DaLat is an interesting place to visit in the sch of things. During our three nights here we have wandered through some very interesting markets with hundreds of stalls all grouped together so that all of the shoe salesman are next door as are the dried fruits, clothing, footstalls and general crap that you get at these markets.. it is nice to be in a cooler climate, still in shorts and a t-shirt but generally far more comfortable. On our first morning we asked about coffee and breakfast around where we were staying and the brother of the owner talked us into a day tour with private car and him as the tour guide. Brekkie was non existent as it turned out to be just a coffee shop where the coffee was cold and the tea came without water! The fruit smoothies we ordered couldn't be done because the power had gone off but they did offer to go out and get some Pho (soup) if we wanted. Back to the hotel and then off on the tour with Pho ( the guide) and Mr Ting as the driver. In the end we spent two days with these guys seeing everything there is to see in and around De Lat. Pho was great to talk to and gave us plenty of personal insights into Vietnamese life including his take on communism, sex before marriage, drinking, driving and the meaning of life. We visited three waterfalls in two days, all very nice and well set up for tourists with cable car rides, roller coasters, elephants and even an elevator in the middle of the bush to get you to the bottom of one of the waterfalls. The elephant ride was a bit of fun and included the usual photo and DVD available for purchase on completion of the ride. (we settled for the DVD only package and will tale a few still from that). Robyn and I had to have photos taken with some local girls and families at the waterfalls - obviously they thought it was Brad Pitt and Angelina Jollie enjoying a day out together. in hindsight I should have charged them.
Also on our two days we visited coffee farms, tea farms, flower farms, silkworms and a silk factory, some amazing embroidery that left you speechless, a love park, Chinese pagodas, monasteries and if you have ever been here before you would appreciate that no tour of Delat is complete without a tour of the Crazy House, a contemporary piece of architecture that is still under construction but could easily be the set for an Alice in Wonderland movie. The two days were great with an opportunity to experience things at an even more local level but at a nice relaxed pace. Had a couple of great meals here but also one of the worst we have had. We chose to eat at a street store in the market and there e was another group of "ferangs" (local terminology for westerners) but unfortunately they didn't warn us and they had no cold beer and the food was pretty crappy - I wouldn't have been surprised if I had the shits it the morning but thankfully this didn't happen and I live on to continue the wonderful journey.
DeLat to Nhatrang was only 140 kms so therefore only 4 hours on the bus but this time we were going from the mountains down to the coast via some pretty spectacular scenery and quite impressive road construction. The bus needed to rest at the bottom of the hill for 30 minutes to allow the smoke billowing out from the brakes to ease and to give us a toilet stop etc. All in all a nice trip as far as busses go but we did have to endure the usual vomiting local and the occasional swerve to avoid another bus truck or bike.
Nhatrang seems like a nice place to take a few days rest by the coast. we dropped our bags put on the swimmers and headed down to the beach (just 100 metres away) it was a bit disappointing to see all of the crap on the beach and in the water, there is so much plastic, polystyrene and floating vegetable matter that swimming wasn't really an option. it was ok to wander in cool off, wallow around for a few minutes but certainly not somewhere you felt like staying for too long. Found a great restaurant for dinner and cooked our food on a small pottery BBQ fuelled with coal. (certainly something I could see myself doing on the back deck at home.)
Our second day here was a genuine rest day, we slept in, booked our flights to Danang and just wandered around taking in a photography gallery and a cyclo ride where the drivers tried to charge us per person despite the agreed price! no problem, just told him to get over it because that was all he was going to get and we walked away. One of them new we were right but the other one thought we must have had plenty of cash as we asked them to drop us off at the yacht club where drinks and food are anything up to 5 times what you would pay on the street. needless to say we only had 1 drink here.
We spent the afternoon indulging ourselves with a mud bath getting up close and personal in a four person bath filled with sloppy brown mud. after washing this off it was into the heated mineral spring water and added cinnamon and other spices for a 45 minute soak. Next the foot massage which was going really well until the reflexology kicked in and the girls started pressing down hard with wooden needles. Follow this up with a great oil massage and then a swim in the naturally heated swimming pool. It rained the three hours we were there and continued to pour for several hours after. needless to say we had a great time but getting a Taxi in this rain was going to prove difficult as we were only 4 of about 100 people wanting to get out and walking was not an option. I found a local house open for business with cold beers so we sat and watched the rain waiting for a taxi. Eventually we headed off to the restaurant we had chosen based on local recommendations and drove through at least 12 inches of rain on some occasions. It was certainly challenging for those on bikes but there still seemed to be plenty of people around. The restaurant was a good seafood restaurant filled with locals and we had difficulty working out and communicating what we wanted but eventually it all arrived albeit in much bigger proportions than we needed but martyrdom is a speciality of ours so we pushed through the pain barrier and demolished the lot. Being an outdoor restaurant I followed the lead provided by the locals and simply threw the crab shells etc on to the floor between your feet.
Spent today out diving in the marine park, they were a bit late picking us up but certainly made up for it hospitality. on arrival at the wharf there was utter chaos with boats and people everywhere. the boat we thought we were going on was very dodgy looking and nothing like the photo in the brochure but they filled that one with about 50 locals and tourist packed in like sardines but we were booked on another boat with the same company and only one other Aussie and from here on the day just got better. Our tour guide was named Wo and he had great Aussie accent and a genuine love for his job. Snorkelling was a bit foggy due to the heavy rains but we saw some great coral and fish. Lunch was huge and very tasty but not exactly what you need before going over the side of the boat.
Tomorrow we head for Danang and Hoi An in a plane which will definitely be better than a bus!!!
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