Good Beginnings 'Trek for a Helping Hand', Halong Bay, Vietnam
BLOG 1: Five formidable females hit Vietnam…. (4 May 2012)
Raising money for Good Beginnings for the past few months has been no mean feat for these five ladies; they’ve done clothes swaps, Bogan Bingo, dinners and raffles to reach and smash through their fundraising targets. But what lies ahead now in this hot, steamy country is what will make this challenge real.
Yesterday (4 May 2012) we were experiencing the wonders of Halong Bay and today we tour around Hanoi before we set off on our trek through Pu Luong Nature Reserve to Cuc Phulong National Park tomorrow. The journey which will take us 6 days and will see us leave the hustle and bustle of millions of scooters and the chaos of the streets of Hanoi for the serene natural beauty of what this amazing country has to offer.
After the trek the team will travel to Da Nang where we will spend two days volunteering in a local orphanage. I’m sure this experience will only underline why this ‘trek for a helping hand’ is so important, as it raises funds to help all children have a good beginning in life.
The girls are excited, I’m excited and I’m sure the owners of our home stays are going the be very bemused when these five formidable females present themselves tomorrow night after our first day trekking…. Watch this space.
Helen
Day 1, Trek for a Helping Hand (entry written on 5 May 2012)
BLOG 2: Team Good Beginnings in Hanoi… (5 May 2012)
Today the group spent the day in and out the alleyways of the Old Quarter, Hanoi taking in the highlights of this incredibly intricate city. One of the must sees is ex-President Ho Chin Minh’s resting place, his Mausoleum, which is heavily guarded and often surrounded by a crowd snaking it’s way around his tomb. For this reason, our group chose not to queue but just viewed the building from the outside.
Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, Hanoi
Rolling forward, the day ended with dinner in a local restaurant and Alison (aka ’5 minute’) telling us all the following story:
“So I was doing this crazy interpretative dance move in front of Ho Chin Minh’s mausoleum today when the guard gave me what I thought was a Simon Cowell X-Factor arms folded ‘X’ sign rating for the dance…”
Clearly he wasn’t rating Alison on her dance moves but instead asking her to stop dancing. By this time the whole restaurant was in fits of laughter. This is going to be a very funny trek as from there the conversation went rapidly downhill to zip lock bags and one-eyed parrots!
Helen
Day 2, Trek for a Helping Hand, Vietnam
BLOG 3: Trekking starts today…(6 May 2012)
After a night of heavy rain and loud thunderstorms, today we left Hanoi early for a four hour drive southwest to Mai Châu where we will start our Trek for a Helping Hand.
We arrived in time for a delicious local lunch served at our guest house before Tuan, our tour guide, took us out on an acclimatisation ‘walk’. 13kms later we arrived back having circumnavigated the village and bought up half the local market’s goods too… Chris and Jeanette have just both bought beautiful silk table cloths which took 3 months to make.
Mountainous Mai Châu (160kms south-west of Hanoi)
We have now just finished another fine meal of local produce which consisted of fish cooked in banana leaf. To top it off, our small group are enjoying a Bia Ha Noi or two. Tomorrow we will leave here at 7am for a 22km trek to the next village…
Helen
Day 3, Trek for a Helping Hand, Vietnam
