every second dripping off my fingertips: Stand By Me

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

What a trip.
It had everything. It had
dirt, sun, sea, sand,
love, hatred, jealousy, friendship.

Ok here we go.

Day 1 - nothing much, we just 'checked' into the EcoBoat, watched presentation and had our first nightmare --> the sleep.

Day 2 - Shit hit the fan. The hardest part about mangrove planting wasn't the planting, it was the mangrove. Meaning the little hike we had to make across the thick and dirty mangrove swamp to the planting area. Plenty of scars and bruises, especially for a single day. After that, in the evening 6 of us went kayaking to survey the area around Ha Long Bay.

Day 3 - The Hike. More than 200 metres of treacherous rocks and muddy slopes. But the view we had once we reached the top made it all worth it. Oh and my favourite part of the day came in the evening. We had to prepare questions and interview the fisher families in the fishing village. I took up the challenge of staying with one family for a night, but Sir didn't let me (darn). In fact they nearly wanted to marry me off to a 14 year old girl.

Day 4 - An entire day of kayaking. 'Nuff said.

Day 5 - The last day on the EcoBoat. We went to explore a cool cave, and in the process I bumped my head, bled and lost a few brain cells in the process. Then we were off to Hanoi (yessssssssssssssssssssssssss).

Day 6 - Visited the Ngo Si Lien School where we had the chance to mingle with a few Vietnamese students (and even potential school mates). Some of us even had the chance to be popular for 5 minutes when a few of them girls chose to take pictures with our lucky lot.

Ahhh then the last day. Truth be told, the things that happened the previous night mattered little when today came, because the ultimate event of the day was returning to the comfort of our own homes.

What an experience. Really. The friendships we forged, the difficulties we encountered. Everything, we did together. This trip did lots of good for us, in every sense of the word. It's not called WoW for nothing.

If I had the chance, I would come back...

somewhere a clock is ticking:
8:00 PM