back to reality!

After almost 4 weeks off I'm back to my life in Hue.
And so much has happened!

In my last post I talked about my public holiday outing to that beautiful pagoda on a lake and a stunning remote beach. I'll upload pics of that to my tumblr blog as well as all my other pictures.

In Hue itself I visited the citadel again, Thien Mu pagoda again (third time lucky!) and another royal tomb. I travelled to the tomb by boat, so they only gave me an hour to find the tomb (2km by bike in the middle of nowhere), rush round and get back to the boat. Next time I'll try to spend more time there!

So I had a nice few laid back days exploring Hue before setting off on a week long holiday in Hoi An and Da Nang. I also went on a day trip to Lang Co, a beach further down the coast from Hue than the one I went to over the public holiday. I visited a place called Suoi Voi, elephant springs, which are a cascade of mountain springs and pools you can swim in. One of these pools is shaped like an elephant which explains its name.

Hoi An is beautiful, really small, stunning architecture and rammed full of souvenir shops and tailors. I actually had 2 dresses made there, but one of them has already gone a bit funny, the fabric's starting to go bumpy (if that's the right word). The other one I'm keeping for good, as well as a beautful one I had done in Hue for a fraction of the price.

It was great staying in a Hotel for 4 with actual air conditioning and not just a fan blowing hot air at you! Also, breakfast was included in the price, so indulged in some Western breakfast pleasures, too. On Tuesday I went to My Son temples, which were built by the Cham. The Cham around the same time also built Ankhor Wat in Cambodia. In fact, Cambodia I believe got its name from the Cham people who were forced from their land in today's Vietnam and their territory shrunk to what is today known as Cambodia. However, in Vietnam there are still some descendants of the Cham people and they are located around Hoi An and Da Nang.

On Wednesday I went diving at two sites by the Cham Islands. It was breathtakingly beautiful, though diving is quite scary and takes getting used to. The silence under water is quite eery and the only sounds you hear is your heartbeat (mine was hammering in my ears!) and your breathing. Communicating with the dive instructors is done via hand signs, so there really is nothing to get in the way of your thoughts and observing sea life. We all had lunch on a beach on Cham island and spent the afternoon lazing around in the sun. Before dinner on the beach I checked out the fishing village nearby, which was a huge change from the towns I've been to so far. I reckon they don't see many Westerners and everyone was curious to see what I was doing and where I was going. As it started to rain two young guys sitting outside their house offered me some rice wine and wanted me to stay for dinner!

I spent the night in a tent on the beach, and since the sun went down around 7pm I was asleep by 8pm and up at dawn at 6am. I spent the morning dozing, swimming and the locals set up their sea food restaurants for the next rush of daytrippers, who took me back to the mainland after another scrumptious lunch.

So that's pretty much what I've been up to these last few weeks!
Am settling back into my routine here now, and since I only have 4 weeks left in Hue I have a neverending list of projects to finish! I'm also taking on some paid work at a nearby 5 star resort which has its own private beach as well as swimming pools, so I will be living it up large for the next few weeks, keeping busy busy busy! The Hope Center Shop should also be opening soon, and with no proper products yet they pressure is on!

Will try keep in touch more and update my blog more regularly from now on.
Hope you're all doing well!

xxxx

Food, Food and more Food

This weekend was Hue's food festival. It was located just around the corner from my house, so I went every day! On Sunday we took 25 of the kids from the shelter to the festival and had a wander with them. It was unbelievably hot, so we tried to stay in the shade as much as possible. The Vietnamese are very protective of their skin, so they cover up wearing hats, gloves and long sleeves. I'm not sure whether it's to protect their skin from burning, or whether it's solely to stay white, as it's seen as a symbol of beauty to be pale.

I get a lot of people touching me and telling me I'm beautiful solely because of my scottish complexion. However, with summer approaching and temperatures due to reach close to 40 this weekend I doubt I will stay this pale for long. I've been wearing factor 50 suncream though and haven't burnt yet.

Monday and Tuesday were public holidays (Vietnamese independence day and workers' day fell on Saturday and Sunday) so on Monday we went on an outing with our landlady's family. 18 of us piled into a small minivan and visited a beautifully peaceful pagoda. From the carpark we travelled to the pagoda by boat and then climbed loads of steps in the morning sun. In the afternoon we went to a beautiful remote little beach and had seafood for lunch. I spent most of the afternoon in the water playing with a bunch of local kids as well as the family's kids.

So I've had a lovely few days. Just now I'm off to the hairdressers as I keep waking up because my head gets so hot at night. Hopefully they can thin it out without losing too much of the length!

Vincent also arrives today so won't be spending that much time blogging over the next few weeks but will try to post some pictures whenever I can.