Saigon - Dalat - Lak Lake - Buon Ma Thout - Nha Trang
Well, from where I left off, we had a relatively uneventful and unexciting New Year. I could not even hear any celebrations or fireworks from where we were staying in District 1, the central tourist district.
Anyhow, on New Years day we organised the next leg of our route, from Saigon to Dalat. We booked this with a travel and tourist angency, who has spoilt our faith in tourism agencies. we booked to leave on the 2nd at 8pm, tpo meet at the travel agency where the bus would pick us up. the trip was supposed to take 9hrs overnight, and to drop us off in the centre of town, in Dalat.
We checked out of our hotel on the morning of the 2nd, to have a slow day before boarding the bus, we went to the post office, which is even bigger than Melbourne's GPO, it was huge. After that we wandered around (had coffee in GLORIA JEANS, we could have been back home, the prices were even like back home. Here we can get a white coffee, that is a shot of expresso in sweeten condensed milk, for close to 50 cents) untill it was opening time at 2pm, everything quite sensibly closes at 11ish for lunch and a siesta.
Then we went to the War Remenants musem, which was crowded with school children and tourists and hot and sticky. It was interesting, full of pictures and reminders or horrible time in history and what remains now.
After that we trekked back to the hotel to pick up our bags and deliver them to the travel agency while we went for dinner. After dinner we still had some time to kill. So Mum and Dad went off and left us children to opur own devices. I then deserted the boys and went to a salon for a manicure and pedicure, which only cost $4. once there i found Mum and Dad who had just had a Massage. So they joined me and opted for a Pedicure (yes Dad too, don't sound suprised, it's just like him!).
All up, the pedicures and manicures and massages came to less than $20, whereas at home it'd be 10 times that, at least...
So relying on advice from our ever-reliable travel agent we turned up at the agency at 1930 ready to board the bus, to be told that we had to walk to bus station which was a 10 minute walk away, with our packs. NOT HAPPY JAN. We were then expecting the overnight bus trip, promised to us, to be a overnight bus trip.
Dalat is in the LangBiang Highlands about 300kms from Saigon. We arrived in Dalat at 0330am, to be dropped at the bus station, with no accommodation booked and nowhere to go. As we were supposed to arrive at 0600am, this hadn't been an issue, but at 0330 it was. The kindly bus station people, mainly to get us out of their hair, drove us to several hotels, trying to find us one that was open and with room, which we did eventually and at 0430, we settled in for a few hours sleep.
Later that morning when we woke up and refreshed ourselves, we took to exploring the quite and quaint town of Dalat. The market, as always, was lots of fun. Seeing the bowls of live fish, eels, crabs and frogs. Various coloured eggs of dubious heritage, and of course the dead ducks and chooks plucked and ready for someone's cook pot. Dalat is the honeymoon centre of Saigon, with the relative cool after Saigon and the picturesque location. There are many market gardens and flowers in the area. another obstacle was the numerous tour guides and moto riders touting their services, trying to find out where the next destination is and how they could get you there. we had negations with a few guides and in the end went with one Mr. Phuc. Mr Phuc, or Tommy Phi as he was also called was a member of the organisation Dalat Easy Riders (http://dalat-easyrider.com/Websites/English/) a tour group famous in the area. Dad decreed that to ride on motorcycles would be to void our insurance (even on holidays, parents still have to spoil all the fun!!!! what a stick in the mud) so reluctantly we agreed on a van, guide and driver for a 3 day, 2 night tour from Dalat to Nha Trang for $450 USD, to start early the next morning. We were off again.
Dalat to Lak Lake- 4.1.09
Well this certainly a wonderful way to travel and to see the countryside. Mr Phuc has wonderful english, a sister in law in Endeavour Hills (near dandenong), and wonderful knowledge and connections in the local areas that we travelled. We saw many things that no doubt we would not have seen else where, or with anyone else, and would most certainly not have found ourselves, a few things that we did see, but by no means an exhaustive list:
- Pagoda and waterfalls
- silk embroidery
- flower farms
- Happy water making (Rice Wine Distilling)
- Pampas Grass brooms, for the lunar new year
- coffee plantations, and as we drove past the houses we could see the coffee beans spread out to dry in the sun in the front yards.
- Tapioca Plantations -two types of tapioca grown here, Vietnamese and Indian. The Indian Tapioca is harvested and peeled and spread out to dry in the sun. then exported to Japan to make MSG!!!
