http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/KidsBuildingHope/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from KidsBuildingHope en-us Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:24:53 +0000 Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:24:53 +0000 Just wanted to give a quick update... looks like Kids Building Hope is on track to build another school in Vietnam Thai Binh Province Red River Delta in Northern Vietnam to be dedicated in March of 2010. My niece Abby Zalenski is taking the reins this time ... Family and friends plan to travel back to Vietnam for the dedication of the school and to see more of this beautiful country. Please http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/blog-336948.html Okay Irsquod like to thank all of you for tuning in and being part of this journey with us.I must admit that it is hard to sum things up with a conclusion of sorts when this trip really feels more like a beginning than an endhellip but I think a story would best convey how I feel todayhellip so here goeshellipWhile in Ba Chuc the side trip we took to a very impoverished area to try http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/blog-262728.html We traveled from Chau Doc to a village by the name of Hoa Lac where our school is located. A 7 mile drive took two hours To say the road was bumpy is an understatement. You can ask my cousin Helen who got carsick twice We began to hand out candy suckers balloons and other goodies to the kids along the road through our windows. At one point the narrow dirt road traveled through a small r http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Mekong-River-Delta/Chau-Doc/blog-262162.html Today started with a tour of the region we went by boat to see a fish farm. Doesn't sound that interesting but it was mesmerizing.... the day in day out hard work. Without the use of modern equipment these workers collect 30000 pounds of fish per day. They begin by collecting the catfish eggs then breed then feed fish in underwater hatcheries... once the fish reach a certain size http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Mekong-River-Delta/Chau-Doc/blog-261556.html golf cartspeed boatbusbusplanebuscanal boatferrybusferrybus................we're finally here We arrived in Chau Doc at 8 pm after a long hard day on the road. Along the way we ventured into the Mekong Delta. See attached pics As if the final six hour bus ride wasn't uncomfortable enough the poor living conditions we saw out the window made us all even more uncomfortable. I've http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Mekong-River-Delta/Chau-Doc/blog-261287.html We took a one hour flight north out of HCMC and landed at Cam Rahn Bay an American Naval Base during the Vietnam War. Next came a 12 hour bus ride to a local restaurant for great food and a little karaoke even Jake joined in on Dancing Queen. From there we took a speed boat ride very Fantasy Islandlike 'the plane the plane' to our resort.This place is absolutely beautiful... a little http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Nha-Trang/blog-260758.html Today was a hard day for several reasons... some of the reasons will be the fodder for many a laugh a month or year from now and just how long do you think we sat in that bus trying to get to the orphanage How far did we go out of our way to get to a place we didn't want to go and Why didn't the cab driver just shake his head 'no' when we communicated in the best way we could could http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/Ho-Chi-Minh-City/blog-259953.html Today we the 2nd half of the Kids Building Hope crew ventured to the Cuchi Tunnels. During the ride there we absorbed information about the Vietnam War courtesy of our tour guide Mr. Bin. Mr. Bin fought for Southern Vietnam during the war. Up until today I thought the Vietnam War was between the whole country of Vietnam vs. America for some unknown reason. Also on the way we saw miserable http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/Ho-Chi-Minh-City/Cu-Chi/blog-259710.html Sorry that I've been away for a few days didn't have easy internet access while up North... so here goes...We Helen Will our friend Viet and I flew to Hanoi the capital of Vietnam on Saturday after saying goodbye to David as he flew back home. Not easy... Anyway we were greeted in Hanoi by some of the same things namely motorbikes and gutsplitting traffic manuevers but the scen http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-259273.html The Zalenski Lorigan Butler Warren contingent has arrived After a 36 hour tour 24 hours fly time we all of our mangled boxes of donations and SOME of our luggage are in Ho Chi Minh City. We took a cyclotour of the city WOWwhat sights and sounds. Words cannot explain the wild ride people bicycles motorbikes buses taxis EVERYWHERE We then met up with Tracy Will Helen Da http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/Ho-Chi-Minh-City/blog-259251.html We have had such a fun day running around town with Viet Neo's brother.First we went to the zoo... just as I was marveling at the fact that they have maintained such space in the midst of all the crowding Viet informed us that there are discussions about moving the zoo out of HCMC to the CuChi area... guess we shouldn't be surprised land is at such a premium. The zoo is oldfashioned http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/Ho-Chi-Minh-City/blog-258323.html Today was one of our best days yet. We got to spend time with our friend and tour guide Ti and he brought along his very funny and sweet sisterinlaw Chi. We went to the governmentrun dental practice. I'll let David do the talking....Dave speaking It was a very quick tour as I'm not sure how receptive they were to a foreign student sitting in on things. I kept my distance to say the le http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-258162.html Another day trip today into the Mekong Delta to Unicorn Island. Uncle Bin he's been upgraded from Mister took us down there by bus. We met up with a woman named Danh who took us by small motor boat down one of the canals where we then got onto smaller boats to go through a skinny natural canal onto the island. This area is intended for tourists I imagine our trip next week into the far http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Mekong-River-Delta/blog-257789.html Tuesday March 18thI'm writing this at 230am after a very exhausting day I think we were all in bed and asleep by 830pm. I woke up and thought I'd better write the days events down before I forget.We toured the CuChi Tunnels today 25 miles outside of Ho Chi Minh City though most people we speak to still call HCMC Saigon. Our tourguide's name was Mr. Bin. He was a soldier for Souther http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/Ho-Chi-Minh-City/Cu-Chi/blog-257444.html Well it's our first official day in Vietnam.... feels like 16 rolled into one... Airtime from Saturday to Monday amounted to 24 give or take a minute and of course we crossed the date line so that just meant that Sunday never really came or at least that is how it felt. San Fran to Taipei is a long haul but nothing like waking up to Spicy Beef noodles in a cup for breakfast at 4am... http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/Ho-Chi-Minh-City/blog-257041.html