Robin & Karen Living the Dream: Delightful Da Lat

Before we left Nha Trang we managed to fit in a bit more sightseeing including a rather disappointing snorkeling trip. We were first taken by speedboat to Mun Island & I was only given a mask (Robin still doesn’t like snorkeling) - for some reason they do not allow fins or snorkels here. You had to swim out a ways where there were some nice colorful fish - but holding my breath while floating in wavey water is not my strong suit - so a breath, a quick look & up for air! Not enjoyable at all! The next location was even worse with dead coral & virtually no fish! But I wore my trial pair of progressive contact lenses so at least I could see. A day out on the water was still generally enjoyable so not a total waste. And we got to talk with a bunch of English speaking tourists, a real treat after only being around Russians.

Mun Island

We spent our New Year’s Eve going out for supper then taking a bus to the “downtown” part of Nha Trang to see a free concert - along with thousands of others! We got sort of close, watched on the big screens for a while, then headed back to our apartment. We got up for fireworks at midnite but they were pretty far away.

We walked over to Hon Chong rock formations near our apartment, a spot that all the tour buses stop at.

Hon Chong

Looking across the bay, our apartment is on the left, front, 40th floor

Another touristy attraction is the Po Nogar Cham temple ruins, built between the 7th - 13th centuries - impressive!

Along the way we stopped for a delicious lunch of bun thit nuong - basically a Vietnamese noodle bowl. It was a tiny roadside cart with 2 tables & ridiculously short stools (always an indicator of good food) & our 2 bowls cost $3.13!

We left Nha Trang January 5 & travelled into the mountains via VIP limousine van to the city of Da Lat. The highway suffered dozens of mudslides & rock slides during this fall’s typhoon and there were still areas of one lane travel.

Half the road has been pushed down

This is the highway!

So high we were in the mist

We arrived to Da Lat, elevation 1500 metres, an area famous for growing strawberries & coffee, as well as other vegetables & flowers in countless greenhouses. The climate was cooler & therefore a popular destination for Vietnamese to visit. Most of the architecture is French colonial.

Miles & miles of greenhouses crowded together& going up into the hills

Unfortunately Robin took a fall on our walk to the hotel, scraping his nose & knee & hurting his pride (luckily nothing broken)!

We picked a hotel with a balcony overlooking the lake in the centre of town which turned out to be worth it ($42/nite). We only spent 3 nights in Da Lat but we filled our days!

Our hotel, top floor

View from our balcony

We checked out the night market, a short walk from the hotel, to people watch & eat street food - colorful sticky rice, rice paper “pizza”, sausage, fried cheese on a stick with condensed milk to dip, strawberries & soup.

Strawberries

Sticky rice

Rice paper pizza

Cheese & sausages

Public toilet at the market, cost $0.16

We had to visit the Crazy House, a bizarre guesthouse & tourist attraction - a maze of spiral staircases, sculptural bedrooms, undulating surfaces, swirls of bright color, narrow bridges & hidden nooks - all with a theme of nature. We spent almost 2 hours wandering, getting a bit lost, climbing up & down & across - it was a blast!

Amazing undersea multi level area

One of the guest rooms

Looking way down

Part of the undersea area

We chose to do a full day tour to see several sights nearby & it was a fun filled day. We started out at Datanla Waterfall & realized that the easiest way to reach the main falls was by riding the Alpine Coaster!

Yikes! I don’t do those sorts of things, but I went along with the group & we got tickets. We rode together with me doing the photos & videos (& yelling Brake! Brake!), and Robin manning the brakes. It was exhilarating zipping thru the pine forest & quite terrifying but now I can say I’ve done it!

Datanla Waterfall

Next stop was the highlight of the day, Pongour Waterfall, 50 km outside of Da Lat. The drive there was enjoyable seeing the local countryside.

Tall ones are pepper trees, shorter ones are coffee

Pongour Waterfalls

Robin & some huge leaves!

Next stop at Cuong Hoan Silk to learn about silk worms & the process to extract the silk from the cocoons.

Wiggly silk worms

Machine to pull the silk threads from the cocoon

On to the Thein An cricket farm! Why not! Bins full of leaves for them to eat, all ages (sizes), egg cartons that they grab onto & the farmer can then shake them into containers for sale (or for cooking & eating). And, you guessed it, free samples of fried crickets! I got a video of Robin chowing down but I surprised him & actually ate one before he could get a photo (& I was definitely not eating another one)! Not recommended.

We also stopped at the tallest Lady Buddha statue in Vietnam, at 71 metres in height. Impressive in itself plus lovely gardens & temple.

Last stop at the Me Linh coffee plantation where they grow several kinds of coffee including producing weasel coffee. This tasty treat is the result of feeding red coffee beans to civet cats (weasels), the beans pass thru their digestive tract, are pooped out, washed, dried & voila - weasel coffee! And not cheap either, a cup there cost $9.50. Coffee in Vietnam averages $1.50-$2.50/cup.

Coffee plant, red beans

Inside the civet enclosure with lots of coffee plants/trees

Civet, they are nocturnal so were napping

It was a fun day, and a van full of folks to chat with. We ended the day at a large shopping mall, all underground to enjoy a chicken & mushroom hot pot. You have a gel burner stove, a pot of broth & chicken, plates of greens, mushrooms & noodles and you do the cooking. Tasty,

We had not yet had the experience of a sleeper bus, they are everywhere & well used, so we chose that option for our journey from Da Lat to Ho Chi Min City. We went with the “fanciest” option - a 22 cabin big bus & travelled during the day vs at night. The night buses arrive at their destination usually very early morning (used to avoid the cost of a night’s hotel), but where do you go at 5:00 am? It was a 9 hour trip, lots of twisty mountain roads, lots of horn honking & generally uncomfortable, cost of $22 each. The “bed” went almost flat or semi-reclined, you got a big pillow & a quilt, lights, plug ins, privacy curtain, window shade and the bus had a toilet (rare)! Now we’ve done it, we will stick to other options.