When members of the Ledyard Canoe Club want to go paddle, they don't have far to go. But five members of the club are planning a trip halfway around the world.
The students will travel to Vietnam for a six-week, 600-mile trip up the Black River in foldable canoes. The students will arrive in Hanoi July 1, then travel to the head of the Black before making the 600-mile traverse of Vietnam's northern mountains and the plains of Lao Chai. The journey will finish in the Tonkin Bay.
The five students, Sarah Billmeier '99, Hans Kieserman '97, Catherine Prest '97, Jamie Shandro '98 and Stanley Weinberger '98, are hardly the first Ledyard members to plan expeditions in far-away places. In the past the club has navigated rivers in Russia, Korea, Japan and Europe.
The group is trying to raise $28,000 to help pay for the trip, soliciting contributions from alumni, canoe manufacturers, National Geographic and other magazines. Weinberger said the group currently has $6,000 guaranteed from the Ledyard Canoe Club, and the Dagger Canoe Company has already agreed to furnish the boats.
The students plan to sleep in villages along the river, and they are now planning meetings with student groups, local officials and host families in Vietnam.
The group's written proposal describes the trip as "an expedition [that] will test both the student's physical and mental limits." Trip organizers hope the expedition will "encourage cultural exposure and exchange between youth in the United States and Vietnam [and] to gain an understanding of Vietnam as it stands today."
They also hope "to build a base of experience in Vietnamese river exploration and to share in the spirit of friendly communication through sports." The students are working with the University of Hanoi to hire a Vietnamese translator to travel with the group.
