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Published: July 26th 2006
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The 5.30pm, seven hour bus trip to Dalat from Saigon was cancelled (a blessing in disguise), so I took a morning flight the next day. This worked out well because I had a good night out at Lush in Saigon, and I avoided what I later heard was a rough, long bus ride through the winding mountain roads.
Dalat is a small city in the south central highlands of Vietnam, a few hundred miles northeast of Saigon. It is a big Vietnamese tourist destination, and many honeymooners go there to visit some of the lakes and other cheesy sites. The area is also known for adventure sports like canyoning, trekking and rock climbing.
As soon as I got to town, I hooked up with a tour group called the Easy Riders, who take you around on the back of a motorbike (these are slightly bigger and more comfortable than the ones in Saigon). The tour is supposed to last for a full day, so we tried to fit in as much as possible during the afternoon. Highlights of the tour included a stop at the "Crazy House" (see photo) which was designed by the daughter of a former Vietnamese
prime minister. It's sort of a Gaudi meets the cartoon network kind of fantasy land. You can even stay there as a hotel guest. We also stopped along the side of the road to see coffee plants, which are part of a thriving local industry. Generally, the best part was just riding around the countryside and seeing parts of rural Vietnam. The tour ultimately ended a little early due to the rain, but we covered a lot in under four hours.
The biggest highlight of my visit to Dalat was my dinner at Le Rablais, the French restaurant in the Sofitel, which is located in an old palace. I had a five-course French tasting menu, loaded with local vegetables and imported foods like Australian deer and French cheeses. All this for a grand total of $33. I took one look at the menu, which offered several choices for each course and two separate menus, and knew that I would be coming back for my second and final dinner in Dalat.
At dinner, I ran into a couple, Brian and Ann, and Ann's brother, Dan, who were on the flight with me earlier in the day. Brian and Ann
both work for the US consulate in Saigon, and over some drinks after dinner, they shared some interesting stories about what they see daily at work. They constantly get applications for citizenship based on "bought" marriages, where just days before the official marriage, $15,000 appeared in the American's bank account. Many of the applications come with strange name changes like "Johnny Kool" or a guy who wanted to change his name to "Joy." The other thing that's a little creepy is that they live in a nice, Western style apartment, paid for by the State Department, and bugged by the Vietnamese. Apparently this is just an accepted part of setting up shop in Vietnam, but certainly a little unnerving to know that someone is listening to you in your home all the time.
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My second day I went for a guided hike up in the mountains. Since it was just me and the guide, Buu, we moved at a pretty brisk pace, which was a good thing because if we had gone according to the schedule we would have been caught in a downpour. Trekking through the woods and into the mountains was nice (see photos), but
unfortunately it was so cloudy that we couldn't see anything from the lookout points at the top. Rather than eating the fruit and bread that was included in the trip, I asked my Buu to take me to a place where the locals eat. The food was great, but the place was a little dirty, with food all over the floor. We had ordered a fish dish and had little bowls to eat out of, but no side plates. I asked Buu where we were supposed to put the bones, and he lowered his eyes down to the floor. He obviously wasn't joking around.
I had a scare the next morning as I was leaving on the bus to Nha Trang. I set my bag down in the lobby, next to some other backpacks and jumped on the Internet while waiting for the bus. Someone from the bus came to the door, and when I didn't see my bag where I had left it, I asked if he had taken it and got the standard, "yes" response. When I got on the bus and didn't see my bag, I realized that the boy didn't know what I had asked
Lunch
At the end of my hike, I asked my guide to take me to a locals' place to eat him, so I went back into the hotel to find out what happened. I suspected that whoever came to pick up the group of Malaysians accidentally picked up my bag, just minutes before my bus arrived. My stomach dropped when the hotel called them and they said they didn't have it. Stolen! Right out of the hotel lobby...seconds later they called back. They HAD taken my bag by mistake. Disaster averted. Lesson learned.
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In English, was say "Dalat", however in Vietnamese, they spell it, "Da Lat" similar to the way they break up "Ha Noi" and "Sai Gon." The reason for this is that all Vietnamese words are monosyllabic. There are also many cognates from French or English, like "bia," meaning "beer."
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Travel tidbits: *
Dreams Hotel (2) was an amazing value for $15/night. They even had rooms at the original Dreams for $10/night, but I didn't see those. I had a double bed, TV, A/C, a GREAT shower with a normal attached shower head and free Internet in the lobby. The staff spoke good English and was very helpful with bookings.
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Le Rablais may be one of the top restaurants in
Couple cocks
On the side of the road in the hills Vietnam. Made the stop worth it.
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Phat Tire Tours had good English speaking guides and is supposed to be the best tour company in town. The one drawback is that adventure tours require a minimum of two people, so if you are traveling alone you are limited to what other people are doing. You can always check with other companies if there is one thing in particular that you want to do.
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Easy Riders offer a great way to see all the key sites around Dalat for $12/day. Expect a hard sell on doing a longer, multi-day trip through the highlands.
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Laurie Barnes
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Yummy dinner
Hey Andy, I have been reading your entries but I just figured out that by adding comments I can respond to you...I think. Thanks for all of the updates...awesome to hear about your adventure...sounds like you are having a blast living the traveling dream. Vancouver is sunny and warm - work is busy and going well. Going to a Chilean wine tasting tonight which I am looking forward to, as Chile's wines just keep getting better and better. Travel safe and try not to lose your bags because you are being lured in by technology and the pull of the e-mail machine. Hugs, Laurie