Aid Expedition Day 1 Photos

 

The cultural tour has ended and we are now on the Catalyst Foundation's Aid Expedition. There is a separate blog for the aid expedition.

Phu Quoc Snorkeling Photos

 

August 12 Lee and Sean left Phu Quoc Island early this morning. They took a ferry to Rach Gia which is where the Catalyst Foundation's school is located and visited the school and had lunch there. They then flew to HCMC and headed back to the USA late in the evening. Zach and I along with the 2 other families staying for the aid expedition rented a boat to take us snorkeling. We had planned on a 1/2 day trip but we ended up getting back at 5pm. The roads on the island are mainly very bumpy dirt roads so it was slow going to get to the dock and back to the hotel again. To get to and from the snorkeling boat we had to take a smaller boat which I was afraid might tip over if we did not distribute our weight evenly. It was a very relaxing day and there was a nice breeze on the water and a canopy on the boat for shade. To get to and from the snorkeling boat we had to take a smaller boat which I was afraid might tip over if we did not distribute our weight evenly. It was Zach's first time snorkeling and he had a great time. We had dinner back at the resort and the electricity went out right as we were getting ready to head back to our rooms for the night. Thankfully, it came back on after about 10 minutes because it would have been very difficult to navigate without lighting. One of the other families had an extra flashlight that we borrowed in case it went out again. There was also a bird that took up residence on our balcony. I'm not sure what type it was but it made a lot of noise all night long.

Phu Quoc Island Photos

 

August 11 We are at Phu Quoc Island, a little piece of paradise in Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand. This is by far the nicest beach resort I have ever been to. The water is sparkling blue and clear, the sand is clean and soft, there are lounge chairs and umbrellas already set up for you and delicious tropical drinks. I don't think I mentioned in any of my other posts how delicious all the tropical fruits here are. So much sweeter and riper than what you get in the stores in the US. My favorite is the pomelo. It is similar to grapefruit but is super sweet. We spent the day going between the beach and swimming pool. Then we enjoyed dinner in the outdoor restaurant of the hotel.

Cu Chi Tunnel and HCMC photos

I forgot to mention that the traffic in HCMC is still overwhelming and it is still very difficult to cross the street.  However, I did manage to cross the street all by myself today!

August 10 Today we had a choice of a HCMC city tour or a trip to Cu Chi Tunnels. The boys have been looking forward to the Cu Chi Tunnels so that is where we went. Cu Chi was an underground village with a labyrinth of interlaced tunnels having a combined length of more than 200 km. There was a whole village underground - bedrooms, meeting rooms, smokeless kitchens, etc. The tunnels were using during the Vietnam War. The kids really enjoyed crawling through the tunnels. After we returned the kids hit the pool with Lee. I'm cooling off in the room and catching up on this blog and then I will join them.

My Son and Rex Hotel Photos

The photo where the 3 boys are posing with different arm positions is supposed to look like the artwork they are standing next to (the next photo).  One thing that has been really neat about this trip is that the kids have photo assignments or scavenger hunts at each historical site.  It has really helped keep their interest.