Cycling, Teaching and Learning

Hello everybody, after a couple of wonderfull days in the ancient city of Hue' we made our way over the mighty Hai Van pass, the highest one in beautiful Vietnam. One night we spent in a sleepy little beach village called Lang Co. When we walked around the old part of town a local approached us and asked us to come to his house because he is teaching English to his family and some children in the neighbourhood. We were ambushed in to his house by about 30 children! Here we were sat on little plastic chairs on the tiled floor and asked numerous questions, and spelt words on the small blackboard in the corner. All the children wanted their pictures taken and very keen to talk,touch and learn. Hai ( the teacher), after asking the girls, invited us to have dinner with him and family and after to go to the cafe for a coffee. Nils and I felt very privileged, nearly the whole neighbourhood watched us eat with them, in the back room. This was a very special thing as the family hardly had much and they cooked us a most georgeous pudding of corn and peanut stuff of which they insisted was just for us, although not one of them had eaten much at all. After dinner we walked with Hai and his neices arm in arm to the small cafe, and as all local places sat on children sized chairs and bought them all a drink. It was a really lovely experience and the children so wonderful. We agreed to meet them all before school time again to say good bye, and as school starts for them at 7 in the morning we were back in the cafe at 6am!! Hai also insisted that he buy us breakfast, even though he was running late for a friends wedding.

Due to such an early start we were on the road again heading south earlier than normal in the rain! However rain was welcomed due to the climb ahead of the Hai Van pass, and the views from the top were well worth the hours climb. Down on the other side the climate changed to a bit more tropical weather, and the air smelt completely different. Our day stopped in the busy industrial city od Da Nang, the traffic and business hit us suddenly so we couldnt wait to get out again and spent the night in watching tv!! A rare luxury for us! Today we have cycled to the ancient town of Hoi An. Along the way we stopped for breakfast by the beach and followed its coast line. Hoi An is really relaxed and we are plannin to stay here for atleast a few days to explore, and get a visa extension. Despite all the political Chaos in Burma, Vietnam is far away from all of this and each day is presenting new beautiful landscapes and people. No one needs to worry!

Hope everyone is doing well, stay in touch Nils and George x x