DaLat- Le Petite Paris

DaLat greenhouse- my favorite flower

I left Nha Trang in the morning and headed inland to the mountains of Vietnam. I was ready to cool off and stop sweating for a few days. The bus ride was beautiful through mountains and jungle. However, the switchbacks proved to be too much for several of the people on the bus. I noticed several people walk to the front of the bus and return with a bag. Oh no! It was time for me to put on my head phones if people were going to start throwing up! Those of you that know me well know I do not handle vomiting well. You puke and I will be right there with you. Not holding back your hair and comforting you but throwing up with you! I was surrounded by people tossing their cookies. Including the girl next to me! I kept telling myself to just breathe and listen to music. You can not puke. I looked at the clock and realized it was another hour. Four people around me were throwing up. I took out the Vick's and sniffed. Anything was better than the smell coming from my neighbors. Surprisingly, I survived and did not even gag! That is a huge accomplishment for me! Whew! I was so excited to get off the bus puke free!

DaLat is located in the central highlands and is home to farmers who produce the flowers, fruits and vegetables. The majority of the flowers are grown in greenhouses. It is much cooler here and the smog is significantly less than Nha Trang and Saigon. Yay! I loved the fresh air!  I smiled as I passed the DaLat version of the Eiffel Tower. Since this was a vacation get away for the French, there is a significant French influence. Tacky? I will let you decide.

DaLat radio tower.

DaLat is the last  motorbike tour I will have in Vietnam. I wanted to explore the countryside and hike to the waterfalls. I searched out the Vietnam Easy Riders to take me on this trip. Tin Tin arrived at 8 am and we were on the road. I am not bragging but, I am getting really good at getting on/off a motorcycle. Like I have been riding for years!

Our first stop was the countryside farms. He explained that the greenhouses became popular after a large company came in and built one and the farmers saw that they were able to increase the number of growing seasons. Most of the flowers are grown in the green houses and the vegetables are grown outside.

 I was not surprised to learn that organic farming was not common in Vietnam. Tin Tin explained it is difficult to change the way things are done. We had a long discussion about the amount of littering, the Vietnam/American War and the poor in the country. I asked him to be honest and not give a typical response that the tourists want to hear. I appreciated his candid responses. Basically, unless there are financial reasons, the littering will continue and organic farming is unlikely. The Vietnamese felt very abandoned when America pulled out of the country and he talked to me about the difficulties of the people afterwards. I feel that I have learned more about the war visiting Vietnam than I ever learned in all my years of education.

Our second stop was a nice morning hike. He stopped on the side of the highway and said "Hike up that hill to the top, turn left and come back down. I will meet you on the road." Ok. I hiked the hill. It was beautiful. Pine trees, hills and grass. I noticed an animal had been on the trail and my keen tracking instincts told me it was a horse....I hoped that was all and not a wild animal! I reached the top and looked around. I breathed the fresh air and took a moment to enjoy the view.

The path down was a little slippery but I made it! A great hike to start off the morning. 

The next stop was the oldest Buddist temple in DaLat. I asked Tin Tin to explain Buddism to me. He smiled and said that I got a driver that was Christian. Well, I guess I have some reading to do on the Buddist faith.  

 We continued on our journey through the farmland were I noticed the coffee trees. Tin Tin showed me that each berry had two beans...I never knew that. Honestly, I did not know much about coffee other than I love it in the morning. As we traveled through towns I noticed large tarps on the ground in front of businesses. The farmers remove the beans from the berries and dry the beans in the sun. Then they were bagged and sent to be roasted.

We continued on our adventure. The area around DaLat was beautiful. I enjoyed the curving mountain roads, the flowers and fruits for sale on the side of the road. I was happy and enjoying the ride as much as the sights.
 

Tin Tin stopped and bought us some fresh strawberries. Then he washed them and we had an impromptu picnic on the side of the road. An old man walked up to us. We shared our strawberries and water with him. Tin Tin talked to him and explained that he was a poor, old, sick man with no family. The Vietnamese government doesn't do much for these people. It is up to the religious groups and families to help the old and sick. So sad. I admit I gave him some dong. My heart just broke for him. The least I could do was buy him a couple meals. I asked Tin Tin about the average salary in Vietnam. I was shocked that the average Vietnamese person makes about $4700 USD/year. Wow!  

We continued down the road. We passed beautiful rice paddies and what I called "free range cows."  

