Dalata fun in Da Lat

---

This was one of the most enjoyable parts of our trip thus far. Dalat is a fairly new town, maybe 130 years old, yet it is fairly famous already. It has been penned as the honeymoon city—where all Vietnamese newlyweds go. It is pretty funny, because in every love song on TV, it shows the mountains of Dalat, as if love exists, or revolves completely around this area.

Some European countries have chosen to adopt Dalat as a kind of sister city. Every year, the Dutch come and plant thousands of flowers near the lake. Very beautiful. Denmark chose to build a modern water system for the city, something that most cities probably lack. Dalat isn’t actually known for the inner city, but what is around it, mountains and jungle.

We decided to take a 2 day adventure tour outside of town, though we didn’t really know what we were getting into. We didn’t recognize 2 of the activities on the tour, canyoning, and abseiling. Anyone? You can maybe just take a look at the pictures. The difference between the 2 is that abseiling is the same as canyoning, except instead of going down a cliff, you go down a waterfall—in our case a 55 footer.

We did a lot of trekking. Our two guides took us up and down mountains, around waterfalls, through rivers, jungle, down some rapids, the whole lot. On day two, in order to finish the tour, we had to jump from a 25 or 30 foot cliff into the river. Ely landed loud and heavy, and felt it in the days to come. It was great not to be guided by concrete steps! Development was relatively lacking in the area. We got a short but exhilarating feel for the jungle. We dined at the top of mountains and next to waterfalls, feasting on fresh fruit, baguettes with cheese and veggies, and Vietnamese pastries.

Our accommodation was simple, just a thatch roof bungalow and a wood floor with blankets. We sat around a fire at night with our new Irish and Swiss friends, singing, dancing, and sharing stories about our travels and homelands. We didn’t think too much of the exotic animals—a pair of cages monkeys and a chained, sad looking old elephant, but still had a blast.

I don’t know what it is about camping in general, but after about an hour of darkness, it feels like about midnight to us. So... at 8 PM or so, we dragged our old fart bones to bed, ready to have a fresh start on the next day.

---

Photos

Biking in Dalat
Mostly downhill. Elý's favorite

Pesimon
Looks like a tomato, tastes like a fruit. the sweet kind