2006 APS International PD Tour to Vietnam & Cambodia

Group photo in Cambodia

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Cambodia/Vietnam Trip January 2006: Extracts from my diary

By Mary Katsikitis

This was an opportunity I would not have missed for the world. Professor Trang Thomas (APS Director of Science 2001-2005) offered to assist the APS to organize a professional development (PD) tour to Vietnam and Cambodia during the month of January, 2006. With her contacts in this region and her native background (Vietnam), the APS offered an extensive PD tour as well as taking advantage of her local knowledge with regard to shopping and sightseeing. Traveling to any country where you don't have the language can be challenging at any time but on this trip Trang was able to communicate on our behalf with all guides, airport personnel, bus drivers, restaurant and hotel staff, which may have increased her blood pressure, but certainly eased any burden that may have fallen on us individually during this time.

We landed in Siem Reap, Cambodia for one main purpose really…to see the temples of Angkor Wat and surrounds. Temperature 29C. We had an afternoon of sightseeing (some temples were too dangerous to walk through ie crumbling, snakes!) and then back to the hotel where we had dinner and our first scheduled PD activity which was an "Introduction to Vietnamese culture". The next day members met with psychologists and psychiatrists at a local psychiatry clinic and heard of the marked shortage of these professions throughout Cambodia, but particularly in the servicing of the rural areas.

Our first experience of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) (Saigon) in Vietnam was the very long bus drive from the airport to the hotel. Great sightseeing along the way though…oh the pagodas!! Our subsequent visit to RMIT's campus had, as its main purpose, the opportunity to get together in a more formal way as a group of scientist-practitioners, to discuss our work. So I chaired a mini-conference where we heard from Heather Bigelow, Evelyn Field and Margaret Charlton. Our fourth speaker was Jan Muller, currently working in HCMC on the Loreto-Vietnam Australia Program (LEAP). This organization, which consists of one Loreto nun (Trish Franklin) and Jan, does all sorts of wonderful work, for example, funding the building of schools in rural areas, scholarships for under-privileged, special services for disabled students, and shelters for children who do not have a home to go to.

I must take a break from PD right now to tell you about the wonderful food we had in Ho Chi Minh City. The French champagne by the glass was cheaper than bottled water, the French restaurants we went to both as a group, and then individually during our days at leisure were very good and the variety of food (yes …we had good pizza as well as good Vietnamese style fish/pork dishes…who could forget the amok fish in a hurry!) was unexpected. Before we leave HCMC, I must mention the Cu Chi tunnels…an underground series of tunnels stretching for hundreds of miles through Vietnam where the soldiers took refuge during the war with America. A few brave members of our group took the opportunity to crawl through one tunnel (approximately 30 metres in length) just to experience what it must have been like. The first hurdle was fitting through the tiny hole in the ground that lead to the tunnel. Some of us got through! The second hurdle was coping with the sensory deprivation…no light (at all) except the guide's torch in front of us but he was so fast that he went on ahead so quickly, the rest of us were forced to form a chain where everyone grabbed hold of the person in front of them, and all crouching, feeling our way through this black hole. I was at the end and the last one to get through. My clothes were covered in dust ie that's how tight these tunnels were!!

Our next stop, Hoi An (via a flight north to Danang), which has to be the tailor capital of Vietnam, was much loved by the whole group. There were so many tailors per square metre that I had not seen anything quite like this before. Needless to say, after our short visit, many of our group had new threads that were made to measure overnight, and that they enjoyed wearing and showing off. The silks in Hoi An were just stunning. However, amongst all the shopping we still had time for PD. The group visited an old Chinese house and a sheltered workshop.

The bus ride to Hue was eventful in a way most of us wish to forget but some good PD was accomplished en route. Once in Hue, and on Australia Day, we visited the Learning Resource Centre and had a guided tour and in the afternoon we visited an old Vietnamese House where we were treated to a lecture about the history of the royal family and the forbidden city. We even managed to find a restaurant that served Australian beef, but no Australian beer. Everyone assured me that the local beer was great.

After Hue we flew to our last destination, Hanoi. We bussed to Halong Bay and arrived in time for New Year's Eve (TET) celebrations. Some of our tour group managed to wait until midnight to get their one free glass of champagne from the resort management (but there is no such thing as a free glass of champagne! Apparently some long speeches had to be listened to first!). There were lots of singing, traditional dancing and traditional new year food. Our members joined in the dancing and took out the best prizes. I am embarrassed to say that I slept through the whole thing. Hanoi was magical and the PD was not bad also. Two magical highlights: Firstly the 7-hour boat trip through misty Halong Bay. The pictures in the tour books do not do this place justice. Some of us even climbed one of the rocky mountains to the peak to get the most spectacular view of the steep rocky outcrops from up high. The seafood lunch that day was so sumptuous. Some adventurous types hired a kayak (we have the funniest shots of George, Vicki, Susan and Iain going around in circles on the bay). The second magical moment was a leaky boat (it was!) cruise, two-by-two, through the rice paddies of Ninh Binh. The local women rowed these boats and steered each couple along a well beaten path, through a cave where a torch had to be used so one wouldn't bump their head on the way through.

As it was TET and many shops were closed we were unsure what we would find on our arrival at the Institute of Psychology. To our surprise almost half of the staff had given up their holiday to meet with us and discuss common interests. As far as PD was concerned this was one of the most useful exchanges of information between like- minded individuals from two very different countries. I had very positive feedback about this visit.

Our members collected over 30 PD points during the trip as well as making many new friends from interstate and rural areas. One member wrote to the President of APS and said: "After nearly 30 years of ongoing membership of the APS, this would have to be one of the most valuable and pleasurable experiences I have gained from the membership of the organization".

In summary, the tour went well, the PD was well organized and worthwhile, the company was good, the food was fantastic and the shopping cost us hundreds of dollars in excess baggage!

Dr Mary Katsikitis
APS Manager, Science, Academia & Research

	The amazing Angkor Wat complex in Cambodia.