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Published: April 11th 2009
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Mike Rappels over the Falls
The force of the water was amazing, then add in the slippery rocks. A Few Days in the Highlands
6 April 09 - DA LAT
We decided to fly to Da Lat, instead of an 8 hour bus ride. The flight from Saigon to Da Lat was very easy and again we were surprised at how empty the airport was; both the international side when we arrived and the domestic when we left. It took us all of about 20 minutes to get checked in, zip through security and get to our gate. They had a nice café at the gate area so we staked out a table and had some iced coffee and a hearty meal. For once the airport food was not a total rip-off. We spent less than $10 USD for plenty of food and drink. It has been difficult to spend more than $10 for a meal for the 2 of us the whole time we’ve been in this country. Love the cheap prices of everything. The only down side of the flight was the fact that we were surrounded by small screaming children. As soon as the plane door closed, Mike found us seats away from the kids which gave us a much quieter flight (all
Mountains of Da Lat
The place reminded us a lot of Oregon; mountains, pinetrees and cooler weather. 45 minutes of it).
Da Lat, located in Vietnam’s Central Highlands, has a small airport which is usually a blessing. We unloaded onto the tarmac and headed for baggage claim. We bought tickets for the shuttle bus into the city for $2 each which great; they dropped us off right at the hotel. Much more convenient than paying $10 for the long 10 kilometer taxi ride into town, which is what some of the passengers did. We stayed at the Dreams Hotel (highly recommended by Tripadvisor - our travel bible) for $20 a night. A very nice hotel; clean, spacious rooms and wonderful breakfast in the morning; lots of fruit, baguettes, cheese and even peanut butter. The night before we had booked a motorcycle tour which was to last most of the day. At 8:30 we were picked up at our hotel by our very own motorcycles and their drivers. We went to a coffee plantation, learned how to make rice wine, saw how they farm mushrooms, climbed around and under a waterfall and said hello to a giant happy Buddha. The best part was learning about silk worms and how you get from the worm to the actual
Silk Worm Cocoons
Baskets of Coccons await their turn for being unspun at the Silk Factory. silk. We saw the whole process and it was fascinating. The scenery around the city was beautiful and it’s great being out of the city and into the mountains. Beautiful, cool and green and seeing it from the back of a motorcycle with the wind in our face was more enjoyable that sitting in a minivan. My driver was Hua (way) who spoke no English which made for a quiet ride, but Mike’s driver spoke great English and was constantly trying to get him to buy more tours. Poor Mike.
Running Through the Jungle & Hanging on a Rope
8 April 09
Yesterday in Da Lat was a real keeper. We signed up for a Jungle/River Canyoning trek trip also known as rappeling or absailing. The company was Groovy Gecko and we give them 2 thumbs up. They picked us up at the hotel and headed out to Datanla waterfalls. We had 8 in our group (all of us beginners but none as old as we were) and stopped in the parking lot to put our equipment on; and then hiked into the river. Lisa & Justina were the 2 Canadians in the group, who we
Don't Loose that Grip
Mike on the first rappel of the day. This was the easy one... ended up sharing photos with, making for more shots of Mike this time around. Our first stop was to practice the rappelling technique so we found a steep slope and attached the ropes to a tree at the top; time for our first lesson. Piece of cake, especially since they do all the work of tying you in. All we had to do was lean back (trust the ropes) and let the rope slide through our shaky fingers as we inched down the slope. Once he decided we were worthy we packed up everything again and headed down the river to our first rappel. We did 4 rappels in total, each one getting higher than the last, with the tallest being 75 feet of waterfall. We rappelled down the middle of the waterfall; what a great shower we got! The rocks were very slippery and the water was constantly pushing you down. Once you were close to the bottom you had to just let go and drop into the water.
We were in and out of the river so much that by the time we were muddy and sweaty, you found yourself jumping or repelling back in the water
And we never saw her again...
Kathy makes her way over the ledge on the first reppel. and then it started all over again. Wow, what a day! We ended up having to hike/climb back up out of the canyon and boy did it test us both. My legs were weak and shaky by the time we made it to the top. But we made it.
Moving On
We ended up spending our last night in Da Lat with Lisa & Justina; eating dinner at one of the small stalls in the market. After that it was across the street for coffee and cake. The sleep that night was well deserved and we woke up with a few achy muscles and ready for a big breakfast. Our next destination is Hoi An and there will be no plane this time. We will have to take a 5 hour bus to the beach town of Nha Trang and then a 12 hour, over-night “Sleeper” bus to Hoi An. We have read some good and bad things about the “Sleeper” busses, so this could go either way. That’s it for this blog. We liked Da Lat a lot!
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Trish
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Looks like a ton of fun!!!