Easy Rider tour with Mr. Trong + Da Lat

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January 8th 2011

Published: January 10th 2011

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gibbogirl

fisherman's nets

to Buon Ma Thuot, day 1

This day was pretty jam-packed full of things to do. We got up early, had breakfast at the Cyclo Cafe, checked out, returned Eddie's passport to him, loaded the bags, and headed off. Ronald on Eddie's bike, me on Tien's, Eddie's 20-year-old brother-in-law. Actually, he might have been 19 because of the lunar vs. solar calendar, but I didn't ask his year, so I guess we'll never know! Good thing they practically come out of the womb driving motorbikes or else I would have been nervous.

We stopped by to see the fisherman at work before heading out of town. Some of them were collecting rocks for building foundations for buildings. Pretty neat to see how fast they are with their hands and those tricky nets (see video below). Fearless against the crabs! Then we saw some women making rice paper. They get up at 5 am and work until 5 pm and make about 2,000 a day. They dry them on bamboo racks either in the sun or inside a room with fire (see video below). Sun-drying is preferred because there can sometimes be a smoky taste with the others. We saw brickmakers,

traditional bamboo boats

also women, who put out a nice 44,000 bricks a day. It was pretty neat to see where they cook the bricks and how they layer them up. We saw sugar cane, yams drying in the sun, and a furniture maker (made from crazy looking tree trunks).

We had a nice com ga for lunch (25,000) and instead of cheersing with Eddie, "com gia", I said "com ma", which apparently means "murder". Ronald put soy sauce in Eddie's coffee, and when he came back he tasted it and then told us something interesting: sometimes they make that mixture for men before they have sex "2 hours, no problem," said Eddie, a direct quote...We got a nice laugh from that and our trip pretty much stayed in that mood for the rest of the time.

Random: saw a billboard with an animated, flesh-colored figure that was sort of doing a jig and putting on what could have been a top hat only it was a condom. I assume it was for HIV/AIDS prevention, but those words were the only thing I could read on the sign. Either way, I wish I had the hysterical picture it would have been

traditional boat

but alas, we zoomed past much too quickly.

After lunch we saw the coco trees and tasted the seeds. They look like garlic or chestnuts in their shape but are white on the outside and taste both sweet and sour. They make alcohol out of some of them and sell the rest for chocolate elsewhere. We then went to a museum because the prison was closed and then to the place we were going to be sleeping at. They showed us to a little cabin and Eddie helped us put up the mosquito net.

Dinner was to be at 7, so Ronald and I had some time to go see the waterfall before dinner. When we came back, we opened our door, walked inside, and found the room to be empty. I was confused and wondered if we had the wrong room and how we got inside with the wrong key when Eddie came over and told us they had moved us because the first one didn't have hot water. He was hungry and waiting for us to go down to the asado where we would be having chicken and...dog.

The meat was really good and was

shrimp

accompanied by veggies and rice wine. I do have to say though that the dog meat was sort of fatty and the skin was like jerky, but it was still good. We played the chicken head game. This involves taking the cooked chicken head and putting it on a chopstick and then putting the chopstick in an empty beer bottle. Then you spin it around and whoever it points to has to drink! I started and flicked it -- bad idea -- the head flew off in another direction and Eddie had to retrieve it. The second time it worked and we played like this for a bit until they changed it to a carrot with some toothpicks sticking out of it...apparently the weight of the the chicken head was unsuitable.

After this, the owner showed us some tricks: one you had to take paper out of two shot glasses filled with water (one upside-down on top of the other) without spilling, another you had to put paper in, and another was with a chopstick and a cup of raw rice where you had to pick up the cup of rice using only the chopstick in the middle.

rice paper

now it's dried and they tie it up to sell by the bundle

Ronald and I contributed some rum later on, but it was obvious they didn't really like or want it because we finished ours and they had barely touched theirs. Then we went on a walk to look at the stars, accompanied by their 4 dogs (these will all be eaten soon), and took a particular liking to one we dubbed "One-eye" because it had one eye and that's what we saw in the dark...

to the M'Nong, day 2

Woke up and had breakfast around 9 before heading to the Hoa Don Ban Hang waterfalls, one of which is the biggest in Viet Nam. The first one was the male waterfall, "Smoke", but we couldn't see it because...well, we don't know why. Tien couldn't tell us in English, so we just left and went to the female waterfall. This one was nice, but then we left to see a different one that doesn't have a name. Eddie said that the waterfall isn't always there, so you can sort of name it whatever you want and Eddie called it the "Rolando" waterfall after Ronald. They could not for the life of them get his name right. Pretty funny. We spent

brick making

on the left where the smoke is they're cooking some bricks

about 40 minutes there and it was really pretty and the water was so nice. After this we went to the Ya Llom waterfall but there wasn't much water so we left pretty fast.

