If I were young, I'd flee this town

Hi again, its been a while since I've updated the blog regarding anything travel related. I guess I got tired of thinking about the blog as I traveled around, tired of thinking about how to describe the place each time I arrived somewhere new. It is preferable to experience a place and write about it in reflection.

I've also reached a new milestone since my last travel update, turning 30 last Monday, I am now officially 'socially dead'. Any dancing I do on the dancefloors of bars will be met with head shakes and displays of disgust from the svelte young things slinking about in their 20something frames. I'm really happy about it to be honest( the age change, not the scowling) - I needed a good excuse to stop making a tool out of myself in bars. Apart from Sinead and Jacinta I now think all my friends are in their 30s. Jesus....How did that happen? Ohwell, best take it with dignity.

So anyway, since Saigon I have have been traveling up north stopping off at various places along the way. I took an 8 hour bus from Saigon to Dalat on the hope of catching up with another traveller I'd met earlier. They disappeared off the proverbial radar and I took the hint. ;) Never mind, I was glad to leave Saigon behind.

Dalat is located in the Vietnamese highlands and as a result the climate is temperate. Nothing like the melting heat of Saigon or the searing heat of other places I'd visit. Its called the Paris of Vietnam, its nothing like Paris, but I guess its more to do with the fact that the French colonials took to the place as a retreat from the rest of Vietnam. I stayed in Dalat for about 5 days. Zooming around on a scooter, sometimes tailing the 'official' tourist guides I'd meet on the road in the off chance I'd end up at a cool and hidden beauty spot. More than once I ended up at one of their homes. Another time I followed a guy for 25 km on the motorway before losing him in some convoluted intersection. I suspect he spotted me and pulled a Steve McQueen on me. Bastard..

Dalat the town is centered around a lake, (which comes equipped with crass pedal boat swans,) - its quite a popular tourist spot for Vietnamese and for that reason has a nice air to it. There is the usual plethora western tourists, but they're not as visible in the Vietnamese-tourist mass. I stayed in an amazing hotel whilst there, which served up a breakfast so vast that I reckon I gained a kg or two rather than losing it to this damn heat.

I decided early on in my time in Dalat that the next leg of my journey would not take place on a bus. So options such as cycling to Nha Trang presented themselves. Then I came across an alternative, taking the EasyRider Tour. Dalat is the base for a group of enthusiastic motorbike riders who are willing to drive you up north for an agreed price. Along the way they stop off at seemingly random places to explain to you a little about the history of Vietnam or to introduce you to some locals harvesting bamboo. I took 2 tours with Easyrider. The first was a tour around Dalat, where I earned myself the easy rider mark of distinction - super sunburned knees. Dalat may be temperate but boy can that sun burn you! The first trip was a great taste of the trip to come.

We visited flower farms(is that what they are called?), silk factories and a stopped at a load of amazing beauty spots. The silk factory was especially interesting. Watching the girls drop the cocoons into warn water to find the thread and then hooking it up so that it could be extracted from the cocoon. Seeing the machines they use to create the fabric, giant machines with elaborate punch hole cards that cycle through the device. Preventing or allowing certain needles to pass through and thus create the patterns in the silk. The larvae themselves are pretty tasty too. Kinda sweet, but crunchie at the same time.

We visited a Elephant waterfall, named so because of the rock formations at the bottom rather than for the presence of actual elephants(that would be later!). I tried my damnedest to kill myself by climbing around the waterfall trying to get a compelling photo. I ended up with some standard shots. Thats the problem with waterfall, the damn things don't like to be captured.

Then finally we ended up at the Crazy House in Dalat. Designed by a Vietnamese woman who spent most of her life in Russia, the house certainly lives up its name. Without denigrating it too much it is a combination of Gaudi like organic shapes and strange animal themes. The house is also available in a hotel capacity although I can't imagine anyone really wanting to stay there. While the building is a sight to behold, the macabre style in some of the rooms is not something I personally would like to wake to. See for yourself!...


P.S Happy birthday Cillian

Labels: travel