Day 7

Today was such a relaxing day! In the morning we all got up and out of the hotel by 7:45. We all got in cabs to take us to the dock where we would catch the hydrofoil, which is just like a taxi, but its a really fast boat. However the cab driver took my cab to the wrong dock and Nikki, Kim, Maia, Ben, Stephen and I had to sprint down the streets of Ho Chi Minh City so we wouldn't miss the boat. I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. We almost missed it but we got there just in time. The boat ride was really long but Steve and I just listened to the comedian Demetri Martin on the way there, and I went out on deck to take pictures of the Delta.

From the boat on the Delta

Floating Market

Me posing in front of the floating market

When we got there Tin took us around to a lot of religious sites in Vung Tau.  The first place was called Pagoda, which had a giant statue of Jesus on top of a mountain. We all went inside the temple where we had to take our shoes, sunglasses and hats off. Then we lit incense and Tin taught us the proper way to pray in the temple where we stand facing the front, with the lit incense in our hands as we pressed our palms together in pray position then we stand in silence and pray for good health and a happy life. When we are done we bow three times and then put the incense in a pot of sand outside the temple. Then we went to climb the mountain where Jesus was and it was the hottest most exhausting climb. The millions of winding stairs were all different sizes and it was really awkward to walk up. Did I mention that it was HOT? Almost 100 degrees, plus about 90% humidity. It was really awesome once we reached the top though It was a great view of the shore and the city.

The Pagoda

Praying inside the temple

The crew in front of the South China Sea

Climbing the mountain towards Jesus

View from half-way up of the South China Sea

We made it to Jesus!

Looking back on what we hiked.

After lunch we went to the beach where we all just ran out into the South China Sea, which is really flat and there weren't a lot of waves but it was perfect for splashing around and playing frisbee. It was so sunny and warm out it felt like we were on vacation. After a little while of running around and sun bathing Tin and Anh set up fun games that were really obscure and embarrassing. One game we had to stick a banana between our knees and hop to meet our teammates where we transfered the banana to the next persons knees without using hands. Another one was where we had 4 people on one small piece of paper and we had to fit everyone completely on the paper. Each round the paper got smaller and smaller so we eventually had to make a tower of people.