It was the most fun day I’ve had so far

Travel folkehøgskole sure does not choose boring things to do on their trips 😂. Today I caught fish with my bare hands, did a Vietnamese cooking class, and planted seedlings in mud filled rice paddies.

Leaving Ha Noi today and even though it was an action packed cultural experience, I was definitely ready to go. It is so so hectic there so I was excited to move to the calmer countryside of Vietnam. The place is called Ninh Binh. Went on a bike ride to get the tour of a local village. The breeze and the sun felt so nice (no breeze in the cities) with less of a «dense» feeling, not to mention mountain views too!

We were in charge of making our own lunch with the help of some locals of course. We made pancakes which was fried bananas and sweet potatoes dipped in wheat paste and rice flakes. We also made spring rolls in which we cut up all the vegetables for the filling and rolled them in rice paper. Afterwards, we sat down for a feast to try what we made. We couldn’t even dream of finishing all of it even though it was so good!

After a break we did the dirty work. Getting sweaty, getting muddy, but most of all getting an experience we will never forget! We got dressed in our traditional farming hats and knee high boots. I dove right in to go catch some fish (with my hands!). They were super slippery but I managed to catch 2 of them, it was definitely fun to TRY to run after them.

Then we all planted some rice seedlings where you get a sprout and then take 3 fingers and push it into the mud until it stands up by itself. I can’t imagine doing that for my whole life, it’s tiring and super hot, it makes me respect the farmers so much more.

Got split into groups of 3 and had to find a dinner place. There were massive lit up temples and a river along the street. Our group after some indecisiveness settled on Asian barbecue and then coconut ice cream afterwards. We had to rush back since we got a little lost on the roads. And it took over 40 minutes to find an open store with water (walked down creepy alleyways 😬). Nonetheless, it was the most fun day I’ve had so far 😆.