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April 30 - May 4
The bus to Da Lat was pretty empty which was surprising because I thought with the holiday more people would be travelling. But I guess everybody is already at their holiday destination and I will just be encountering the crowds in several hours when I get there. Boh. I was pretty freggin' tired and slept most of the way although I wanted to stay awake because the countryside was beautiful. It was nice to see the transition from city to trees and hills. At one point the bus pulled over and
supposedly something was wrong with it cause the driver and his helper were outside with a wrench and attempting several times to re-start the bus but without luck until maybe 20 minutes later. Whatever, there so wasn't anything wrong with the bus, just another ploy/scam to get you to stay at the one guesthouse they stop at cause it's late and they just happen to have only 2 rooms left. Well, we got to Da Lat around 5pm and the British couple, figured the guesthouse they reserved the room for didn't save it since it was past 4:30. So we ended up staying
at the guesthouse the bus stopped at. Whatever. The room was okay, 'cept it smelt like mold.....it was only going to be for one night. They didn't mind that I stayed with them that night which I was truly grateful for cause I really didn't feel like looking for another place. We went out for dinner, which was not great at all, then it was bed for me. Well I read for a bit then zonked out. I didn't even hear them turn off the tv and lights. Banging on the door woke me up. I thought it was a dream but it kept banging. I asked who it was but nobody replied. I opened the door and it was the police. They wanted to see our passports! Don't know what that was about but it was strange. I checked the time and it was only 11pm!! I figured it to be 2 or 3 am but I had only been asleep for a little more than an hour. Crazy shit. We packed up the next morning and headed to the Dreams guesthouse, where they had reserved the room the first night. That was an ordeal to get there. We
were told we could walk there no problem, only 1.5 km. Well that didn't seem too bad. So we made our way with the bad handwritten map from the reception chick at the guesthouse. We asked directions from this girl on the street and she said that she would take us there but turns out not to Dreams but another place which was in a total different direction. So we headed back with this girl still. She was cool though. She was studying biology at Da Lat University and was practicing her english with us. An hour later, we found the guesthouse but we didn't take the room cause it was super expensive, $25/night!!! I showed him the lonely planet guide saying rooms were from $8-15/night and he said "that is old price". What-the-fuck-ever!!! So we checked on some other places on the same street and settled on this super fancy place but for a decent price ($10/night for single room), still expensive for me but the room was super clean and fancy. The girl that was helping us find the guesthouse was still with us and wanted to come back tomorrow and pratice more english. I said that was
fine but wasn't too sure that I would be around. The brits and I went for lunch and afterwards I wanted to find out about abseiling tours (rappelling down waterfalls). I chatted it up with this tour operator/owner of Groovy Gecko Tours, Tin, about his tours about also about other shit. He was super cool but I wanted to check out other places and their prices. But before I left he took a picture of my lizard/gecko (what u want it to be) tattoo. Hehehehe. I walked around the market which was full of fruits and vegetables. Da Lat is known for it's fresh veggies. I rested at a cafe, had some Vietnamese cafe and a peanut butter cake (which was just a sweet bun with peanut butter on it....but it was still delicious). I checked out more tour places and found that Groovy Gecko was the mid-priced but I really liked Tin. I met some German chick in another tour company and we were going to do the abseiling tour with Tin (since u need min. 2 people) so when we went to sign up with him he informed us that he could not do it anymore cause he
had this huge 65 person company team building thing to do until the 4th. He felt really bad and totally set us up with another tour company lesser the price. Sweet deal! Another girl, from the Netherlands (travel friend of German girl) joined our tour for tomorrow. We then booked his one day bicycle tour to Nha Trang for the 4th. I ended up staying at his office til 7:30pm talking with him about his business, family, Vietnam, etc. He busted out the rice wine which he claimed was from his home town. Merika (Netherlands chick) and I both told him we didn't drink. We sipped a bit but it was horrible😞 His wife told us but rooms available for cheap right next door so we checked them out. They were decent and shared between 2 or even 3 people (if German chick, Anna) was a lot cheaper!!! So we said we will come in the morning. She left first but I stayed a while longer before I had to go and get something to eat. Oh man. I tried to find this chinese restaurant that was known for it's noodle wonton soup but couldn't find it. I settled on
this local hole in the wall place. I had to bust out my Vietnamese book and order and point. I recognized on their menu, noodle and rice and beef but there was no vegetables or chicken. So the waitress girl and I agreed on rice and chicken. The rice was good and so was the chicken except that it was cold. I shouldn't have ate it but I was super hungry and it anyway.....I was waiting to regret it in a couple of hours. I was already having stomach problems again but the opposite from the last time. Because I haven't been drinking enough water. Nothing on the bus ride and nothing today.....it's the cooler climate that really doesn't make me want to drink. I think they totally ripped me off too since the price was a lot more than their prices on the menu, even though what I got was different from menu but only the chicken....come on. Had a hot shower back in my room - flippin' chilly at night here. Ate lots of bananas and crackers hoping it would do wonders on my stomach in the morning before the tour.
