Today is a national holiday which means.... NO SCHOOL!!! And when you are living Ina foreign country and you don't have to go to work, you go sightseeing. Or in our case, we went hiking but it included sightseeing :).

Our principal and his wife invited us to join them for a morning of hiking and sightseeing outside of the city. Of course we jumped on the opportunity to get out and see some of this beautiful country. So we met them this morning at 7:30 at their apartment. At 7:40 we were on the road heading out of the city!!!

Sometimes on a really clear day you can see mountains in the distance and that is where we went. About 40 minutes out, there is a national park. It was so amazing to see green trees and leaves, and smell the fresh air! We drove up most of the mountain and then had the choice between two different sets of stairs.

At the entrance ready to begin the hike/climb to find out what's at the top.

I don't think any of us were prepared for this climb. We knew it would be stairs, but I don't think we expected steep and eleven steps. But we were champs and made it to the top! It was so pretty! At the top of the mountain is a temple for people to pray to Buddha and their ancestors. So it smells a lot like incense and people where buying fruit and candies for their ancestors. It is very interesting to watch.

After we rested at the top, it was time to walk back down. The steps were easier to go down but you had to focus on not falling! But we made it!!!

We took our time going back down the mountain. I got to practice my Vietnamese with the driver, telling him to stop so that we could take pictures. It was so pretty!!!

I love flowers. And the ones here are just so pretty!!!