Easy Riding

Dalat has lived up to its coolness factor in both the weather and the amazing scenery. I took the midnight bus which arrived at 6 in the morning - I was so grateful to have met two other travelers on board who led me through the winding and hilly streets to a recommended guesthouse. We dropped our things and headed to a local spot for breakfast. I tried the Bahn Mi, Vietnamese fillings on a French baguette - very popular here. Something inside (not sure what it was since I couldn't identify many of the ingredients) didn't agree with me and I hung out for the rest of the morning and watched BBC (it was thankfully the first room I've had since January with a tv, only 2 English channels but still quite a novelty).

Having recovered by afternoon I hopped on the back of one of the motorbikes the guys had rented and we went around the lake and up to a viewpoint to check out the town. The weather was a bit rainy but the temperature was amazing; I even needed a sweatshirt on the bike!
The next day I went on an incredible canyoning trip. Our small group, four Brits and me, were driven through the hills and dropped off on a random roadside. We trekked for half an hour down narrow trails, through streams and over slippery rocks (I mean really slippery, I fell a couple of times, luckily not down any cliffs but this was the scariest part of the day). We arrived at the practice cliff where we rappelled (or absailed, depending which country you hail from) down a small drop to make sure we had the technique down. Two rapels later and we were heading down a huge cliff face; so much fun! On the next descent I really got in my stride and even started doing little jumps down the wall. In between rapelling we did some more hiking, cliff jumps and got to slide down natural waterslides.

The next absail wasn't a cliff at all but a huge waterfall. It was more than a little bit intimidating with slippery rocks and water that pounds your legs and sprays your face. When you get about 15 feet from the bottom you just let go and fall into the water. Little did we know that this huge falls (literally the size of ones that tourists swarmed to in Laos - not too shabby) was just practice for the next fall. While not comparable in size, the finesse needed in this absail made it a perfect last of the day (although the big one was more fun). We stood on top, not able to see the cliff or the people at the bottom. The directions that we received were something to the effect of, go down a bit, the wall will end, go through the air, then you will be in the falls, go a bit more but you won't be able to breath and at some point you have to let go and be pulled under the rapid for some amount of time before you will be spit out downriver - sweet! This was all in not quite accurate English so we just went and hoped we'd figure it out. It was awesome and scary (mostly because we had no clue what we were doing) but we all definitely felt like we had conquered something when we emerged at the bottom. One more cliff jump and 20 minutes of wading down the river in the pouring rain and we were at the end of an incredible day.
That evening the five of us met a few other travelers and took over a restaurant for dinner followed by a pool bar - I guess this was the great end to the incredible day.

Da Lat, in addition to being known for it's cooler weather, is famous for its Easy Riders. A decade or two ago, there was a group of ex-military guys and some younger men who liked to ride motorcycles and were looking for employment. They formed a tour company called the Easy Riders and take tourists around the countryside. I hired an Easy Rider original with shoulder length grey hair, a huge bike and tough guy exterior. He was an absolutely amazing guide and pointed out parts of the landscape that I would have missed, answered my questions about life in Da Lat and Vietnam and took me to some great sites. We saw a huge waterfall (yes, it was bigger than the ones the day before), silk worms and then the factory where the silk was processed, rode in a cable car across the valley and he even showed me a little hike to the top of a mountain with amazing views! We were going to visit a minority village but when we arrived at we were told that it wasn't a good time since the husband was drunk... oops. I ended my day with a strawberry shake and dinner with friends and am off to the beach for some more heat tomorrow.

Tourist Crossing Guards

I left Cambodia a little nervous about my arrival in Vietnam. I had heard mixed reviews from other travelers about being swindled on every corner and the notorious unfriendly nature of the Vietnamese. I have found neither to be entirely true. I have had hotels try to overcharge me and a few unfriendly interactions but have also met a lot of great people; it has been a much more pleasant experience than expected. I began my Vietnamese adventure in Ho Chi Minh City, still referred to as Saigon by the locals. The bus stopped in the middle of town and the first task after sleepily disembarking was to cross the deathtrap that is a Saigon street. I found a local to cross next to and learned that the technique is to walk steadily across while paying no mind to the hundreds or motorbikes, cars and buses that are zipping straight towards you.
I met two girls from New Zealand after surviving the streetcrossing and joined them at their guesthouse. We turned off the main street and down a small alley followed by a turn into a smaller alley and then another turn - it was so narrow that I could reach out and touch both walls. We arrived at a house that rented out three rooms to travelers. Staying in a home was a fun experience besides their fondness for durian which was consumed inside the house - this is a fruit with the scent of rotten onion and feet that seemed to always waft into my fourth floor bedroom. After escaping the Durian, the Kiwis and I headed to the market to explore and find something a bit more appetizing to eat. On our way, we were dismayed to find the widest, rush hour crowded street we had ever seen. Luckily, the city of Saigon must know how daunting this intersection is for tourists and our expressions of dismay were spotted by a tourist crossing guard (who knew) who escorted us safely across! In the market we were pushed and pulled and yelled at to the extent that we were extremely grateful to find ourselves expelled back to the motorcycle laden streets.
We found a restaurant (down an alley of course) and I decided to be brave and order a combination plate. It ended up being a combination of foods that either tasted or looked unappetizing... mostly both. The highlight of gross/interesting food was two whole shrimp (shell guts and all) encased in a strange gelatin substance that could neither be chewed nor dissolved therefore forcing me to swallow each bite whole.
The next day I explored a few of the city's parks and museums. Two of the more interesting sights were the Reunification Palace which housed a war command center in its basement and the War Remnants Museum illustrating American war crimes through photography. It was really interesting to watch videos and read about the Vietnamese perspective of the 'American' War. The Mekong Delta was my next destination. I took a package tour, an experience which reminded me why I don't do packaged tours, but there are not a lot of options in Vietnam (and the tours are cheap). We boarded a bus and rode three hours to a boat. We island hopped from the rice paper factory to the fish market to the bee farm to the coconut candy/carving location and ended the day by riding a horse cart (while wearing traditional Vietnamese hats) and listening to local music. I enjoyed the day but am glad that I haven't spent most my days being ushered through sights and factories.
The following day I boarded another bus bound for the Cu Chi tunnels. This 200Km system of multi-level passageways was used by the guerrillas in attacking and escaping from the Americans and their allies. We were able to see some of the traps and the forest was laden with the hidden doors that the forces could use to appear in the middle of the path. I was very glad that I wasn't exploring 40 years ago. We went through a tunnel and it was one of those times (there are more in Asia than anywhere else I've been) that I was glad to be short. Everyone else had to crab walk or crawl and I could just walk bent over. The funny fact of the day was that they had to widen the tunnels for tourists because they kept getting stuck.
Next stop: the highland town of Dalat where there are rumored to be cooler temperatures! We'll see.