Halfway in the semester we get a long weekend off, where us students can travel wherever we like. We were a big group who decided to go to Ha Giang and go on a motorbike ride up in the mountains near the border of China.

To get to Ha Giang we had to take a night bus from Hanoi, so we had some hours in Hanoi as well, which were nice to get a chance to visit. In Hanoi we visited the famous “note café” and the “train café”. We tried Phó, a cuisine that Hanoi are specifically famous for.

The motorbike trip lasted for three days, and two nights. We travelled around the mountains in the northern point of Vietnam and witnessed maybe the most beautiful nature I have ever seen. During the trip we stopped at different viewpoints, and from one of them we could see right over to China. On other stops it was activities, where we for instance went on a boat trip in a nice fjord.

In the nights we slept at hostels with others that were on the trip, so we had a lot of fun in the afternoons as well. We ate the best Vietnamese food, had a lot of beers and happy water (rise wine) – and of course karaoke.

Before the trip some of the students were nervous about going on motorbikes up and down winding hills, but we had good, experienced drivers that drove us, and we also got a lot of protection on us. Everyone that were nervous before said that they had the time of their life,  and did not feel unsafe at all.

Going on a long weekend trip was a great way to have a break from the student life. However, coming back “home” to Hoi An was again very pleasant, and truly made us appreciate the life we got here. The trip  charged up everyone’s batteries, and was a great way to get us ready to start the group exam period 🙂

 

– Eva