Caz

Two weeks have passed since my last blog and I have spent my time travelling between my two placements - Alangayam in the mountains with a few stalls and a small bus station and Vellore City where I have a choice of restaurants and a supermarket just 5 minutes away! Although the two are very different both areas need our help and support to educate the youths of today on health and livelihoods. The team in Vellore was lucky enough to organise a health rally in Vanjur which attracted two health inspectors as speakers and 30 members of women's self-help groups. The message of Vector Borne diseases and eliminating breeding grounds for mosquitoes by using stagnant water and recycling empty containers which might hold drops of water will hopefully be disseminated amongst the villagers. The team ... read more

Day 12 - Today we left the dazzling lights and bars of Saigon and headed for the more sedate and tranquil Mekong Delta known as "the rice bowl" of Vietnam. To reach our homestay in Cai Be we hopped on board our river boat and stopped along the way to see some small cottage industries including the making of rice paper and coconut candy and of course got to sample some of the local produce. The woman making the rice paper had three pans on the go and had to have excellent hand eye coordination and timing as it took 15 seconds to make each one. A real skill and one that she got paid per sheet, producing over 3000 a day! Back breaking, exhausting work. The highlight of the day was a canoe boat ride. ... read more

Day 7 - Today we had a long drive to Hoi An going over the beautiful and scenic Hai Van Pass. On the way we stopped to see the China Beach, the Cham museum and Marble Mountain. Here some of the caves were used by the Viet Cong during as a hospital during the Vietnam War. I was also surprised to see a giant marble Budda inside and one on the hillside which looked so white apparently it had been painted to restore it. We walked up the steps to the Mountain but there is a life on the outside which really looks out of place and was for the very lazy tourist! We will spend three nights here in Hoi An which will be a welcome rest. Day 8 - We had the morning to ... read more

Days 1-4. Having an amazing time here in Vietnam after an eventful flight from Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur. We were just about to take off and the plane was ordered back to base and surrounded by police. They then came on and took off a woman and child who were trying to leave the country illegally! Luckily the two hour delay did not stop me from missing my connection to Hanoi. On day two we had a tour of Hanoi and enjoyed a visit to the "Hanoi Hilton" which is actually the prison. It was named the Hanoi Hilton by American prisoners of war. Originally built by the French to imprison Vietnamese who were against French rule it was then used by the Vietnamese during the American War. One famous inmate was John McCain the Republican ... read more

Our first full day in Egypt was a real highlight of the trip as we visited the pyramids at the Giza plateau. Although our scheduled visit on the tour was not until the end of the holiday we had a welcome change to see them at the start (due to some protesting in Tahir square). There are three main pyramids Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinus and the sight of them did not disappoint. Breathtaking in sheer size, creation and craftmanship and surprising to think that they have been there for thousands of years while the city of Cairo and Giza have built up around them. We had the opportunity to go inside the Great Pyramid of Cheops. It was amazing inside. We climbed steeply up into a chamber near the top of the pyramid. Inside we discovered ... read more