With Songs They Have Sung for 1000 Years
Trip Start
Apr 22, 2008
1
16
26
Trip End
Sep 01, 2008
Dalat,
Vietnam
Friday, June 20, 2008
Getting outside of the city gave us a completely new perspective of the country, but the big draw in this town, known as the Vietnamese Alps and the #1 honeymoon spot in Vietnam, is the market. The market had a myriad of fruit, veggie, candy, clothing, junk etc shops strewn about the central rotary, complete with a view of a replica of the Eiffel tower. The replica is set adjacent to a small lake featuring swan shaped paddle boats to cater to the amorous visitors. Seeing as how I would sooner slit my wrists than paddle around in a card board cut out we stuck to the market rather than taking to the waters.
Avocado tastes good
Our most adventurous eating on the trip occurred in the confines of this bustling center. I don't know if it was the season or that for some unknown reason Dalat is off most people's radar, but again we were one of only a handful of Westerners walking aimlessly about town. English in the market was no where to be found. This led to a game of Russian roulette when it came to ordering, blindly pointing at a menu and selecting some words at random then holding up one finger to indicate one serving. Did we first curbed our avocado cravings by eating them in the middle of the street as if they were some kind of melon. Absolutely. We had some amazing rice and noodle soups, she-sh kebab or yakitori type meats on a stick, a mystery meat stuffed into marinated grape leaves and charcoal grilled, sweet sesame buns, huge rice crackers flavored with green onion and some tasty pork balls to round it all off. Our only real mistake was the piping hot soy based drink with the consistency of a thick milkshake. It was put into a plastic bag, a straw tossed into it and tasted like warm sick. There were two standout observations from this town. First is that silk print pajama sets with a blazer worn on top is en vogue evening attire amongst the femmes du Dalat. I had never seen so many people in pajamas frolicking around town (had I ever seen any?). Imagine my surprise when days later I opened a NY Times article on fashion in Milan that said, and I quote, "Clothes are still steeped in luxury, yet designers are hedging their bets with a casual/formal look that focuses on silk pajamas. Add a formal jacket without a tie...and you have the hybrid style of summer 2009."
So Dalat chic. So last season in Nam.
The second key trend was that English is not emphasized in school. Nothing hammered that home more than passing a woman on the street selling grilled ears of corn. When she saw us approach she yelled (I mean literally screamed) in our face: "EAT MY PILLOWS!!!" while holding up an ear of corn. Eat my pillows indeed.
