The town of Da Lat in the central highlands of southern Vietnam was not originally on my itinerary, but after hearing rave reviews of the scenery there from other travelers, I decided to check it out. And I'm so glad I did! Located high in the mountains, Da Lat has views I never expected to find in such a "tropical" country. The mountainsides are covered in dense evergreen forests, dotted with thousands of waterfalls that stream down multicolored stone faces. Driving past such sights made the five hour van ride up bumpy, twisting roads totally worth it.
After making it to the crazy, capsule-like hostel we were staying in,
Emma and I met up with Lykke, Jeremy, and newcomer Phil for dinner, which was followed by beers and games of pool in a local billiards club. We were the only foreigners there and many of the locals came up to us to chat and even asked us to speak to their friends on the phone to prove we were real! Eventually our lack of pool skills drove us to distraction and we began an informal game of exquisite corpse on a whiteboard.
We ended the night in another bar with some epically amazing games of jenga.
The next day was spent on a truly wonderful tour of the countryside via motorbike. Hin, who I rode with, was our guide and I can't possibly say enough good things about him. Da Lat is currently known for it's flowers, as well as it's flower festival, which occurs every two years and is happening this year right after Christmas. So our first stop was at a local flower farm.
Next we visited a coffee plantation that specializes in "lemur" coffee, which I had never heard of but is apparently famous so I had to try it. Go ahead ... Google it.
Sitting and drinking coffee, we got to talk to Hin, who I believe was in his early 30s, about his opinions on communism, the U.S.'s past presence in Vietnam, and other local issues like the Vietnamese school system. His stance on these things might surprise you and getting to talk to him was the literal best.
After the coffee farm we stopped at a small rice wine brewery and got to try some booze, so fresh it was steaming hot. This shit is no joke. It's highly flammable and feels it going down.
(Rice wine on fire.)
Back on the bikes (where after nothing but strong coffee and alcohol I was glad to be a passenger, not a driver) we headed to a silk factory where we saw the entire silk making process from raising the worms
to the final product.
And I may or may not have eaten a pan fried silkworm.
The next stop was "Elephant Falls", which Hin confessed to us has nothing to do with elephants, it's just called that to attract tourists. (I loved his honesty!) Regardless, it was gorgeous.
We even got to stand behind the main waterfall!
Beside Elephant Falls there was a stunning pagoda filled with huge, colorful, many armed deities.
Behind the pagoda and through a grove of trees sat an enormous laughing Buddha. The only sounds were the rustling of leaves and the distant roar of the waterfall. I could have stayed for hours.
After this it was time for lunch. Hin took us to his family's home where his mother and one of his many sisters-in-law made us an amazing meal, and we learned a little more about his life. He even invited us to attend a wedding with him that evening!
Following lunch we visited a mushroom farm, which are grown much differently than how I expected - suspended inside old plastic bottles filled with damp sawdust.
Our next to last stop was at a small village where some of the people native to the Da Lat area still live and make traditional handcrafts.
While we were there, the steady grayness and drizzle that had been building all day finally turned into a massive downpour. We all wrapped ourselves in ponchos and prepared for the long ride back. On the way was our final stop at an unbelievable meditation center: the Truc Lam Zen Monastery. Because of the rain I wasn't able to take any photos but it took my breath away and I almost told Hin to just leave me there to live for a while. (If I didn't have a visa expiration to worry about I really might have applied to stay for a few weeks!)
Finally back to the hostel, soaking wet, we decided to call it a night, and Emma and I shared a great dinner at a vegan/vegetarian restaurant we found.
The next morning I got up early to visit The Crazy House (officially the Hang Nga Guesthouse). Designed by female artist turned architect Dang Viet Nga, construction began in 1990 and is anticipated to be completed in 2020. Dang still resides there today, living inside her greatest work of art, and I wish I could live there, too! It really was one of the coolest places I've ever been.
(Inside one of the rooms.)
That afternoon it was time to leave Da Lat. I shared a bus with Jeremy and even though the views on the way out were just as idyllic as on the way in, which nearly persuaded me to stay, we continued on to Nha Trang, the party beach town capital of Vietnam, in an attempt to find some sun. But I'll save that for another entry...
