Dalat, Vietnam
Really just the British word for what Americans call rappelling, I did a lot of this today. I went on a canyoning tour. Basically it is a hike along a river, where the cliffs make equipment-less travel impossible. So with two guides and two other tourists (Danish girls), I was canyoning for the day. We did a 18m rappel, an 8m cliff jump (into the river), two waterslides (sitting on the rocks in the rapids and just going with the flow). The waterslides were performed first feet first, then head first. We stopped for lunch by mid-day at the top of a 35m waterfall. Lunch was delicious and again there was plenty of food. Then we rappelled down the waterfall. It was slippery as an ice rink and half way down your whole body was fully in the falls and you could not see a thing. For a while I felt like I was waterskiing with the water gushing by, splashing my face and the slippery rocks. The last 3m for the rappel you just let go and fall backwards into the water below. No option to continue rappelling, the rope is not long enough. After that rappel we had a 12m cliff jump next to a water fall. A little floating down the river and finally we were at the 'washing maching.' The final rappel, over a rock cliff at first but then into a rushing waterfall. Once you get to the waterfall you more or less slide down the rock on your butt into a narrow gorge then swim out. It was a ton of fun.
About halfway though the day I started to think about this same activity in the States. Ha, it would never happen. I did not sign a wavier or health questions or anything; as far as I could tell, they was not a first aide kit; we practiced one rappel for less than a minute before we were on the cliffs. I love Vietnam. I was a bit comforting to learn the two Danish girls were studying to be nurses. When I heard that, I wanted to say how greatful I was to be doing this tour with some medical knowledge on hand. But I kept my mouth shut; I did not want to jinx anything.
Later in the day I ended up running into the Israeli father/daughter combo. They were also on my boat tour two days prior and the same bus from Nha Trang to Dalat. The world seems so big, but then you randomly run into the same people three days in a row (maybe more). The daughter, (is gorgeous) is continuing onto Nepal after Vietnam, so maybe/hopefully I will see her there.
