We’re back! After approximately 16 hours of flight time starting in Ho Chi Minh City and probably the tightest layover we could get away with in Denver while clearing customs, The Fishback Honors College and College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences landed in Sioux Falls at approximately 4:00pm central time on Sunday, April 21 st . What an incredible trip! There were a few downs (I don’t think our students will miss the heat), but many more ups. Exploring Vietnam for 10 days is certainly an experience I will not forget. The highlights for me were: The terraced rice fields in Sapa. What an incredible view. Walking the local footpaths and seeing how the local Vietnamese have developed the steep mountains to their benefit has to be seen to be believed. We hiked for several hours, I think I could have hiked the hills for several more. The Angkor Wat temples in Siem Reap, Cambodia. One of two UNESCO heritage si...
May 18 Thursday We started our day with breakfast in Ho Chi Minh City and then headed to the Mekong River area which had 4 islands named after the sacred creatures in Vietnamese culture – Phoenix, Turtle, Unicorn and Dragon. On the way we stopped at a bamboo shop where we got to experience a live infomercial. They had very useful products, and we learned that bamboo is highly absorbent and antibacterial. They had kitchen towels, clothing, braces, socks, and so much more. We then finished the rest of our drive to the Mekong River where we boarded our tour boat. USS Minnow? Honey Our first stop was a honey farm where we got to try honey tea along with royal jelly which is considered the most precious bee product. It contains 16 necessary Amino Acids and has great success in cosmetics. After teatime, many students chose to hold a 10kg python and take photos. Snake necklace Tilapia farm Our next stop was a fish fa...
Today was our second day in Hanoi. We started off with breakfast at the hotel, and then took the bus out of the city. Before we left the hotel, our class brought over 75 books from home and donated them to children in grades K-5 in the rural areas. It is through the “Bookworm” project started by a former Fulbright employee in Hanoi, who them takes them to the rural schools, which have very few resources. Street fruit Vegetable planting We took a walking tour through a small village where the locals had small shops posted outside on the street. There were a variety of things on display like fruits, vegetables, meats, and handmade crafts. We made our way to the first farm of the day, a weasel farm. This family had been raising a flock of animals for over 14 years. They had a male weasel that was over 10 years old. The weasel sells for roughly $80 per kilogram. Each animal would be sold live to the 5-star restaurants and harvested there. The weasels have a 60-da...
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