Travel stories, a memorable trip to Ninh Binh, Vietnam

On July, 15th-16th, 2014, IAESTE Vietnam successfully  organized a collective trip to visit Ninh Binh province, Vietnam with the participation of more than 30 members including IAESTE alumnis, trainees and volunteers in the past and at present time.

The trip started early at 5 a.m in Thai Nguyen on July 15th under the control of Mrs. Nong Thuy – coordinator of IAESTE Vietnam. Then on the way coming to Ninh Binh, the IAESTE Vietnam car stopped at Thanh Tri Bridge to pick up current trainees doing their IAESTE internship in Ha Noi. At 10 a.m that morning, everybody was so eager to arrive in Phat Diem Church in Kim Son district, Ninh Binh to take a overall look and enjoy their very first moment of being in Ninh Binh. After 2 hours spending time in Phat Diem Church, IAESTE car drove to Ms.Huong’s house. Ms. Huong is a member of IAESTE Vietnam and she was responsible for preparing the food for the trip. At first, everybody seemed so strange and reserved to others’; however, during the lunch at Ms.Huong’s house, the relationship between all members got closer thanks to friendly and easy-going talks of participations. Then, in the afternoon, everyone was taken to visit a village pagoda near Ms.Huong’s house and go boating on Tam Coc Bich Dong and visit Bich Dong Ancient Pagoda. One third of the members was able to climb on the highest top of the mountain at Bich Dong Ancient Pagoda. In the evening, a big party with many Vietnamese traditional foods and Ninh Binh’s speacial foods attacted members and it made up my mind that the party that night had been the best party ever of IAESTE Vietnam. Then, on July 16th, Trang An and Bai Dinh Pagoda were the destinations discovered in the trip. All IAESTE Vietnam members looked so surprised to directly touch the natural beauty of Trang An and amazing structure of Bai Dinh Pagoda.

In general, the 2-day-trip to Ninh Binh held by IAESTE Vietnam happened with many impressing activities such as going boating, visiting beautiful landscapes and enjoying many traditional dishes. A lot of nice photos and videos were taken and updated on social network as soon as participants of the trip came back their accommodations and all of them said that they were pleased with the trip and they felt that they loved IAESTE more than ever.

Thanks to the trip, IAESTE alumnis, trainees and volunteers had a great time together to talk to each other, share with others their IAESTE experience as well as their plans in the future. The innocent smiles and pleased eyes of IAESTE members who attended the trip has encouraged IAESTE Vietnam a lot to invest and conduct more meaningful activities for IAESTE members in Vietnam the next time.

By Thanh Huong

July, 2014