Not quite sure where to start describing last week!! Started off working at the hospital which is really great. Took a while to get over my first impressions of it being over crowded, dirty and very basic, but now I know it a bit better, I don't think it's a bad place at all. The staff are all lovely, the children's parents are great and now I've éxperienced a few more Asian tolilets, the place seems spotless! Most importantly, the children are remarkably cheerful given their situation, many of the ones I've worked with suffer from kidney problems and cancer, and are able to join in with the activites and have a good time. Of course, there are some who are quite ill or have no energy whatsoever which is always quite hard to see, but it is nice to know that we are able to entertain at least some of them for a few hours a day.
I'm also really enjoying having moved back into the volunteer house where we have a whole mixture of Canadian, Korean, Danish, French, Japanese and German volunteers living there. Everyone's English is amazing and listening to all the multilingual conversations has definitely made me want to brush up on my language skills when I get home. We've also had good fun going out to the karaoke together and even just sitting outside the house with the guitar and some beer is such a nice way to spend an evening.
This weekend, after much dithering, I decided I wanted to get out of Hanoi for the weekend and go and do some real spontaneous travelling for once, so bought a train ticket up to Sapa right up towards the Chinese border in the middle of the highest mountains in South-East Asia. Had no idea what I was going to do when I got there, but I was lucky enough to meet someone else in the same situation and we had a great weekend together. If I were to describe the whole thing, it would go on for several pages, but the highlights definitely included learning to ride a motorbike through the stunning views and not so easy roads of the highest mountain pass in Vietnam; unexpectedly being taken caving by this girl from one of the ethnic villages, being invited to dinner by a random group of Vietnamese who did their very best to get us drunk on rice wine (they nearly suceeded); walking about fifteen kilomters with another local woman to her village where she served us lunch; the all you can eat buffett breakfast in the hotel next door; hiking through the bamboo forest; and the consistently amazing views of the valley which took my breath away whenever I looked up from the ground. Also, had a bit of time to spare when I got back to the station so walked up and looked across at the Chinese border so I have now seen China! albeit from a distance...
Am so glad I went, even another night on the train means I'm a little dazed at the moment, and very much looking forward to going out to Ha Long bay next weekend :)
love you all xxx