Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Dalat to Nha Trang

10 November, Dai Loi (Fortune) Hotel, Dalat, Central Highlands.

The last two days we have been on buses, firstly back into Vietnam from Cambodia, then today, from Ho Chi Minh up into the Central Highlands to Dalat. A few years back, the thought of two 8 hour days on a South-East Asian bus would have freaked us totally. Now, a little more adventurous and way more street-wise when it comes to S-E Asia, we didn't mind it a bit. Mind you, the buses here are a far cry from the non-air-conditioned ones we experienced in Laos. Aside from the extremely slow pace, both our trips would have been considered reasonable, standard coach rides in Australia, the US or Europe. The great difference lies in the time it takes to get places. Both trips have been about 240 kms. Both have taken about 7-8 hours. The up side is that a never-ending tapestry of everyday life in Asia, rolls past the windows of the bus at a speed that allows it all to sink in.


Villages and towns are strung out along the tops of the ridges around the highlands. The road also hugs the ridges, so the narrow villages and towns seem never-ending. When the bus gains a little height, it is possible to see the open fields behind the semingly continuous line of houses and shops.

The countryside is in full bloom at the moment. Well, it probably is always in 'full bloom' here with year-round growing seasons for most crops. Take away the Asian buildings and you could easily be on the Atherton Tablelands in North Queensland. Tropical fruit plantations, sugar cane, small crops, maize and lots of coffee. Almost every house along the road has a front yard full of drying coffee beans. Kids wearing gumboots shuffle through the drying beans to turn them. To most it seems a bit of a game. Everyting is very labour-intensive. Even though the area has irrigation, many farmers are out watering their small plots of veges etc with large hoses, while women chip away at rows of greens and men fill sacks of beans ready to ship out. It is all go!

Like the Atherton Tablelands, it is cool here all year round - well, cool by tropical standards. The double plagues that Australia has launched on the world, Eucalyptus and Wattle, are everywhere. Nice for us, but they are becoming a real problem in almost every country where they have been introduced. We will revel in the cooler weather tomorrow and do some walking around the town and local environs.

13 November, Nha Trang Lodge Hotel

Walking about Dalat in a cool 24C was just heaven! The city is a world away from the crazy streets of Ho Chi Minh. It was Sunday, so things were extra slow yesterday, not that we minded at all. With a visit to the Dalat "Crazy House' in mind, we trekked off into the hill suburbs with less than our usual knowledge of where we were heading so, naturally, we got lost. The first locals we approached were winners! At a little local street shop we latched onto the obvious choice, a young teenager loading the shelves. No go. He just pointed back into the slightly shambolic shop towards his mother (grandmother?). She had it all under control! Her English was good, but obviously out of practice. She gave us directions and wrote the street name down on a piece of paper for us. We needed toothpaste so we asked for some which she found after a dig through the jumble at the back of the shop. In return for her help we felt a tip was in order so we tried to refuse the small change from our purchase. No way! She insisted on giving us the full amount and pointed us off on our way. We speculated that she may well have been an educated Vietnamese who was just on the wrong side at the end of the war and so had to settle for a much less influential role in the new Vietnam.




With the help of the street name in Vietnamese and a couple of helpful locals, we finally found the Crazy House, which lived up to its name. Gaudi-inspired, it is a classic!

Coffee is BIG around Dalat. Not just the growing, but the drinking. Swank cafes are everywhere and it is mostly local Vietnamese tourists who frequent them. This is a very nice little city. The air is clear and crisp and most central areas are extremely clean (well by Asian standards at least).

The road down to Nha Trang was once a bit of a haul, 5-6 hours. The 'new' road is more direct, but it is extremely steep and features many hairpin curves. We stayed cool by concentrating on the mountain scenery, refusing to look out the front window. We survived what was eventually only a four hour trip and a far less luxurous journey, crammed into a 20 seat mini-bus, than our last couple of bus trips.

Nha Trang is a popular beach city with high-rise hotels, night clubs and all the usual resort town accoutrements. It reminds us of Cairns and Townsville, but with the usual Asian 'heat haze' rather than the clear tropical skies of North Queensland. This is the first place we have been on this trip where the bulk of non-Asians we see are not Australians. This is a Russian resort town. Menus, street signs are in Vietnamese, Russian and English. It isn't hard to pick the Russians. They are BIG people and for some reason, the bigger they are, the smaller their togs! One explanation for the lack of Aussies on the streets during the day may be found in the reception we got at our hotel. "Humm, kangaroos? Kangaroos sleep all day and party all night."

Aside from a fairly nice beach and an apparently great nightlife, we found little to do in Nha Trang. One standout though was the Oceanographic Institute. We walked the 6 kms  along the beach to find it and it was well worth the walk and the 75 cent admission price! Not as flash as many other aquariums around the world, but well-presented just the same. Mind you, some of the translations for the English signage were interesting! Apparently, the Stonefish can kill an adult or make them 'unconspicious'!

An early start tomorrow on the 5:30am train to Danang, then a taxi or local bus to Hoi An.

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