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Published: March 12th 2010
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So onto Dalat and what we hoped would be a completely different experience to any we had before.
Dalat is based in the mountains 1500m above sea level. Because of this we had heard that the temperatures rarely exceed 25 degrees and after a month and a half of baking hot nonstop sweating this sounded like heaven.
The road up to Dalat however was not the cool calm start we had hoped for. The coach was winding up huge roads and round tight corners onto even steeper inclines. We were both trying to get some sleep on this trip but a certain morbid curiosity took over and we pressed our noses to window to savour the beautiful views and our imminent death.
We survived and the coach dropped us off outside the our tour operators Hotel of choice. Pushing our way through the people trying to sell us a room we headed promptly for the other end of town where we knew we would find a room with fewer amenities and a lower price. Our intentions were good but our directions were not. We soon found ourselves in the middle of roundabout/central market area with scooters zooming past
constantly as we got confused over direction we had come from and the direction we were going.
A local on a motorbike came to our aide and pointed us down a road after we told him the name of a hotel near to where we wanted to stay the Villa Pink House. We got to the bottom of the road he had pointed at and because we hadn't been listening very carefully got well and truly lost again.
All of a sudden another friendly biker stopped and pointed us in the right direction. The only odd thing was that we hadn't told him where we were going...... We soon realised that the bikers were running a relay race to be on the corner of every road we needed to turn down and would point us all the way to the Villa Pink House. The receptionist from the hotel had even jumped on his scooter to head us off and to take us to the front door. Looks like we had a place to stay.
Once we had checked in the old gentleman who had first pointed us in the right direction was there to explain that his
name was Mr Lok and he was an Easy Rider. We had read about these on other blogs and guides. They were basically local guides who took you on motorbikes to see local sites. There were lots of people who pretended to be one and ended up taking you on a tour without speaking fluent English and not knowing the area.
Mr Lok showed us a book full of glowing recommendations and took us through the tours he offered. He spoke great English and seemed to know the area really well. We were too tired that day and wanted to see the town the next day so we arranged to go on a day trip the day after with him.
This all organised we went upstairs to a room without air conditioning or a fan, but for once this was perfect. The climate was everything we expected. We needed jumpers when we went out and a thick duvet of a night - heaven!
We wondered around that night but mainly just to find a bite to eat. We went looking for a restaurant Emma had heard of that had a great Rabbit stew. Of course we got
lost and ended up somewhere else but as usual it all worked out. We had a hotpot, not lamb stew with potatoes, but instead a literal hotpot.
They brought a portable stove and pot onto the table full of broth and with a plate of raw pork beef chicken shrimp fish and squid. All of this was piled in with a good helping of veg. We were told to leave it to simmer for a while and then just tuck in with the ubiquitous rice. It was lovely. The broth was really tasty and we wolfed it down along with a bottle of cheap wine - the first we had found at around 4 quid.
This turned out to be because the wine was made locally from local produce. Dalat was just the right climate for all the food that couldn't be grown elsewhere in the country.
The next day we were going to go to the Crazy House and ride the cable cars over the surrounding forest. Being foolish and independent as usual we set off on a walk to both. After clearly being charged double the rate that two locals had paid for a bowl of
Pho (soup) we stormed off in the direction of the crazy house.
This was a tourist attraction built by the daughter of a politician who succeeded Ho Chi Minh. It was definitely crazy. The house had a random set of stairs leading in every possible direction. Some got you so you were at a dead end on the roof others to a room with random animals with glowing eyes. We found out you could stay the night here as well but decided we had enough problems getting a good nights sleep without adding demonic kangaroos.
Next we worked out the distance to the cable cars and set off on what would either be a really short trip as we gave up half way or a really long one if we saw it through to the end. After much moaning on my part we finally made it up to the top of the hill and bought our ticket for a quick run out and back.
This was to date one of the funniest moments of the trip. Emma wasn't sure if she had been on a cable car before and it was clear when she got onto it
that she hadn't. As soon as the car dropped off to free-run on the cable she started to scream - the video is well worth watching over and over again.
We got to the other end with me resisting the urge to shake to car and found a small cafe and temple. We wondered around and debated buying some of the local artichoke tea (we decided not to). After this it was back on board and then a slightly less uphill walk back home.
That night we went to another restaurant that wasn't the rabbit stew one and Emma had Lok Lak (beef in a tasty sauce) and mine was pork in garlic - well more like garlic with some pork. We met an American called Jeff from Manhattan and got chatting to him over a few bottles of Saigon beer. He was a kite surfing instructor and worked in Thailand but whilst it was low season he had come to Vietnam to motorbike the whole length of it. He said it was a scary and not the cheapest option but that he was meeting people he wouldn't meet on the main tourist roads. Eventually though we had
to call it a night as we were meeting Mr Lok in the morning at 8:30 for a day on the road with an Easy Rider.
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kate
non-member comment
fab video!
Hi guys great to catch up on what u have been doing. Once again some fantastic photos. Not quite as good as that video though! made me laugh out loud!!!!!!!! Sorry emma!! Take care and be safe!!!!!!!!!! Love ya Kate XXXX