Ecoventure 2010 -- walk the green talk

It was past 5am already and yet the bus was still nowhere in sight. We later learnt that the morning mist severely lowered the driver's visibility and he had difficulty navigating up the mountains. Some of us then trooped over to Chi Be's for a final farewell. Over the days that we had been there, we had formed such a bond with the people we met in Gia Bac, with Chi Be, the teachers and the students and we knew we couldn't leave without saying our goodbyes.

 

 

Finally, the bus arrived and we were off onto the roads with the house that we stayed in slowly vanishing from view.

 

 

Slowly, the mountains disappeared from the scenery outside my window as well as the bus moved further and further out from the villages and into the city.

 

 

Our first stop was for breakfast. Just look at the spread of food! =) They're making me hungry again.

 

 

Back on the house, it was games time! Look at how a cap was transformed to hold the cards. It sure looked like they were having fun although I hardly understood the rules of the game. XD

 

 

However, as the journey continued, some of us started to get sleepy. Look at Harry, he was fast asleep already! He had been unwell for the past few days. =X

 

 

The next pit stop was a beautiful place and it was not just on the outside - inside, the toilets were quite nicely put together too. Too bad I didn't take any photos. XD I am not exactly sure but I think the place serves as a resort.

 

 

 

What's so special about the ice cream is this...

 

 

Multi-coloured! And those are such pretty colours too - great for brightening up someone's day. =)

 

After long hours of travelling, we finally reached our destination and finally met Cai Ping!

 

 

She had actually been in Vietnam for a few days already but was unable to meet us in Gia Bac so we had to wait till today to see her. Despite her unhappy stomach (remember that she had food poisoning), she managed a cheery mood throughout. =)

 

 

We headed down a few roads away for our dinner. It was a night of traditional Vietnamese cuisine. Some of the food looked familiar to us (there was one that looked like otah but tasted nothing like otah) but we had to admit that there were all something new as they were very much different from the food we were used to back in Singapore.

 

In the night, we went shopping. Initially, the weather was unforgiving and it started to rain when we reached the market. We could only shop within the sheltered area but most of the stalls were closed. Finally, it was decided that we would head for another place for some coffee and snacks. The restaurant had a nice ambience and there was live music in the background we could sit back and relax to. When the rain stopped, we all packed ourselves into taxis again and set off for the market once again to do some shopping. Surely, we couldn't return to Singapore empty-handed?