Day 3: Pairing with host families

After leaving Halong Bay, we again took the long coach ride back to Hanoi for the pairing of pupils with their host families. We reached SIS @ Cau Giay at round 5pm, after short speeches by principals of both schools, Mr Yeo Ah Tee and Mr Shane Blood, Riverlites were paired with their host families. Riverlites took their trolley bags and eagerly began their homestay…

Day 3: Halong Bay

We stayed at Halong Pearl Hotel which is located at the heart of Halong city and right in front of the World Heritage site Halong Bay. It is just five minutes to the beach and about ten minutes to the wharf.

Vinh Ha Long, Halong Bay which means Bay of the Descending Dragon is often considered proudly by Vietnamese as the world's Eighth wonder. It includes some 1,600 islands and islets, forming a spectacular seascape of limestone pillars. Because of their precipitous nature, most of the islands are uninhabited and unaffected by human presence.

One of the main attractions of Ha long is the bay's calm water. Vietnamese are so proud of their Vinh Ha Long, so much that they want the world to vote it as one of the new 7 wonders of the world.

Our cruise started around 9.30am (Sp), our cruise ship (which was also our floating restaurant) reached one of their famous caves, Dong Thien Cung, a cave just discovered in recent years. It has high walls, vertically surrounded by many stalactites on every wall and is cavernous. According to Mr Ha, lights and steps inside the caves were completed only in 1997. We climbed up and down the steps, watched in awe at Mother Nature’s handiwork. We emerged out of the cave around mid-day.

Places of interest

Temple of Literature

Day 02: It started out as a school in 1070A.D. and evolved to become the first university in Vietnam in 16th century. Only the best and brightest were selected after 3 levels of examinations in order to qualify for a place to study. Graduates from the university were conferred titles of ‘Doctors’, they had opportunity to work closely with their Emperor and had the privilege of having their names and hometowns inscribed onto large stilles for posterity.

Water puppets show.

The show is unique and interesting, as the name implied, all the puppets are 'standing' in water. Performance starts with a music prelude, this is followed by the puppet show, shown in 17 short segments. The puppets emerge from a screen at the back of the stage and the show begins.

After a long day of walking, you might think that everyone will doze off in this dark and air-conditioned setting, while sitting on relatively new cushioned seats. However, the fast-paced action accompanied by exciting drum beat, kept all of us glued to the performance. There was also a buzz of excitment when a sudden power failure brought the finely-funed show to a halt, fortunately, it lasted only for 2 minutes and the show went on after that.

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Makan in Hanoi

Day 01 :We had our lunch at a small Vietnamese restaurant called Pho24 and were served delicious Pho-noodles (which looks like thin flat rice noodles), Riverlites wolfed down the noodles, took photos and chatted, all at the same time (.. our next generation of mult-taskers!). We had our dinner at around 7.30pm (Singapore Time) and what a spread of food we had! The food consists of meats, vegetable and soups was tasty and hot. Ahmad and Joice were sat at the far end of the table, so that waitresses could distinguish their different dietary needs. (Ahmad is at the right side of the photo (4th photo), sat facing Joice)

Arrival in Hanoi

Day 01: Finally, we are in Hanoi! We reached Noi Bai Airport at 1.30pm (Singapore Time). However, we only managed to meet our guide Mr Ha at around 2.15pm, because it took quite a while for us to collect our luggage (as there is only 1 conveyor belt serving everyone)

We boarded our coach for the city area. Our guide told us that it would take 50mins to reach the city area and then proceeded with his guided tour. On our way, Mr Ha pointed to us some usual looking ‘tube houses’. The uniqueness comes from its narrow width and its disproportional length. Also, as he pointed out, only the front of these houses are painted but not the sides!

Let me know if you want to know why or tell me if you know! These houses kind of remind me of Singapore’s own ‘Five-foot way’.

Vehicles in Hanoi are driven from the left side,ie left hand drive. However, the predominant mode of transportation is by scooter. Motorists here like to honk, so we could hear the incessant honking all the way down its city area. We were told that a subway is currently being constructed as an alternative transport mode.

The Big Send Off

Day 01: By 7.30am, most of us are at Changi Airport (Terminal 2). Cameras were flashing all over as parents took the opportunity to capture their ‘precious’ in their smart looking blazers.

Just before we made our way through the immigration check point, group photos were taken. (more tears, farewells and reminders to stay well-behaved…). Mr Yeo gave Riverlites some pointers for them to ponder over, followed by the customary ‘Hong Bao’ for the journey.

Riverlites hard at work.

Riverlites working very hard to put up a good show for their Vietnamese hosts!

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