The rice paddies are beautiful. I loved watching the wind blow across the fields like waves. Gorgeous! We rode a little farther and Tin Tin took me to a silk factory. Then asked if I was ready for some hiking. Of course! We arrived at Elephant Falls and he pointed towards a railing and said to go that way and follow the path. He was staying behind to watch the bike. I had 30 minutes to get back to him. I was off. I followed the path, down and over a bridge. No problem. Then I see the orange handrail is gone. Uh-oh!  Just the post and another orange post 6 meters down the rocks. Huh? I had no clue how I was suppose to get down to the falls.  

Where is the path? Uhmmm....

Elephant Falls

I could hear people coming down the path. I looked at them and they were wearing flip flops. Huh. I was glad I had my hiking shoes. I decided to follow them down. I was about half way down when one of them turned to me and told me to go ahead. Fine. I went slowly and made my way around the big rock. I turned to look for the guide because I did not know where to go next. They had turned around and gone back up! It was just me. I was scared I would fall and brake a bone or crack my head open but I had to get to the falls. No stopping me now! I finally made it! I am not a fan of rock climbing and this was as close as anyone will ever get me. I was shaking by the time I got to the bottom. I completely forgot to get a photo. All I could think of was now I had to go back up to the top. Ugh! I must admit that it was easier going back up. I passed several people that turned around and never went more than half way. I was so glad I faced the challenge and did it! Yay me!

When I returned, Tin Tin said it was time for lunch. We went to a roadside cart and ordered chicken with vegetables and rice. Then I sat down on the traditional red stool and ate. After lunch, Tin Tin asked "do you like cats?"

Mmmm...weasel poop coffee.

I wasn't sure where this was going. I replied "Uhmmm.....sure, as long as nobody is killing or eating them!"  He laughed and said he had something special to show me. He took me to the cat (weasel) farm where the weasels are fed a mixture of banans and coffee beans. They poop and the coffee beans are removed from the poop, roasted and sold. Ewwww! They also made rice wine. I drank the poop coffee. It was ok but not that spectacular. This will probably go down as the weirdest thing I eat on this trip. I am not adventurous with food. I gag too much!  I also tasted the the rice wine. Wow! It was more like moonshine! Very strong and burnt the whole way down! 

Our next stop was an ethnic community. We stopped and Tin Tin told me the tradition in the town was that the girl selects a boy she wants to marry and then her family must pay the boys family for his hand in marriage. I liked that the girl got to choose. There are 15 women in the village that weave scarves, bags and tablecloths. I bought a beautiful scarf and then asked if I could walk around the village and take some photos. I was granted permission. Tin Tin was going to stay with the bike. I took off walking and was greeted by two children that would laugh, point at me and run away down the path. Soon they would stop and repeat the sequence.  It became our game. The children would wait on the path for me to catch up with them. I asked if they would like to see a photo of themselves. I showed them the picture and they pointed at themselves and laughed. They were adorable. They motioned for me to follow them down the path. I followed. We passed beautiful fruit and vegetable gardens and a few small homes. Theyturned around several times to make sure I was following them. Then they laughed and ran ahead. I realized they were taking me to their home. They were delighted as they ran into the house to tell their family they had found me. It was adorable and made me smile.

The children took me to their home to meet their family.

I waved goodbye and continued walking. As I was headed back to the main street, I followed by 4 boys. They would walk, one would turn and stare or smile at me. When I got on the motorbike and drove away, they ran after us waving goodbye. I loved the children. I left with a smile on my face and wonderful memories of the village.

We were back on the road and headed to the Dalat Waterfall. When Tin Tin dropped me at the entrance I asked if this was going to be another rock climbing adventure. He said "No, more fun. Take roller coaster." Alright! I walked in and bought a ticket for the roller coaster. It was basically a toboggan on metal tracks with a handbrake. I was strapped in and told to pull the brake towards me to stop. They pushed me off and away I went down the tracks to the bottom. It would have been more fun but the two guys in front of me road the brake down the hill.  It would have been more fun to go faster. At the bottom, it was a short walk to the falls.

A short ride back up to the top of the falls and we were off again. The day ended with a walk through the meditation center and gardens. I took a peaceful walk through the gardens, enjoying the quiet solitude. It was beautiful and the smell of pine trees surrounded me. We returned to DaLat and my hotel. It was a wonderful day exploring the area. I was ready for a shower and a dinner in town. I laughed as I asked for a restaurant suggestion and the guy at the desk gave me directions to a bakery. He said the Russians love it! Ha ha! I thought I should not get in the habit of eating my meals at a bakery and asked for another suggestion. I had a great Vietnamese dinner and a wonderful walk in town. It was a fantastic end to a beautiful day.