Dalat, Vietnam
My last night (Sunday, 11 February) in Nha Trang I had planned to take it easy since I had to wake up at 6 AM the next morning to catch the bus. I met 2 of my Swedish friends - Patrick and Jacob - at the Why Not bar (again) and we played pool there for several hours. I had planned to head back early but didn't get home until 11:30 PM. It was a good time and the bar was much less crowded than the past few nights. Hopefully I'll see my Swedish friends again in Saigon or Cambodia since we are all going the same route, more or less.
The bus ride from Nha Trang to Dalat on Monday (12 February) morning was not very pleasant. It was packed and the seats were too small. And to make matters worse I didn't have a window seat - that kills me. After about 4 hours we stopped for lunch and after lunch I switched to an even smaller seat that was next to a window. It would have been bearable if it weren't for the guy next to me that kept falling asleep on me. Nevertheless we finally made it to Dalat.
After easily finding a cheap hotel ($4 for a great room - best value so far in Vietnam) I went to explore Dalat. The temperature was fine as Dalat is at an elevation of 1475 meters (~5000 feet). Actually it was a bit warmer than I was expecting. After wandering around the town center and market area for a bit, I walked by the large, beautiful lake right in the center of town called Xuan Huong Lake. There is a sealed track all the way around it and I was tempted to walk it, but as it was 7 km I thought it would take to long and I wanted to see a few sights. I walked by the Dalat Cathedral which was surprisingly nice. Then I walked up to the famous Hang Nga Gallery and Guesthouse - aka 'Crazy House'. I'm not really sure how to describe this architectural masterpiece (no understatement) other than its something straight out of 'Alice in Wonderland'. It was a surreal place. You'll have to wait to see my pictures - and movies - to really get an idea of it but in the meantime here are a couple of pictures I found online: http://www.reisebilder.ch/vietnam/crazyhouse_e.htm
http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/15207.html
I was blown away by this place and was giggling the entire time I was walking through it. I can't really put into words how cool and amazing I thought the place was. It was probably the coolest thing I have seen in Vietnam and it would be well worth a visit to Dalat just to see this one site. Later that evening I went to eat at a restaurant called "Cafe 100 Roofs" which was designed and constructed in the same theme as Crazy House (the 2 architects are colleagues). It was a really, really cool, funky restaurant. I took a bunch of pictures at both places.
Tuesday (13 February) morning I really slept, in I think because it was the best nights sleep I've had in a while. Cool temps, comfortable beds, and no street noise. Once I walked outside and down the street a bit, I decided to go put my sweater back in my room because it was actually hot and I wouldn't need it. My second time leaving the hotel the guy working there asked me if I wanted to rent a motorbike for the day. I had thought about it the previous day as the sights around Dalat are pretty spread out and I wanted to be able to see the country side, but I wasn't in the mood to look for a motorbike rental place or hassle with that. So his timing was right and for $5 I got an automatic motorbike. This turned out to be the perfect thing to do for the day which wouldn't have happened had it been a little cooler (and I had kept walking down the street the first time). I really love the freedom of having a motorbike and going where ever you want.
I drove all around the Dalat area. My first stop was the Quang Trung Reservoir, a gorgeous but man made lake surrounded by pine forested hills. There is a pagoda on a hill there over looking the lake called Thien Vien Truc Lam which is actually where I started. The pagoda is new so the buildings are pristine, but even more beautiful than the buildings are the surroundings. Small mountains covered with pine forests, manicured gardens, flowers, grassy lawns, and of course the blue lake - the setting was magnificent. It is probably the most beautiful setting for a pagoda that I have seen since Nepal. Several of the monks struck up a conversation with me as I walked around. Typically they want to practice their English with foreigners, but they all spoke really good English to begin with so I guess they just wanted to talk. I wandered around the pagoda and lake for a while before continuing on my sight seeing tour.