For lunch we stopped at a local place for some nem nuong, fresh steamed roll. They bring you all the different parts and you roll it there with whatever you want in it. It was really delicious and I want it all the time. Got back on the bikes to continue and we were thankfully not blown off by the monstrous wind that was blowing all day. I can't imagine having to drive in that let alone on a motorbike.

We saw the M'Lieng people's long houses (a lot like the Haudenosaunee from the US) and then went to see the M'Nong village. The M'Lieng all wear their traditional clothes, but the M'Nong are more integrated and they wear whatever. Ronald took a picture of some "Gucci" flip flops we saw and I thought that was pretty funny...

Anyways, we walked around their houses, saw a kid cooking a mountain rat over a fire with his hands, saw their traditional boats, and then

finished bricks

the holes are so you can put cement, etc in

went to our resort. We were scheduled for dinner back at one of their houses, so we just washed up really quickly and headed back. Dinner was very fun and it was with the four of us and then I Khor and Hu something (sorry, I can't remember her name).

History side note:
• In the M'Nong language, "I" (said like the letter e) is used for men and "Hu" for women.
• the women buy a man for marriage and then the man moves in with the woman's family in their long house
*exception: now in modern times, the couple can ask permission from their parents to live alone and then they will be built a small square house that will become longer as their family grows
• the woman "wears the trousers" as Eddie says
• the women work and the men stay home to take care of the kids
• when a woman is about to give birth, she goes to the mountains alone and if she isn't back within three days, the people in the village go to look for her
• many babies die from the above method of childbirth
• they only wear

drying in the sun

their traditional clothing for festivals and holidays
• when guests are over, the woman is the waitress and will not eat with the company -- she will serve everyone and then eat dinner later

We had fish, rice, yummy sauces, veggies, pork, and an omelette for us since we don't eat fish. This was all set up on a mat on the floor and then we played a drinking game. Hu something's cousin came over and we opened up a new jar of rice wine. They took a raw pepper and put it under a bowl on top of a plate. You shook it and then everybody got a chance to spin it, pass, or open it -- if it was pointing at you, you took a shot! Ronald and Hu something's cousin were unlucky and got the pepper quite a bit, so there was some seating rearrangement and we kept going.

We said goodbye and thank you around 21:30, paid them for dinner, and were heading back home when we decided to go to karaoke instead. The first place we tried was full so we settled in to a different one and I Khor came to join

preparing to cook

the woman on the inside gets a stack of bricks from the one outside who gets them from another girl who is running back and forth from the massive brick pile to the oven

us! Two other women came too, but I have no idea who they were. I Khor was obsessed with Ronald and held his hand and put Ronald's arm around him. Ronald started air drumming and I Khor was like "No drums, just hold me" and put Ronald's arm over his shoulders. He didn't actually say that, but that was Ronald's astute interpretation. Karaoke was all in Vietnamese, and boy did they go at it. Just like Korea, it is not for just fun but to show what you got!

I Khor left and we left, and it turned out that it was only about half a minute's walk to the front gate of the little resort...pretty nice! Our drivers stayed, but luckily no after-effects were apparent the next day...

to Da Lat, day 3

Today we were supposed to meet them at the reception at 7:30, but that didn't really happen, so when we got there we went to eat breakfast while they tied up the bags.

Today we saw a black pepper farm -- weird looking things -- and then ate some coffee beans off the tree (very sweet tasting) before seeing a silkworm farm. They

ronald

he found these glasses at the wooden furniture maker's house

don't make the silk there, so another stop was to a silk factory (see video below).

Lunch was another random assortment of deliciousness and then we saw the humongous Happy Buddha. I didn't know it was going to be so big and I literally gasped out loud. When we got closer we noticed other figures sort of draped nearby and then when I looked inside it looked like they were storing beans of some sort. After we saw the elephant waterfall (lame) and then we were off to Da Lat! They brought us to the Quang Chien Hotel ($8 for one room) and left.

We decided to have a quick walk around before Ronald needed to work at 6 or 7 and headed in the direction Eddie pointed us which was supposedly the downtown or center area. Basically we got lost and wandered around trying to find our hotel. Along the way, we did stop for some terrible, over-priced food (except the coconut shredded drink which was absolutely delicious. Seriously, I need to learn how to make that), and then walk past the tourism information before crossing the river and wandering around where we found the real center.

red coconuts!

There were bars and restaurants that were all tourist-geared, so we knew we were in the heart of it. We bought some ice that then melted because of our long journey home. I think we'll try to leave to go to Saigon on a night bus tomorrow. Maybe in the morning. Da Lat is pretty boring and we don't need to do the eco tours again. We shall see...

Additional photos below

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