A Visit to Da Lat

I can't believe how far behind I am with my blog! Time to catch up.

In late July I took a little holiday in Da Lat, in the central part of the country. I was there for the better part of a week. I had no idea the weather would be so different from the south. I had to go to the market one day to buy a hoodie. It rained most of the time I was there, but I still managed to get out to see things. I spent the first day walking around. There are lots of hills in the area, and the elevation is about one kilometre. 

While walking I met up with a man named Buddha who works for a company called  Easy Riders. They offer people tours of the area, either by car or motorbike. we arranged to meet up the next morning to spend the day together. He and a driver picked me up in a car, which was nice since it rained off and on all day. There was an Australian couple, Scott and Kerry, along as well.
We started the day at a couple of temples, and went to a working monastery. We had lunch beside a lake on the monastery grounds. The gardens there were exquisite, much more beautiful than the gardens in the middle of the town. 

Da Lat is an area with extremely fertile soil, and most of the produce in the country comes from that area. There are miles upon miles of greenhouses, where food and flowers are grown. We visited one greenhouse where gerbera daisies were being grown, but the highlight of the day for me was visiting one of the Hill Tribes. We met the chief of the tribe, I think they were Mat people, and spent a good hour with him. He spoke very good English and French, and gave us a lesson on the history of his people. He also played some traditional instruments and sang for us, and let us taste some of their traditional pipe wine. the wine is made of wood from a particular type of tree, and is drunk from a crock through a flexible plastic pipe, such as you would use in a high school science lab. it wasn't very tasty, but it sure was potent!

The final stop of the day was at Crazy House. This is a house built by a young woman who is an architect. She had to have permission from the local branch of the government to build the house the way it is. It is now a tourist attraction and guest house, as well as a private home. words can't describe it. 

The next day Buddha and I went out on his motorbike. Again it was raining, so I went out to the market early in the morning to buy my hoodie. On this day he took me well out of the city into the surrounding area. He offered to take me to a silk farm, but I declined because I had been to one in Cambodia. Instead we went to a coffee plantation where I was able to try weasel coffee. This is the one that you've heard of where the coffee beans are fed to a particular breed of civet. the civet eats the flesh from the beans, and passes the beans that are used to make coffee. It is tasty, and makes a lovely milk cup of brew. however, to my mind it isn't different enough from regular coffee to warrant the steep price. 

The remainder of the day was spent driving around the mountain regions, admiring the scenery. It was a shorter day as I wanted to get back and pack for my departure the next day. 

I would like to return to Da Lat someday, but I would prefer to do it when the weather isn't quite so wet.