Is this vietnam?

Trip Start Aug 07, 2008
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Trip End Ongoing


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Flag of Vietnam  ,
Monday, September 29, 2008

we ended up staying in Nha Trang only one night. Its mostly beaches and since we'd spent so much time in Hoi An and China Beach, we decided to head out the next day. By our open bus itinerary, we were supposed to head to Saigon next via overnight bus, but eunice and I decided to change our plans (again, being flexible) and head west toward the Vietnamese highlands. In the lonely planet guide book (which we've been fairly disappointed with, by the way), it spoke of Dalat city as the vietnamese honeymoon spot with beautiful waterfalls, gorgeous lakes and a "not very vietnamese" -esque feel. Those are nice and all, but what really enticed eunice and I was the cooler temperatures! Eunice and I don't do very well in hot/humid areas. I'm a "sweater" and although she doesn't sweat, she tends to "shine" a lot in humid climates. So... we changed our ticket and ended up in Dalat that afternoon after an 8 hour bus ride. Side note about vietnamese travel... Dalat is only 300km from Nha Trang. That's only about 180 miles. Do the math... Crazy house
Crazy house
 . 6 hours for 180 miles... sigh... we're literally crawling at times through vietnam.

Dalat is the main city of the Central Highlands. When the French originally built Dalat, they planned it as a vacation spot from the humid coastal weather and fashioned it to look like a european alpine town. They did a pretty good job. Driving down into the city, it doesn't look anything like the Vietnam we've come to know and enjoy. The whole city hugs the surrounding mountains and the buildings have very little resemblance to the architecture found elsewhere. But, as you delve into the heart of the city, the army of motor bikes, the perpetual soundtrack of honking and the endless rows of tourist/souvenier/food shops remind you that you are indeed in Vietnam... but once again, "same same, but different".

Eunice and I ended up at Thien An Hotel for our two night stay in Dalat. With our one full day in Dalat, eunice and I opted again for the freedom of a motorbike. We rode all day. We went south out of the city to a dinky, tourist trap waterfall.. but the ride down the mountain was great. Then we cruised back into the city to check out the Crazy House. There are no words to describe this place. It's an actualy guesthouse that people can stay at. But, it's more of a site than an accommodation crazy house room
crazy house room
 . Hmmm... how to describe this place. Let's just call it the regurgitation of how someone would imagine a marriage between "A Nightmare Before Christmas" and "Alice in Wonderland". I know.. it's a mouthful. But, eunice and I had a lot of fun here. How someone could come up with something like this was amazing. Side story... eunice and I were walking around the crazy house and a man motions us to follow him. This guy appeared to be working on an extension to the place. Well, we followed thinking he would kinda show us a decent route to naviagate through the area. We should have know better. He lead us into the construction site, through half built floors and up over staircase structures to the very top of the half built structure. He offered to take a photo of us with the stunning view of the city. So, we gave him our camera and took a pose. Well, as we were heading down, he politely demanded we pay him for his "tour" and his "photography services". I gave him 2000 dong and just wrote it off as an entrance fee to the viewpoint... no worries, afterall, 2000 dong is about 12 cents. But the lesson learned is this: always consider that people are trying to make a quick buck (or 12 cents) from us ("us" being the westerner/foreigner/tourist, etc..). No hard feelings.

Then.. we were off again... this time, north out of the city looking for what they call "The Valley of Love". We found it.. crazy tour
crazy tour
 . it was neither valley nor was there anything lovely about it. BUT in passing we wandered into an embroidery place. They had set up mock village of sorts for all sorts of art work type things. The main attraction was their embroidery. Check out the photos. These ladies do amazing things. One cool service they provide is if you give them a photo, the embroidered portrait will be ready for pick up in 6 months. Check out the pics, they're amazing.

And... on the road again. This time northwest looking for Lanbiang Mountain. We found it after a 45 min ride down the mountian and through small villages. But, to get to the summit of this volcano would take 3-4 hours. It was late with not enough sunlight, so we took off again. This time, south again to check out a lake that we heard was pretty nice. With gas running out, we got to the lake and went for a short stroll. This lake was gorgeous... surrounded by trees and nestled between several peaks, we felt like we were the only ones there (well, aside from the one couple down a ways, and the few sheds selling food, and the dogs that growled at eunice as she tried to get lakeside).

That night, we had a piece of cake and a glass of wine with the hotel owners and a couple from Australia. The hotel owners had purchased a cake and opened up a bottle of local wine as they found out it was the wife's b-day. We thought that was nice. Anyways, if you're ever in Dalat, Thien An Hotel is the way to go. The owners are nice, the sheets smell terrific and their FREE breakfasts are to die for!

Anyways, that was pretty much it for Dalat. Off to Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City.
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