Our last taste of Da Lat was a brisk walk to the market, about half a kilometre from the hotel. Dodging our way through a couple of traffic circles and a busy road, we first saw bright flower stalls - surprising to me was the number of flowering cactuses for sale. We moved indoors to the sellers of dried fruits and other sweets. Then we were in the real action where the fruits and vegetables were piled high: Chinese cabbage, artichokes, bitter melon, limes, cilantro, and many others. We were drawn further by fishy smells; freshness is guaranteed because water was bubbled into the enormous bowls keeping grouper, snakehead fish, and catfish alive. Once purchased, the fish is skilfully gutted and cut into pieces by big cleavers. Except for those fish sold to the Buddhist monk;
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