APRIL 2014 : Ho Chi Minh City : Day 3

Piers, Mark's brother, has become involved in fundraising efforts for needy causes on behalf of the international consulates in Ho Chi Minh City. This week Vietnam is recognising those with disabilities. To acknowledge the contibution of the consulate group, he was invited to a special performance by disabled and orphaned children, who would receive scholarships to subsidise their care and education. We went too, unprepared for the emotional rollercoaster that would entail.

       

Awards and scholarships for orphaned (as a result of AIDS) and disabled children.

                                  

Song by blind students. Many blind groups, possibly due to birth defects from insecticides.

                               

                     Blind student in a hills' district costume playing a bamboo xylophone.

                                        

                                                     Deaf and mute students signing a song.

       

Celebrity pop stars provided entertainment and they were spontaneously joined on stage by this enthusiastic bunch.

                                         

                 Yum Cha or Dim Sum at the Inter Continental with copious quantities of green tea.

       

                                               The French Colonial Post Office.

                                      

                            Inside the PO being watched over by the people's hero, Ho Ch Minh.

       

               A visit to the large food, flower, clothes and craft markets, close to the apartment.

         

                                                       Dinner at a local soup cafe.

      

                                                   Very filling and only $3 a bowl.

We have had to postpone the remainder of the Vietnamese leg of our trip until later in the year.  More later. 

We fly to NEPAL in late April for a 3 week trek to the Langtang Valley and the Tilman Pass. Then on to Europe for some more walking.

Meg and Mark