RSIS Big Build Vietnam: hitting the ground running

Posted: 02 December 2017

Written by Adam, Sophie Dennis, Sophie Danieli and Dylan

Arrivals Day

During day one, we all arrived. It took us a while, but we got there in the end, trips lasting from 4 hours to 24 hours. We were then elegantly escorted to the hotel, the trip virtually none of us remember seeing as most of us were fast asleep. The hotel was pretty impressive and we got to the rooms, but not before an extensive and a quite competitive game of uno. Friendships were made. Names were told, then probably forgotten. After the game, we pretty much went straight to lunch in the local area and we waited around until our rooms were finished.

Then the others arrived. Hour by hour, the hotel was eventually filled up and crowded with people from different cultures and walks of life. The dinner. The food was genuinely amazing with such items as sushi, bacon and the local delicacy, Pho. Each person eventually dropped to sleep and depending on the level of jet lag, slept like a log.

 

 

Exploring the city

On day 2, we woke up at the unearthly hour of 7 in the morning and shot downstairs, despite our tired state, for a traditional Vietnamese breakfast. After our stomachs were full, we had an extensive briefing about the general safety, etiquette and logistics in general, where we also met the members of our tour team.

We all then clambered on the bus to get to lunch at a local restaurant where we had the opportunity to get to know each other and take pictures of our beautiful food. We were then taken to the temple of literature and were taught about the history of the first university of Vietnam, this included learning about Confucius, the doctors and the exams they had to take.

After this we went to the museum of ethnicity to learn about the different cultures, religions and traditions that are all essential to Vietnam as a country. After our delicious dinner which included traditional soup, fish and tofu we were then transported back to our hotel to get straight to sleep after another short briefing and to get ready for the exciting days ahead.