My Vietnam Experience -Molly
It was a crisp Tuesday morning at Christchurch airport and my mum, dad, Ben, Gracie, nana, dada and I were going on holiday to the boiling country of Vietnam. It was the start of the first school holidays of 2018. The reason we were taking this holiday was the start of school made us so stressed, tense and tired and we needed a pick me up.
“This is your captain speaking we are about to take off and head on over to Hanoi so sit back relax and enjoy the ride”As I sank into the chair, the world flew past me and before I knew it we were there.Then when I tried to stand up to get off the plain I thought I was going to double over my legs felt like jelly and my mind felt like wool.
Once we had booked into our hotel, we decided to go sightseeing, so we stepped outside into the cruel hands of the blazing sun and tried to find a way of transport.” how about we go on these?” reasoned my dad pointing to bright green motorcycles with riders in green leather jackets. My sister’s face went pale and my mum opened her mouth to protest but nothing came out.Finally, when my father told us they were like taxis but they were motorcycles we were all for it.First, we went to the old ghastly, damp prison used in the Vietnamese war against America. Second, we went to the first university in Vietnam. Third we went to town square were amazing markets were being held with everything you could possibly want and finally we walked over to take pictures of the temple in the middle of the Hanoi lake.
When it was our last day in Hanoi we decided to book a food and market tour. Our tour guide was a tiny man with a satchel that was bigger than him.When we arrived at the market. Beautiful aromas of turmeric and bay leaves hit me like a smack in the face.First we sampled Vietnam’s national dish,pho which is like soup with veggies,meat and noodles.It was delicious but we had it for breakfast!For lunch we had pork cooked on coals with a scrumptious tangy sauce.
After that amazing time at Hanoi, it was time to fly to Hoi an so we packed up our stuff and took a stuffy taxi to the airport.We quickly stuffed down a banh mi and ice tea at the waiting room and then we were off like the wind.
Since the flight we had booked into are hotel ,unpacked and to our horror it was even hotter than Hanoi!After a long uncomfortable hot night we were ready to go in a van to the ancient temples. Once we arrived at the temples we took a fast tram to were they actually lay in all its glory.The temples had been bombed in the Vietnamese war so it was crumbling and had bomb craters which just made it more beautiful.It was made of red sandstone and had mosaic grey paths from temple to temple.
The very next day we were once again herded into a stuffy hot van and drove of to the longest river in Vietnam to go kayaking through it. Once we got there we put on well used life jackets and hopped into dingy metal kayaks that were being rowed by well-worked ladies. Nana and Dada were in one kayak, Mum,Ben and Gracie were in another and Dad and I were in the last one.We paddled through patie fields and through tunnels carved into the bottom of mountains and spotted weird crested birds we had never seen before.There were little goats grazing around tombs that were scattered along the sides of the murky river.Their were even wild cats fishing with the dirty paws at the side of the river.As we passed damp little houses made of straw, friendly Vietnamese people waved at us.
After that amazing holiday we all fell a sleep in a instant once we boarded the crowded plane.When we were back in Christchurch we shivered so bad since we had acclimatised to the heat of Vietnam.It was a fantastic holiday but I could not wait to get back into my own bed.
