Dai Nam Wonderland and a Halloween to Remember!

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Russ has been busy socialising with his students! On 30 October they had a wild Halloween party. The boy band and girl dancers were brilliant and the fashion show organised by the University was amazing. Sadly we had just returned from Saigon and the camera batteries were exhausted after half an hour. The crab soup wasn't too bad, although one student did refer to it as "crap" soup in a later essay!!

The following week we met up with a whole load of students at Dai Nam Wonderland, the local version of Disneyland!! We had expected to stay for an hour before politely making our excuses and leaving. We ended up staying the whole day - well, until the monsoon rains arrived at around 3pm anyway.

It was kitsch but it was cool. The "Gates of Hell" were a little frightening, but mostly from a health and safety perspective! The log flume was fantastic and we were soaked from head to toe. The roller coaster was not for the faint of heart and it was a real bone shaker. Most people were quite relieved to get off it in one piece!!!!!

In the centre of the park is a 9 tiered pagoda hidden in a crevice in the artificial mountain. The decor was fabulous and the views from the top were just amazing. You could even see our flat, which shows just how close we were. Nearby was a huge pagoda but cameras were strictly forbidden inside. It was a place of tranquility but it still maintained a little of the kitschy feel of the park. Outside was a huge laughing buddha.

We sat by the salt water swimming pool for lunch and had planned to visit the wildlife park (zoo?) afterwards. Sadly the rains came and we rushed back to the comfort of our apartment!! Surprisingly, we have the feeling we will be back.

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Photos

Roller Coaster
A real bone shaker!!

Vietnamese Boy Band
Don't know who they are though!