GSC Cambodia and Vietnam World Challenge Adventure
a trip by Gleneagles World Challenge 2012
From: September 15th 2012
Until: October 7th 2012
![Team Work]( "Team Work")
Team Work
September 15th 2012
A group of students and teachers from Gleneagles Secondary College will be embarking on a crazy adventure through South East Asia! We will be partaking in many cultural experiences, including visiting ancient temples, watching traditional dance performances and partaking in some culinary treats like deep fried tarantulas!
After a few days of acclimatization, we will be heading out to a local orphanage for 5 days to work with the local community on a project site. Along with the manual labour, we will get to interact with the children and help them to work on their English skills. This will be a confronting and eye-opening experience for our students, but I think they will come away with a new found appreciation for our life here in Australia and their role as a global citizen. Before heading to Vietnam, we spend two days in Cambodia's capital city; Phnom Penh. Situated on the banks of the Mekong River, Phnom Penh houses around a
seventh of Cambodia's population and buzzes with a mix of traditional temples, new developments and the legacy of the imperial French past. The vivacity can be misleading: so students will take a trip to Security Office 21 (S-21), a former school that became an integral institution of the Khmer Rouge regime, and glimpse something of the horror Cambodia suffered in the recent past. If we are to appreciate Cambodia's drive and love of life, it's important we glimpse their tragic history too.
From here we head across the border into Vietnam, where our adventure will take us to Dalat. 'The City of Eternal Spring', built by theFrench in the first half of the twentieth century, should provide a welcome contrast to thesticky heat of Cambodia. At 1500m above sea level on the Lang Bian plateau, Dalatis cool all year round, and famed for its flowers and forests.
As we trek, we'll get to explore the forests, as well as the stunning Tuyen Lam Lake, wherewe'll be able to take a ride on some of Dalat's unique (and rather large) animal inhabitants; elephants! The final, most challenging part of the trek is the ascent of the volcanic peaks of Lang BianMountain, all 2,170m of it. Legend has it that a boy, Lang, and a girl, Bian, from rival tribes, fell in love despite their tribal barriers. The unhappy couple chose death to protect their love; the highest two peaks are named after the star-crossed pair.
After all this hard work, we will be welcoming a nice break in Nha Trang, a bustling beach resort complete with towering mountains and pearly-white sand beaches. Here the group will catch up on some well earned R&R, laze on the beach, explore local water parks and get some personal attire made by some of the talented local seamstresses.
Our final destination for only one night is the capital city of Vietnam, Ho Chi Min. Who knows what the team will get up to in this bustling city. LIkely, a lot of last minute shopping before boarding the plane back home to Melbourne.
There is lots of fun and adventure to be had in 21 days! So please follow our blog as we journey across Cambodia and Vietnam on a once in a life time experience!
Trip Length: 3 weeks
Blog Entries: 9
Photos: 1
Words: 2438
Blog Entries
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