My next stop was Datanla Falls. Once passed the entrance gate I was surprised to find an 'Alpine Rollercoaster' on offer as a way to access the falls which are ~100 meters below the level of the parking area. Apparently someone thought the idea of constructing a rollercoaster through the forest down to the falls was a good one. It looked brand new and was really visually disruptive to the 'alpine atmosphere' but perhaps no more than a ski lift, so for 20,000 Dong ($1.25) I decided to give it a go. Nothing like this would ever be allowed in the west. You sit in your owner personal go-cart-on-rails and you are solely responsible for working the break lever. Push forward and the brake releases, pull back or let go and the brake engages. I wonder what happens when you go too fast?? It was actually a really fun ride down and took longer than I expected. The falls themselves were nothing special really and after a few minutes down there I opted to walk back up to the top.
Then I drove back into town, out of town another way and back in, around the lake, tried to find the 'summer palace' but couldn't and got lost, and then stopped for a late lunch near the middle of town. After lunch I went over to Lam Ty Ni Pagoda, which I had driven by earlier when I was lost, but didn't know what it was. In my guidebook this pagoda is really hyped up mainly because of the 64-year-old eccentric - and only - monk who lives here named Mr Thuc. I guess he is actually a local celebrity. His 'gig' is art, and his small pagoda is chalk full of his sculptures and drawings - many of which probably took all of 1 minute to create. The other part of his 'gig' is selling his paintings to tourists. So I was a little skeptical about how I was going to get out of there without buying a painting since I was the only one there. He kept encouraging me to look at his paintings. We continued talking and he asked me where I was driving to next. I told him about a few more things in Dalat I wanted to see and he asked if he could join me on the back of my motorbike because he doesn't get out much and only ever walks anywhere. I didn't particularly want him on the back of my motorbike because I've never ridden with anyone on the back and I wanted the freedom of being alone, but I couldn't shake him and we set off. As we were leaving his pagoda another tourist showed up who was actually interested in buying something, but Mr Thuc didn't care too much apparently.
We set off and he pointed me this way and that way and eventually we ended up at Dalat University where he was a student in the early 60's. He had me take a few pictures of him with his own personal digital camera over the course of our ride. I could tell he didn't want the ride to end but I finally convinced him to take us back to his pagoda where the other tourist was still waiting to see him. It was a really strange afternoon and a fantastic day overall. I coasted back to my hotel on fumes as the needle had been below empty for a while. It was much easier to drive with only myself on the motorbike!
I saw a lot today, and there isn't much more I can see (or want to see) on my own here in Dalat and I don't feel like going on a 'tour' from an agency. So I'm leaving tomorrow morning to either Mui Ne, on the coast, or Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). I'll decide which destination to go to after dinner tonight.
The bus ride from Nha Trang to Dalat on Monday (12 February) morning was not very pleasant. It was packed and the seats were too small. And to make matters worse I didn't have a window seat - that kills me. After about 4 hours we stopped for lunch and after lunch I switched to an even smaller seat that was next to a window. It would have been bearable if it weren't for the guy next to me that kept falling asleep on me. Nevertheless we finally made it to Dalat.
After easily finding a cheap hotel ($4 for a great room - best value so far in Vietnam) I went to explore Dalat. The temperature was fine as Dalat is at an elevation of 1475 meters (~5000 feet). Actually it was a bit warmer than I was expecting. After wandering around the town center and market area for a bit, I walked by the large, beautiful lake right in the center of town called Xuan Huong Lake. There is a sealed track all the way around it and I was tempted to walk it, but as it was 7 km I thought it would take to long and I wanted to see a few sights. I walked by the Dalat Cathedral which was surprisingly nice. Then I walked up to the famous Hang Nga Gallery and Guesthouse - aka 'Crazy House'. I'm not really sure how to describe this architectural masterpiece (no understatement) other than its something straight out of 'Alice in Wonderland'. It was a surreal place. You'll have to wait to see my pictures - and movies - to really get an idea of it but in the meantime here are a couple of pictures I found online: http://www.reisebilder.ch/vietnam/crazyhouse_e.htm
http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/15207.html
I was blown away by this place and was giggling the entire time I was walking through it. I can't really put into words how cool and amazing I thought the place was. It was probably the coolest thing I have seen in Vietnam and it would be well worth a visit to Dalat just to see this one site. Later that evening I went to eat at a restaurant called "Cafe 100 Roofs" which was designed and constructed in the same theme as Crazy House (the 2 architects are colleagues). It was a really, really cool, funky restaurant. I took a bunch of pictures at both places.