It worked! YA! Next morning felt
better, checked out and moved to other guesthouse. We drove to Datanla Falls where we will be treking to the spots of canyoning and abseiling. There were 3 guides with us. We practiced for like only 30mins maybe not even, until we felt comfortable. I only did 2 rappels and was okay. The first drop was 20 m. It was super fun. I didn't jump far and long enough and kinda hit the rock face. Oops. Hehehehe. The next was a 17 m drop and we jumped into water, bottom of a waterfall. The water was freezing but refreshing. The current from the falls was pretty strong so we had to avoid that area but we could go under the falls. Man they were powerful. I'm glad we had on helmets cause it would've hurt otherwise. Next was I think 15 m drop into water again. God damn the currents are strong. We had lunch at this spot, which consisted of baguettes, cheese, cucumber, tomato, pork (me no have cause I'm a vegetarian...heheh), and fruit! Delicious but I had too much bread (not good for stomach - -regret later). Some more treking after lunch to get to where we were
Weeeee down we go
First rapel down 17m cliff!!going to do some sliding down a little rapids. Kinda nervous cause of the rocks and no helmet but it was so much fun....so smooth. Went feet first, then they told us head first! Loved it! The last rappel was down the waterfall, 25 m! I went first...yikes. They told us the first part is very slippery so if you slip and fall don't bother righting yourself until the middle where there is a ledge. What I was worried about most was breathing when the water was pounding in your face. I took it slowly, walking down, trying to make sure I was leaning back. I didn't slip...Ya me! And the water in your face wasn't bad at all. I tried to enjoy and look around. Two metres from the bottom they told us to jump into the water. Heheheh. Fun. The last of the tour was a free fall from 7 m into water. Now I think that was the most nervous I was out of the whole day. The guides counted down from 3 and I
had to jump. Man did my stomach drop on that fall. Shit it was fun though. Now by far that was the
best tour. Me likey a lot. If the bike tour was anything like this then it was going to be awesome.
