The town of Kitsch

Yesterday, we took the bus up to Dalat from Mui Ne beach. We were on one of those open-tour tourist buses, which stopped periodically to pick up locals, tires, and chat with various people on the street (running numbers?). I am glad that Yale and I have lived up to our pact not to take a bus for more than 6 hours...

Eiffel Tower of Dalat

Dalat, as the guide books describe it, is a destination for honeymooning couples, a hillside station to get out of the heat, and also a town of kitsch -- home to a model Eiffel Tower, statues, neon signs, and ballroom dancing studios. We opted to see the area the way of most tourists, via motorbike (don't worry, we required helmets for our little adventure!). Our tour for the day took us through great scenery, coffee and tea plantations, a mushroom farm, a silk factory, and we also hit some of the other "major" attractions, including a huge laughing buddha with a neon halo, and the "Crazy House." The Crazy House is this bizzare guest house being built by a woman who studied architecture in Moscow. The house (more of a cavelike structure built built above ground) consists of themed rooms -- Kangaroo, Tiger, Bear, Gourd, etc. -- and we almost stayed there until we read people's blogs who checked out after one night. I can understand their reasons, as this house appears to be in constant renovation. Her father was President for some time though, so I guess the zoning boards cut her major slack.

Scenery

Overall, a very nice excursion, but we are glad we opted for only one day on motorbikes, as opposed to a longer excursion through the Central Highlands. Tomorrow, we head to Nha Trang for a little more beach.

Yale on Bike

Minority Elder

Home Wine

Coffee Plantation

Gerber Daisies

Silkworm cocoons

The worm turns

Making Silk

Lunch at the factory

Neon Buddha

Nora on bike

Mushroom farm

Crazy House

Kangaroo Room