Vietnam travel blog: Day 1

Hey y’all! So… I’m back! I know I have been gone for more than a year and I’m sorry!

A lot of things have happened this year, which I can’t wait to share with all of you!

One of them is the annual out-bound-trip that is organized by my school where our school takes us to different places depending on the grade. This year, students of my grade went to Vietnam!

Vietnam is a charming country with a lot of history and rich culture. During this trip, I learnt a lot about Vietnam’s war history and how they managed to think out-of-the-box to create traps for the enemy troops. I also learnt about a certain village in Vietnam and got to participate in a few of their dances!

On the first day, we were instructed to gather at Changi Airport at 10:00 am sharp. However, me as well as most others arrived somewhat earlier. My parents came with me to drop me off and say their goodbyes. We used the extra time to exchange Singapore money with Vietnamese dong, to spend there.

At 10:00, three of my teachers and one of the tour guides were asking us to line up based on class. From our class, only seven people went, so it was easy to find out who was missing without doing a count.

The flight was uneventful and short. Soon enough, we were in Vietnam! Our first stop was Ho Chi Minh City. We landed in the HCMC airport. After everyone was done with immigration, we boarded 2 buses, once again based on class. Our schedule was packed, so we did not have time to go to the hotel. Instead we drove to the Notre Dame cathedral (Not the one in France!).

Once there, I took pictures with my friends in what seemed like a booth with a clock on top. There were many shops in the cathedral, selling various items from souvenirs to silver jewelry to perfumes. My friend and I were upset as we left our purses on the bus so we weren’t able to buy anything from the shops.

After that, we went to dinner at an Indian restaurant. The food was pretty good. Then we climbed back into our buses and went to another place.

We went to the famous water puppet show! This show beautifully portrayed many of the daily activities of the Vietnamese people, such as agriculture and cultural displays, such as a lion and a phoenix dance. The last performance was mind-blowing, as they had a dragon breathe real fire! Everyone left the show mesmerized and could not stop talking about it throughout the trip and after!

After the show, all of us boarded the buses once more and arrived at the hotel.

At the hotel, all of us were ushered into a dining hall where we were told our roommates. Then, we went back to our rooms and spoke to our parents. The teachers made rounds after an hour and collected the phones for safe-keeping. Then finally, we all went to sleep.

The next day, we were talking about crawling in pitch dark tunnels. Tunnels?? Where are we going? Click here to find out!