Merika and I rented a motorbike the next day to check out surround areas of Da Lat. We destined for Pongour waterfall, 55 km south of Da Lat, stopping at Chicken Village, a minority village along the way and coming back do another route checking out another waterfall. I was a little nervous about driving because the people here are crazy drivers!! Actually they seem to know how the "organized chaos" traffic system but no foreigner does. I got a mini lesson of the moto and that was that. Started off a little shaky but all was good. I think too, the vietnamese upon seeing two foreigners in helmets, driving a moto they would stay clear. Well that is what I had hoped! We made it out of Da Lat in one piece and were on our way. We stopped and asked for directions to Chicken Village cause we didn't see any signs or anything saying "Chicken Village". Well the guy we asked spoke no english and seemed to like Merika and her skin. Hahaha. We at least
found out where we were and realized we passed Chicken Village but had yet to come to Pongour Falls. So we continued on the way and hoped for signs to the falls. There was a nice big sign and we followed it. Stopping for pictures along the way, met up with some local women on their way to work in the fields. Hehehe they were cute and funny....trying to communicate with each other. The falls weren't that impressive. Had lunch there and headed back cause we didn't want to be traveling in the dark since we were having a hard a little difficulty finding the places we wanted to go to. Drove by another waterfall but we were a little pressed for time so we kept going back to town. It was awesome driving through the "mountains"...not the Rockies but pretty damn cool. It feels so much freerer to be on a bike than in a car. The next day we had to be up early for our big bike (bicycle) tour to Nha Trang! Holy crappers was that ever fun....painful, for me, towards the end but it was worth the money and the pain! It was pretty difficult going
uphill. It took me a while to get use to the gears and what the best settings were for uphill and downhill. Hehehe when I was going uphill I was on the super easiest gear which makes your legs pedal super fast and looks like you ain't moving anywhere (I thought of you Jaime and had a good largh). I remember back home when driving through the Rockies, how I would see people biking and thinking I would like to do that. The scenary was beautiful. So green and lush, lots of shrubs and trees, intermixed with random villages. Loved it. After the first 40 km we stopped and had lunch which consisted of bread, cheese, veggies, and fruit (delicious) then it was another 40 km to Nha Trang. But the last 40 km was basically downhill with some uphills but not to the extend of the first leg of the trip. I was the slowest😊 The other two girls read tons back home but me.....haven't ridden a bike seriously since I was young. No stationary bike at the gym gets you prepared for the damn uphills. I was hurting the last maybe 20 km.....my knees were killin' me and
my whole bottom area was numb.....the seats were sooooooo not comfortable, not made for women. The second time my chain came off as I was switching gears to start pushin' uphill (only a 10% grade) the following driver, fixed it and I was about to just walk it but he told me there was only 5-6 km left. I was both happy and sad at the same time cause I really didn't want to do the hill but I could NOT walk the last part so I sucked it up and started pedaling again. Oh ya.....I think I am feeling my age😊 Hehehe. The village kids were awesome but all of them usually are. We did manage to make one kid cry who I guess never seen a whitey before. We took the truck the remaining 20 km to Nha Trang because the traffice gets a lot heavier. I didn't like the feeling as we got closer to town, hotter and too many people. I decided to head back in the truck to Da Lat, while the Merika and Anna stayed in Nha Trang. I really didn't want to be there in the crowds, or on the beach. So me,
Lam, Hai, and Phouc drove the 2.5 hours back to Da Lat. I was chit chatting with Lam, one who stayed with me while the others were booking it uphills. Well I guess he really didn't have a choice because I think he had to bring up the rear - make sure no one is left behind, anyhu, he asked if he coudl be my friend and not just the guide. I was like "sure no problem". Well I don't know what he meant by
friend but ya he got a little touchy. Nothing bad just hand on leg, arm around me, touching my hair....I really didn't know what to say or do. I didn't want to hurt him or embarass him. Have the time he was doing it, I was pretending to be asleep. Sheat! Well it was a little too much for me when he kissed me on the cheek. Ah no. So I just politely took his arm from around my shoulder and that was that. Back in Da Lat, I talked with Mr. Tin about going to Kom Tum but he recommended that I stop in Dak Lac and visit the M'Lieng village. I was worried
about how much time left I had in Vietnam but remember that I can always extend my visa. So I figured why the hell not go since I did want to travel and see the central highlands some more. Mr. Tin was such an awesome guy with a lovely family. He totally booked the bus ticket to Dak Lac and and provided me with contacts and places to stay there. The morning I was leaving he took me for some coffee and then it was time to say goodbye. For those going to Da Lat, I totally recommend Groovy Gecko Tours. They are super nice people, very personable, and love what they do.
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Jaime
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sore gigi
I keep laughing about your sore crotch! hahaha... and eeewww to so many of those pics...especially the eels one! I love bbq'd eel..mmm..but not alive and squirming around in a vat! you know how i feel about masses of anything! keep 'em coming!