DALAT
The Highlands of Dalat we were looking forward to investigating. This city is surprising large, and productive, as its known as the flower and vegetable capital of Vietnam. Around 1500m altitude, it was not cold. Acres and acres of mountainous valleys were adorned with hot houses, veggie gardens- as far as the eye could see. Dalat is also home to the famous hand embroidery village- which we didn't find out about until after we'd left!! Bummer- cos their work is exquisite. I had to look twice and then up close to see that these amazing pieces of art work were all HAND stitched with very fine silk thread. The women must have incredible patience and eyesight- the amount of work and complexity that has gone into these pieces is truly WOW factor. Its quite an honour to be educated as an embroiderer- these women are very well respected in the community at large and have been recognized by the government for their outstanding talent and contribution to the expression of Vietnamese culture and connecting with the world- stitch by stitch. I'm actually really disappointed we didn't know about this place.
We had difficulty finding accommodation in Dalat- apparently its the place the Vietnamese from Ho Chi Minh city go during TET to avoid the heat. So our budget was certainly blown, as we had to pay $110 per night compared to the usual average of 30. Also the price hike during TET wasn't anticipated- the blatant double whammy of "let's take advantage of the tourists" wasn't a nice feeling either- but what could we do. We hired a motorbike from the hotel and headed for thuc voi, Elephant falls, or so we thought. The map supplied by the hotel was in Vietnamese and not necessarily detailed, so instead of traveling 30km west to Nam Ban village, somehow we ended up north west towards the man made falls and lake that provides water for the hydroelectric scheme. Mmm- okay, so we stopped for a coffee and time for the circulation to work its way back into my gluteus region( being pillion passenger ain't so great on these 150cc made for tiny Asian behinds!). We met a family from HCM city that spoke English, they deciphered where we were. The fuel gauge on our bike didn't work, however Kerry assured me we would have enough fuel. Sure enough we did, but that wasn't really an issue when we blew a tyre 20km out of Dalat. Do you know how hard it is to get help in a country where the bike company that the hotel uses doesn't speak English, and even if you did manage to communicate that you needed assistance, try conveying "flat tyre" when your on the phone and someone that usually talks with their hands- especially for emphasis AND you don't REALLY know where you are!!! Plus the sticker on the bike with the hotels details is out of date and the phone number no longer exists!!!! #!*%€£#!! We learned very quickly that vietnamese aren't too phased by two tourist chicks pushing a motorbike along the road. The most annoying part about it was that I had a feeling when we got on the bike that morning that something was not right with the tyre- and as we drove out, I'm sure the guy who gave us the bike also looked at the tyre- if only I had listened to the message and acted on it! We were hoping we were going to catch up with Robert and John, a couple of really lovely guys from Holland that we met at breakfast one day in Hoi An. As we were walking the 20km back to Dalat I said to Kerry- well there is no way we are gonna meet up with the boys now!!! Well- good fortune must have been on our side to a degree cos not long after they came hooning down the hill behind us, having travelled a different path than originally planned- Oi Oi Oi- thankfully someone had a bigger plan in mind- cos the boys very generously took us back to our hotel so we could change over bikes and take the repair crew out to where we left it. Thank God it was still where we left it- the hotel were very concerned that someone might steel the bike- it would have been nice if they had as much concern for us being stuck out there for hours on end!!!! They had apparently sent someone out to find us( once we managed to name the hydroelectric plant),although they didn't look very hard, cos when we pulled up at the bike they laughed shaking their heads- implying that they had not passed this way on their 'search and rescue'- we seriously could have been in a lot of trouble, scorching heat and little water. Anyway, We,( well I am- Kerry was enjoying the adventure of breaking down) are extremely grateful to Robert and John for showing up and stopping, when they did. So after a rocky start to the day (vicious dog attack and blown tyre) we set off again, this time in the correct direction for elephant falls. John also came with us. We passed through some beautiful country side, along the way absorbing the aromatic fragrance of the coffee plantation blossoms- a beautiful sweet yet pungent scent not dissimilar to frangipani. Once again we were, to a degree, following our noses as far as directions are concerned- but eventually we found elephant falls 30 mins before it closed for the day, which was great! We made the steep rocky decent to the bottom of the falls and attempted to climb in behind the falls but I think you needed to be a local to know the 'hidden path'- still it was great fun clambering up and down rocks, jumping crevices and feeling a few pangs of mmm, if I climb down there will I be able to get back up?!! By the time we were heading home it was getting dark and cold- so we needed to hot foot it back to Robert and John's hotel- which was also a laugh- trying to navigate peak hour traffic In the dark when John wasn't so sure how to get to where they were staying!! Certainly a memorable day, which ended with a great meal and awesome company. As it turned out, Robert and John were on the same flight to Dalat, and also heading to Phu Quoc island at the same time- so perhaps we will have the opportunity to share more stories and more experiences at the next destination. Some other ventures in Dalat were the Datanla falls which had a bobsled type ride ( a bit like the one a magic mountain merimbula- if you've ever been) to the bottom of the falls and a very steep stair climb back up. Very touristy, and busy, but a bit of fun nonetheless. Chua Linh Phuoc Pagoda-a completely ceramic mosaic building (see photo album) and kwan yin statue made of helichrysums 30m high. Here was also very busy with locals as they and their families pray for their wishes for the new year. In one tower was a bell that had possibly thousands of post-it notes with wishes written on them stuck to the bell. A member of the family then gongs the bell to bring their wishes to the attention of Buddha- that he may make them manifest. It was quite amazing to see. We also visited the Crazy House- which a female architect, who is in her late 70's now, designed over time this amazing labyrinth of rooms and buildings ( which you can stay in). Much of the Crazy House reminded me of the Faraway Tree- rooms created in this structure that were shaped like the winding trunk and branches of a tree- the kid in us LOVED it!!! We checked out the central market- which was very overwhelming to say the least- lots of live things waiting to be killed and lots of once live things laid out in the elements- the odour of the market is not easily forgotten and not necessarily an experience we enjoyed- we looked, and we left. Besides each time we bought fruit we got ripped off tourist prices- so in the end it was better to get it else where- although we did get to taste fresh mangosteen- which is amazing, and very expensive in Australia, if you can get it at all! By the end of the week I was ready to move on to the next place- the welcome in Dalat overall was not so welcoming( my buttons were being pushed big time) and the hotel temporarily losing our passports as we were about to board the bus to HCMC topped off the hospitality. I figure we cut our losses- chalk the events up to growthful experiences not necessarily embraced to the fullest emotional releasing potential- and move on to the next place where hopefully I'll dig deep and muster up some courage to truly FEEL.