We had lunch at a very local restaurant, it was quite a banquet, although Tommy assured us although there were 7 of us he only ordered for 6, it was still too much. We stayed that evening at Lak Lake resort, a very upmarket sort of place, one that if we weren't on the tour we probably couldn't have afforded to stay. However it was very nice and only $30USD for two rooms (with Tommy, with out Tommy it was $45USD for 1 room!!!). the rooms each had a little balcony over looking the lake and mosquito nets inside over the beds. it was very pleasant.
Lak Lake to Yok Don National Park- 5.1.09
Today, still under the guidance of Mr Phuc, and after breakfast of the usual bread roll with butter and jam and white coffee, we were off, to the Kings summer palace. we visited a m'nong minority village where the locals lived in bamboo long houses, which were none too sturdy, as uh Patrick found out (I told him that I wouldn't mention how he broke one their houses). Saw remnants of as church destroyed by the Vietnam war, and clear evidence of the effects of Agent Orange, as it still continues to wreak havoc on the people of the highlands. Other things that we did/saw today:
- rice paddies being worked by hand
- a mushroom farm (yes legal)
- a 30kg python (who was very fond of mum, i don't think that the feeling was mutual however)
- sugar crystal making
- rice noodle making
- Dray Sap and Dray Nue, very large waterfalls accessed by very wobbly bridges
- we visited a cottage industry making rice pancakes (which we had for dinner). During this visit the family here was amazed at 1. the size to age ratio of our family, 2. my painful and unsightly sunburn (the locals don't seem to have this problem!!!), 3. the prospect of Patrick as a future husband/son-in-law. They were certainly a very industrious family and very genuine people. Their 11 year old son had so much fun taking many photos of our family with his prized film-camera.
We stayed at a resort in Yok Don National Park in jungle terrain. This resort was just as nice as the first one. We had the rice pancakes for tea, which were very nice, however mum could not get used to the fact that many dishes were served cold, which I found very amusing. There were huge deposits of Elephant droppings lying around, to which my ever cynical father suggested that they had been strategically placed around the park. Possibly to suggest the presence of Elephants???
Yok Don National Park to Nha Trang- 6.1.09
Our last day with Mr. Phuc, who has proved to be a very efficient and knowledgeable guide, we were up and gone by 0700 for breakfast in Buon Ma Thout, about an hours drive from the National Park, we had the usual breakfast of bread rolls and spreads. Then we stopped at a rubber plantation where Mr Phuc showed us the taps and collection bowls, and the workers who were collecting the sap. By this time there was a mob of local children gathered around us, ready to practice their impressive english skills. it's worth mentioning that the absolute speed limit on Roads around here is 80km with most vehicles and roads often limited to less than 50km. it's just as well really, because road construction around here still has a long way to go. One thing that has provided countless moments of amusement for us is the diversity, awkwardness, size and type of loads that the locals contrive to attach to their motorbikes. One motorbike had no less than 40 chooks, all live attached to his bike. But today as we neared the coast lunch was decidedly fishy, much to my disgust and my mothers delight. Other highlights:
- Bricks, the creation, drying, firing and stacking. All of it done by hand. It was quite amazing
- Cocoa Trees
- Pepper Vines
- Curry Trees - the curry seeds were bright red
- Stop at Phoenix Pass (a reference to the mythical bird that rises from the ashes), to witness first hand the vegetative devastation caused by Agent Orange, and the subsequent rehabilitation carried out by Australian scientists.
- large scale shrimp farming, and many many thousands of m2 of drying shrimp, fish and other things, just one th road. Any large flat surface will do for their purposes.
We arrived in Nha Trang, and booked into a hotel recommended to us by Mr. Phuc. We wrote a reference of his services in his touting book, which was easy to do as we would recommend his services and that of Dalat Easy Riders to anyone.
Nha Trang- 7.1.09
Had a bit of a sleep in this morning, or tried to, it gets very bright very early and the curtains don't really block it out. The hotel is just off the main drag, and out off the balcony you can see the south china sea. It seems to be a little like the gold coast, but with more asians and less victorians. Anyway after a lazy start to the day we separted. Mum and Dad went off and explored the outer and inner reaches of Nha Trang. I can say that are just some people who shoul not wear speedos or bikinis. There are many many topiaries around here and they are all done by hand. wandered through town to a market, to a bakery, bought some fruit then came back on cyclo. Planning on taking the train to Hoi An tomorrow. however it's very expensive, night take the bus instead.
Nha Trang- 8.1.09
Another lazy start this morning, check out at midday. catching the sleeper bus to Hoi An tonight, departing at 1900. hopefully our information is more accurate this time around. anyway hopes are high. Blogger is down, so i have typed this in hotmail, hopefully to add it to blogger when i can get it to work.
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