Tuesday (13 February) morning I really slept, in I think because it was the best nights sleep I've had in a while. Cool temps, comfortable beds, and no street noise. Once I walked outside and down the street a bit, I decided to go put my sweater back in my room because it was actually hot and I wouldn't need it. My second time leaving the hotel the guy working there asked me if I wanted to rent a motorbike for the day. I had thought about it the previous day as the sights around Dalat are pretty spread out and I wanted to be able to see the country side, but I wasn't in the mood to look for a motorbike rental place or hassle with that. So his timing was right and for $5 I got an automatic motorbike. This turned out to be the perfect thing to do for the day which wouldn't have happened had it been a little cooler (and I had kept walking down the street the first time). I really love the freedom of having a motorbike and going where ever you want.
I drove all around the Dalat area. My first stop was the Quang Trung Reservoir, a gorgeous but man made lake surrounded by pine forested hills. There is a pagoda on a hill there over looking the lake called Thien Vien Truc Lam which is actually where I started. The pagoda is new so the buildings are pristine, but even more beautiful than the buildings are the surroundings. Small mountains covered with pine forests, manicured gardens, flowers, grassy lawns, and of course the blue lake - the setting was magnificent. It is probably the most beautiful setting for a pagoda that I have seen since Nepal. Several of the monks struck up a conversation with me as I walked around. Typically they want to practice their English with foreigners, but they all spoke really good English to begin with so I guess they just wanted to talk. I wandered around the pagoda and lake for a while before continuing on my sight seeing tour.
My next stop was Datanla Falls. Once passed the entrance gate I was surprised to find an 'Alpine Rollercoaster' on offer as a way to access the falls which are ~100 meters below the level of the parking area. Apparently someone thought the idea of constructing a rollercoaster through the forest down to the falls was a good one. It looked brand new and was really visually disruptive to the 'alpine atmosphere' but perhaps no more than a ski lift, so for 20,000 Dong ($1.25) I decided to give it a go. Nothing like this would ever be allowed in the west. You sit in your owner personal go-cart-on-rails and you are solely responsible for working the break lever. Push forward and the brake releases, pull back or let go and the brake engages. I wonder what happens when you go too fast?? It was actually a really fun ride down and took longer than I expected. The falls themselves were nothing special really and after a few minutes down there I opted to walk back up to the top.
Then I drove back into town, out of town another way and back in, around the lake, tried to find the 'summer palace' but couldn't and got lost, and then stopped for a late lunch near the middle of town. After lunch I went over to Lam Ty Ni Pagoda, which I had driven by earlier when I was lost, but didn't know what it was. In my guidebook this pagoda is really hyped up mainly because of the 64-year-old eccentric - and only - monk who lives here named Mr Thuc. I guess he is actually a local celebrity. His 'gig' is art, and his small pagoda is chalk full of his sculptures and drawings - many of which probably took all of 1 minute to create. The other part of his 'gig' is selling his paintings to tourists. So I was a little skeptical about how I was going to get out of there without buying a painting since I was the only one there. He kept encouraging me to look at his paintings. We continued talking and he asked me where I was driving to next. I told him about a few more things in Dalat I wanted to see and he asked if he could join me on the back of my motorbike because he doesn't get out much and only ever walks anywhere. I didn't particularly want him on the back of my motorbike because I've never ridden with anyone on the back and I wanted the freedom of being alone, but I couldn't shake him and we set off. As we were leaving his pagoda another tourist showed up who was actually interested in buying something, but Mr Thuc didn't care too much apparently.
We set off and he pointed me this way and that way and eventually we ended up at Dalat University where he was a student in the early 60's. He had me take a few pictures of him with his own personal digital camera over the course of our ride. I could tell he didn't want the ride to end but I finally convinced him to take us back to his pagoda where the other tourist was still waiting to see him. It was a really strange afternoon and a fantastic day overall. I coasted back to my hotel on fumes as the needle had been below empty for a while. It was much easier to drive with only myself on the motorbike!
I saw a lot today, and there isn't much more I can see (or want to see) on my own here in Dalat and I don't feel like going on a 'tour' from an agency. So I'm leaving tomorrow morning to either Mui Ne, on the coast, or Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). I'll decide which destination to go to after dinner tonight.
posted by Dustin at 2:54 AM
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