0209 Independence Day – Trip over the Hai Van Pass

We had a national bank holiday in Vietnam on Thursday, so I decided to go on a motorbike trip over the Hai Van Pass in the direction of Hue.

I stepped out of my house in the morning to buy some baguette and every single house had a Vietnamese flagged hissed outside their home. It looked really nice (have a look at the picture on my street). The 2^nd of September 1945 is the day Japan formally stopped fighting and admitted defeat in World War II and Ho Chi Minh declared independence in Vietnam.

I met Tony (another English teacher) for some tasty breakfast in the “Bread of Life” before we went on our motorbikes up the Hai Van Pass. It is a stunning, very beautiful scenic road. The view is amazing :) We stopped in-between to take some pictures and I just enjoyed the scenery! This was one of the best motorbike trips I have had in my life :) The best thing is, that most of the cars and busses drive through the tunnel and don’t take the scenic old road. So most of the time the only people you meet are on motorbikes and it is not much traffic at all. Up on the top of the pass you can still see some bunkers, which are left from the American War. The way down to the other side is as stunning and it was so enjoyable to drive. We came to a small town called “Long Co” which we passed through. After another long ride on another road we found a lovely small village where we had some nice seafood directly on the beach.

We had stunning weather during the morning and the afternoon until we drove back over the Hai Van Pass. We were half down the mountain, when it started pouring rain. But if you live here in Vietnam you get used to these tropical downpours :) If you have a proper raincoat with you it is not bad at all.

And what are the latest news from the teaching front?! There is a lot of work ;) Which is good!

I have been teaching the “Da Nang’s people’s committee” for the first time last night. They are all public servants and we had such an enjoyable lesson. That was the best lesson I had since I am teaching in Vietnam. It was great the rapport with the adults and their experiences at work. We had the topic “Coping with stress” which was very close to my heart as you can imagine from previous IBM times ;)

Next week I will be teaching 22h! These are the longest hours so far and lets see how I can cope :) However I thought as I am going on vacation soon, it is good to work a bit more beforehand so I can spend some money in Cambodia as well.

I will be teaching a Medical Company next week that is coming over from Laos. It’s exciting for me as I have been teaching “only” Vietnamese so far and I am so looking forward to meet these people.

Hope you are all well back home or wherever you are right now! Looking forward to hear from you all again soon :)