree. Well the bus ride back to the busy intersection was very very crowded. I probably should not be telling you about the road conditions...yes they are paved and lots of dirt, no road markings and busy busy.
We had a yummy vietnamese lunch at Peace House. We do have a good cook and good fruit.
We left on bike with our face masks later this afternoon to visit our placement, Friendship Village. We road bikes on the same road but in the opposite direction with our face masks. Not too bad..less busy this direction. Only 1 construction truck passed us. I was surprised at the nice buildings when we first entered. We were taken into an air conditioned reception room. We were luckyto meet the current director and a translator. There are 120 children affected by agent orange and 40 war veterans who onlystay 2 months out of the year. He told us we should have been wearing hats. This place was founded by an American war vet in 1998. He died in 2002. It is funded by America, France, England, and I think Australia.
The accomadations for the children were better than I expected, but still very basic. It is hot and the door is open with several fans going. We saw 6-8 children per classroom. Three different academic levels-the highest one the children were writing single diget math facts. They smiled. They were clean. They were not disfigured too much. We did see one very pleasant boy with Down's Syndrone. He said "hi" and shook our hand. He was doing a good job coloring a picture in a coloring book. He was in the highest functioning room. We also saw handstitching, paper flower making, and sewing rooms. Yes, they work on a vocation for these children. The hand stitching is quite good. I think I will buy one of their pieces for my souvenir. The houses they live in were very basic. Their beds are bamboo without a mattress. Several children were in wheelchairs, and they did respond in an excited way to see us. We also saw the organic garden. Onlyone person works there, but it is actually very hot to work, or I might be interested for a few hours.
We rode our bikes back and sat on the little yellow plastic chairs at a small store next to where we are staying. Now I feel part of the culture.....it is crazy all the plastic chairs you see all aroound. We will try to post that pic. It is about 12 volunteers. Ally has on a tie dye shirt.
We will stay here tonight, Friday, and skip the 5$ all you can eat icecream in Hanoi. We can get a free ride into Hanoi tomorrow and a 1/2 day tour and lunch and icecream. We are so frugel. We did splurge and booked a hotel close to Kiem Lake for 28$ for Sat.
Hope all of you are having a great summer. Can't wait to catch up when we get back. We are enjoying the spirit of adventure and meeting people who actually have much in common with us except for the houses and "things". Oh, the village also has a computer room. A 13 year old boywas drawing with the program and was really really talented.
WE were off to the silk village this morning. We walked 10 min on the dirt road with pot holes and shared the road with construction trucks, cars, many motor bikes and regular bikes. WE finally came to a big intersection with no light. We carefully crossed the road, our group of 10, and waited on the otherside for a public bus to come by. We saw one motor biker loose his balance, and took a little tumble. Lucky he had on pants. The vietnamese are so practical wearing their long pants, face mask because of the large amount of dust, and long sleeved jackets that the sleeve actually covers their hand. O.k. we got the bus. We stood and held onto a bar for 20 min...not too crowded. We got to the silk village. Everything was very pretty. We saw the machines making the silk cloth operated by a generator. Can you believe this still exists? We waited about 30 min for the public bus to pick us up and took a great group pic which we will post later. We waited under a palm tree. Well the bus ride back to the busy intersection was very very crowded. I probably should not be telling you about the road conditions...yes they are paved and lots of dirt, no road markings and busy busy.
We had a yummy vietnamese lunch at Peace House. We do have a good cook and good fruit.
We left on bike with our face masks later this afternoon to visit our placement, Friendship Village. We road bikes on the same road but in the opposite direction with our face masks. Not too bad..less busy this direction. Only 1 construction truck passed us. I was surprised at the nice buildings when we first entered. We were taken into an air conditioned reception room. We were luckyto meet the current director and a translator. There are 120 children affected by agent orange and 40 war veterans who onlystay 2 months out of the year. He told us we should have been wearing hats. This place was founded by an American war vet in 1998. He died in 2002. It is funded by America, France, England, and I think Australia.
The accomadations for the children were better than I expected, but still very basic. It is hot and the door is open with several fans going. We saw 6-8 children per classroom. Three different academic levels-the highest one the children were writing single diget math facts. They smiled. They were clean. They were not disfigured too much. We did see one very pleasant boy with Down's Syndrone. He said "hi" and shook our hand. He was doing a good job coloring a picture in a coloring book. He was in the highest functioning room. We also saw handstitching, paper flower making, and sewing rooms. Yes, they work on a vocation for these children. The hand stitching is quite good. I think I will buy one of their pieces for my souvenir. The houses they live in were very basic. Their beds are bamboo without a mattress. Several children were in wheelchairs, and they did respond in an excited way to see us. We also saw the organic garden. Onlyone person works there, but it is actually very hot to work, or I might be interested for a few hours.
We rode our bikes back and sat on the little yellow plastic chairs at a small store next to where we are staying. Now I feel part of the culture.....it is crazy all the plastic chairs you see all aroound. We will try to post that pic. It is about 12 volunteers. Ally has on a tie dye shirt.
We will stay here tonight, Friday, and skip the 5$ all you can eat icecream in Hanoi. We can get a free ride into Hanoi tomorrow and a 1/2 day tour and lunch and icecream. We are so frugel. We did splurge and booked a hotel close to Kiem Lake for 28$ for Sat.
Hope all of you are having a great summer. Can't wait to catch up when we get back. We are enjoying the spirit of adventure and meeting people who actually have much in common with us except for the houses and "things". Oh, the village also has a computer room. A 13 year old boywas drawing with the program and was really really talented.
Hey Tammy ... too rustic huh! What happened to your eye? I hope you both are having an amazing experience. Can't wait to read more. Stay safe and well! (Paula)
ReplyDeleteOh just a little tumble of my bike in the heat..actually my right knee is bothering me more than the eye.
ReplyDelete