Dalat

I forgot to mention in my last entry that i got sunburnt on the top and bottom of my back (the middle was fine) whilst snorkeling in Nha Trang, the top wasn't too bad, the bottom was quite red.


Thursday 16th

Left Nha Trang at 7:45am for our journey into the Central Highlands. It was a slow trip and we were winding up and down mountains and had to deal with dirt, pot-holed roads along the way. We arrived in Dalat around 12:30pm at a hotel/Sinh Cafe travel agency office. We went across the road and decided to stay at the Hang Nga Guesthouse, pretty big room, bathroom a little shabby and only $7 a night!.

We went to the market to have a look and have lunch as they had a proper food section upstairs. We were approached by many vendors wanting us to eat with them but all spoke little English and the signs/menus were in Vietnamese. Sure i could make out the key words of the meat but we had no idea what else it entailed, we could've chosen cow's heart soup. We found a place with a full English menu, but it was still a quasi-street stall. We ended up having all lunch here three times. For both of us having food and drink it was only 90 000VND ($4.50). It was good, didn't make us sick, cheap and had variety, so why not? :)

We went down to the lake, which was empty, so much for going on a paddle boat. They seemed to be building a bridge across it which required it to be dammed. It got chilly at night but nothing like Sapa. The locals all have coats and jackets on but i was out in shorts and a t-shirt. We went to V Cafe (two doors down) for dinner. Full of Westerners, over-priced but not too bad. The mashed potato was great.

Friday 17th

Just had a lazy day today. Went through the market for a better look, got some cashews and lollies. The lolly shops mostly sold dried fruits as opposed to the lollies we think off, although it was gummys that we bought. We tried some dried/sweet flower petals/buds, it was alright but i wouldn't buy it. We booked our ticket to leave for Saigon on Sunday and enquired about tours around Dalat. I would've preferred not to do a tour but Dalat's sights are not within walking distance and the streets are all over the place, not a grid like Nha Trang, so renting a motorbike was out of the question.

A tour would be $12 each and included alot of crap we didn't want to do. Whilst looking for more agencies we were approached by a local motorbike guide belonging to the 'Easy Rider' group, who have a good reputation. We negotiated with him to do what we wanted, it would cost $7.50 each and would take three hours. So we booked for tomorrow morning.

We went to a Korean place for dinner (first we've seen), they didn't have much on the menu and it was quite pricy for some of the meals. We both ordered Bulgogyi but both ended up with some soup, which luckily was pretty good. The lady's here had no English at all. I wanted to try Soju (Korean rice wine) since it was only $5 for a bottle (it's about $15 in Sydney). Wasn't that nice, luckily Kay helped to drink it, otherwise i would've been drunk. It was 19.5% and 365ml. Basically equivilant to eight shots of hard 40% liquor. Would not do it again unless it was shared among four people.

Saturday 18th

We meet our guides at 9am, grabbed some banh mi ga (Chicken rolls) for breakfast and were on our way to the 'Crazy House'. The whole house looks kind of like a tree, it's likened to Alice in Wonderland. There was giant spiderwebs, fake tigers and eagles in the bedrooms too. Weird but not worth seeing to be honest.

Second stop was Bao Dai's summer palace. Bao Dai was the last emperor of Vietnam. By palace standards it wasn't that big or grand at all. It looked more like a Government building inside and out. Another place that wasn't really worth seeing. There were alot of Vietnamese here so it holds some significance for them it would seem.

The third place we went to was Truc Lam (Bamboo Forest) monastry which was situated next to a huge lake. It was the best monastry/pagoda by far that we have seen. Lots of flowers and a beautiful garden. Some hedges were even shaped into dragons. We both makes wishes and leaft incense at the Buddha. It was very busy here, our guides said that it is popular with Saigonese during the dry season on weekends.

Our final destination was Datania falls. We got the tabogen down to the falls. It was not a good experience. The idiots behind us were so stupid that they didn't look at ahead to see that the ride was over and crashed into us at full speed whilst we were stationary. My hat flew off and fell down into the bush. Both Kay and I had whiplash in our necks, it was not a nice feeling. I was in complete shock. The guy went and got my hat for me, although a punch to the back of his and his mate's necks would've sufficed. It ruined the whole experience for us. The falls were nice but not big by waterfall standards. We left and were dropped off at the market where we had lunch.

Overall Dalat doesn't really have that much to offer, it is different from other places in Vietnam. I would say it is worth visiting but only once.