Author: sarahmaxken@gmail.com

Day 1 of our tour

On Monday we were picked up from our hotel by the Ethnic Travel bus. We drove to Halong after picking up a few more people along the way.In the Halong Harbour we boarded the boat and went to our rooms. The boat was very small compared to the Spirit of Tasmania (ferry from Melbourne to Tasmania). There were four other people on the boat we were on. After we unpacked a little bit we went back upstairs for lunch. The boat drove a bit further into Ha Long Bay and then we went kayaking. Then, after kayaking we went on to the top deck and sat in the shade for a little while. After that it was dinner and then bed.

Day 2 of our tour

When I woke up that morning all of a sudden a  light flashed and then I heard thunder. I looked out the window and saw that a big storm was happening. A little while after breakfast on the boat we went kayaking in the rain. It was strange but fun. We were picked up by another boat and taken back to Halong harbour. Then we were taken by bus to a  different harbour and hopped on another boat to take us to an island in Bai Tu Long Bay. We met a family from Colorado there and learned some new games from one of the guides. We stayed the night on the island.

Day 3 of our tour

In the morning we biked to the place our boat would pick us up from. We had lunch on the boat and stopped after about two hours to kayak and swim (the boat trip took 3 hours in total). I jumped three or four times off the boat into the ocean. When we got back to the harbour the bus took us back to Hanoi and our accommodation. No one else was in the bus that we took apart from our family, the guide and the driver. The bus trip took around six hours in total. After eating dinner that night we took a taxi to the train station in Hanoi because we needed to catch the overnight train that went all the way to Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon. Please Note: The last sentence was not included in the tour.

We are on a boat we went kayaking on halong bay and bai tu long bay after that we went on another boat. On the boat we met a family they had 2 boys their names were Western and Connor.We swam in the bay and jumped off the front of the boat.Connor and Western are from the United States in Colorado.

Our time in Hanoi and Vietnam started at 11:30am on the 2nd of July, when we flew into Hanoi Airport, to my relief, safely. The flight took 3 hours but it was pretty smooth. I didn’t really have any expectations of Hanoi since I hadn’t heard of it until mum booked the trip. When we stepped out of the airport it felt like we had just stepped into a sauna and by the time we got to the persons car that was taking us to our hotel, I was already wet with sweat down my back. The drive to the accommodation was only 20 minutes, but it gave me a good taste of what the stay in Hanoi would be like. There were cars in wrong lanes, people honking horns, red light runners, people speeding and what surprised me most was that everyone did it and it wasn’t just the one or two people.

When were getting closer to the accommodation, I was getting worried. Everywhere I looked there were houses that looked like Luke had made them himself! I was starting to think we would have leaky roofs, broken beds and overall, dodgy accommodation. Then we turned onto our street and in the middle of it was an amazing hotel! We went up to our room and it wasn’t made by Luke! I was thrilled!

Later that night we went for a walk and it was still hot and humid, not to mention busy, noisy and smelly. After walking across one road, I learned that there either are no road rules, or people NEVER follow them. Trying to get across the road was like committing suicide! There were no traffic lights and motor bikes came speeding around corners at 90kmph, but worst of all the roads were so busy. When we got back to the hotel, I was surprised I didn’t see a crash on that walk!

If I had to sum up my first impression of Hanoi in a few words I would say busy, noisy, humid, hot and smelly. I enjoyed the experience but I would never live here and probably not come here for a relaxing holiday.

Up and and off to Sentosa Island…Maddam Tussaud’s and Universal Studio.

We started with the very rich and plastic…and they were very impressive…..

We met Obama and the Royals..the Queen actually took a liking to me!!

Then came the sports stars?⭐?⭐….

If you want the underwear gig Luke….

Michael Schumacher  gave Tendulkar a ferrari for beating  Sir Don’s tonnes record!!

The 19th hole!! Enough said

Entertainers….

Well some of them!!!

I’m bad…

I’ll be baaaach.

and feet of fury….

Shaken but not stirred by my encounter….

Luke had breakfadt at Tiffany’s…

Which was out of this world!!

At least we remembered to declare everything!

Then to Universal…

off into the….

See you in Vietnam.

 

Yeah it sure is hot.  Hanoi is in Vietnam  – we are staying at Hb home stay.When is Mrs. Speechly coming in to the class again? and tell me if you get a certificate.It is fun alright. We actually went to those Places.

Well, yesterday the intrepid explorers headed to the Singapore Botanical  Gardens…more specifically to the National Orchid Garden…OMG!! Aaaaamazing….beautiful…massive….sweaty!! The humidity….my shirt was a little damp…people walking around in suits….enough said.

Gardens by the bay….WOWSEROONIE…two massive indoor domes kept at 23 degrees (v little humidity)…twas lovely. The first flower garden…very hard to describe…but I’ll try….

We then headed to Cloud Forrest…..Ooouuuuwwwwgggghhh…..walking in to this….

An 8 storey waterfall coming out of a mountain with beautiful greenery everywhere..and only opened a few years ago!

That is a walkway….

amazing artworks….

And a lego garden for the buffs…

We then …if this wasn’t enough… saw the SSSSSUUUUPPPPEEEERRR trees, with a jaw dropping grandma undies waving light show…these trees are the vents for the colling system for the two big domes. .v impressive..with a tree walk between a few of them……WWOOOAAAHHH….

About 50mtr high covered in beautiful green foliage… then a god..( any one you like said) let there be light…and music…and dancing..and smiles…

Them the same god said..ye shall sleepeth. So we did.

We took a train to the duck and hippo tours it was awesome.  We went in an amphibious vehicle – it could drive on the road and go in the water. Singapore is fabulous. It sounds weird but it was awesome.  We went to the museum, came back to the apartment and got changed and went to the pool for an hour. We came back to the room, got changed and went to the night safari. After that we came to the apartment and went to sleep.

Today we are going to go to the Botanic Gardens. We are going to go see the Orchid Garden which is rated as the 2nd thing you should see in Singapore. This afternoon we are going to go to Gardens by the Bay which we saw from Marina Bay yesterday. Last night we went to Night Safari. We saw lots of animals on the four walks we did including a leopard and a Malayan tiger which were sitting just behind the glass. When we got up to leave the tiger it lifted its head as if saying goodbye. On the tram ride we saw a little baby elephant who was born in May this year and isn’t named yet.

When we got to Singapore we took two taxis. Dad went with Abby. I went  with Mum and Cade .On the plane there were heaps of video games .I loved them.When we go to Vietnam and Cambodia I wonder?I am excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am excited!!!  I kept on talking about it at school.The plane has 100 different video games!!!