Pellknights on Tour : Where do we go from here?

Good evening from Hanoi and probably for the last time,

We want to wish you all a belated Happy New Year!

As we are nearing the end of our time in Vietnam the blog title 'where do we go from here?' seemed very fitting and we feel many of our fellow teachers are in the same frame of mind. It also helps that we have a fab photo of Becky at the crossroads which fits in well. We will need to make lots of decisions in the coming weeks - travelling and then also when we get home. A new year for many people forces us to ask the question as to where you are going? What are you doing? What do you want? We hope 2018 is a good year for all our friends and family.

New Year? Where do we go from here? At the crossroads.

We promised to tell you all about our new year in Mai Chau. We left Hanoi in the pouring rain for the long drive to Mai Chau in a cramped mini bus. The time actually went by much faster than we would have imaged and before we knew it we were grabbing lunch and checking into our beautiful rooms in the Mai Chau Sunrise Village. After lunch Livvy, Emma and I went for a shop. Livvy said she was trying not to spend too much dong.... her first purchase was made barely 500m from the hotel. It did give us a good laugh! We all made lots of purchases and then grabbed a warm drink before heading back. In the evening the group of us - Livvy, Aaron, Emma and then us two - had a lovely dinner in town. We had quite a lot of wine and cocktails and Becky was feeling quite silly in the Golf Buggy... the others might not have seen... Rob certainly did but she was bouncing around and sticking her legs up. Not dangerous but VERY funny. We all got to bed when we arrived back to save our energy for the next evenings shenanigans.

The next day we went for a walk - the picture above is taken on the walk - Rob was took random paths and we were definitely at some points lost although Rob will disagree on that one. Eventually we ended up, by chance, exactly where Rob said he was heading for. He was a very happy boy when he successfully navigated us there - Geo-senses and all that. We returned to the same restaurant for lunch before heading back to watch a film and then get ready. In the evening we attended the New Year Gala which involved large consumption of plum wine and rice wine. We brought some bubbly with us as well so enjoyed that at dinner. After eating the games began.... classic Vietnamese games which seem to involve humiliation. The first game was a sort of pass the parcel game but instead of getting a present you had to do 3 shots of rice wine and instead of passing a parcel we passed a chop stick. Rob was more than happy to do the shots and he won a nice prize as well. After this we were told we had to go up to the Christmas tree one by one and select an envelope which had money in as well as a task we had to complete - eat, drink, sing, or dance. The amounts of money varied from very little to 500,000 VND. Emma was mortified to select sing but enjoyed her rendition of Baby Shark with Becky. Livvy and Becky sang My Heart Will Go On. Aaron and Rob had to drink more...

The game, despite being quite embarrassing, was really good fun and definitely got everyone more than a bit jolly. We got to see some traditional dance which was spectacular even when the dancers became drunk off rice wine. They then brought out the Bamboo dancing and we got to show off our skills yet again... Becky got her flip flop caught in the Bamboo though....

We invited some other guests to our balcony for drinks and to bring in midnight together. The midnight countdown did happy and we did cheer and drink bubbly but Rob and Aaron both cannot recall this moment. The rice wine caught up with them. Fortunately we filmed it (video credit: Emma Farnworth)!

The next day we left Mai Chau quite hungover but lucked out when the hotel got us a private car back because the bus was full - we think quite a few people missed their early bus! We were sensible and had booked to leave later in the day.

Claire and Amy arrived last week - Friday 5th January. The four of us went for dinner in Old Quarter as Pizza 4Ps

Photo credit Amy Bassom

Becky spent the weekend in Halong Bay with Claire and Amy which was great fun! Becky still cannot quite believe they are here and is excited to spend the next few weeks with them. In Halong Bay we went on a boat and did Claire and Becky did some jumping off the boat - Amy very kindly threw us down some beers whilst we swam to a small beach and drank them. That night there was a big party and we had quite a lot to drink and also a lot of fun. The following morning we had a pleasant hangover trek in Cat Ba national park. Becky was slightly alarmed when the guy told us to watch out for snakes and alert him if we saw one.... thankfully we saw none. The trek seemed to partially cure us and when we arrived back we were ready for a few more drinks and then bed. On the last day Becky and Claire went kayaking before we all headed back to Hanoi. Although it was a bit nippy Halong Bay is beautiful and we had a fantastic time.

Photo credit Amy Bassom

Photo credit Claire Levi

Photo credit Amy Bassom

Since the New Year we have entered our last two weeks of teaching and today (12th Jan) we have finished.

At the moment it is difficult do say how we both feel about this but for now here are a few pictures and we will probably reflect on it from a beach in Phi Phi.

We will update you on our travels with Claire and Amy soon as well!

Until then.