Vietnam Jungle Trekking

(With my trainers, FX Lealdela Torre & David Minetti)

Xin Chao Vietnam!

It's the first day of March and I am already in my 1oth month here in Saigon. I haven't really been around that much to maximize the beauty of Vietnam. But last January I decided to join some jungle adventure with the K1 Fitness - Minetti team. With us is the owner and trainers from my Muay Thai class. We headed at Tac Mai Rapid, Tran Phu Forest---about two and half hours away from Ho Chi Minh City. I also brought in some Filipino friends to share this fun adventure!

(Filipino Friends with Tom Meyer)

(The hammock at the base camp)

We started our first day with a 7km trekking at the jungle. That was a very easy level but some of my Filipino friends find it a bit hard. They told me that they do not exercise the way I do. My Muay training helped me to be agile and tenacious with whatever physical activities ahead of me. So my trainers were proud of me how I progress each day.

This adventure was really fun for several reasons. Aside from the 2 day trekking activities that we did, we also had time to swim on the river and played volleyball using a the ball of football. That caused me few bruises on my arms. But that was fun. The stone in the river was slippery and the rapids were very fast that somehow scared me but eventually I felt alright. During the night we had some barbecues, wine, beer & smoke. We slept at a duplex cottage and had our shower in a small wooden bathroom with tarpauline as the wall. It was very back to basic but indeed was very fun too. The rest of the K1 team slept in the tent and other cottages. It was also nice to have slept on a hammock once again.

(FX Lealdela Torre at the river)

(Alvaro Lealdela Torre at the river)

(The owner of K1 Fitness Center Saigon - David Minetti)

(The complete cast)

Everything that happened in the trekking was a brand new experience to me and to the Filipino friends I brought. I want to do it once more, maybe soon after I recovered from my surgery. I procrastinated a lot of weekends lately and made me realized that I missed a lot of exciting places I should visit while I am here in Vietnam.

Until next time, Anh oi, Chi oi and Em oi.. Tambiet!!!

hugs,
joanie xxx