Dalat

Days 11 + 12 in Vietnam: Dalat

Let's start with the 5 hour bus ride that made one 20 min stop and another 45 min one where the reason we stopped was because of the bus driver's lack of legitimate plates and of any registration papers. He said nothing and didn't speak to the Vietnamese guy on the bus who spoke a little English so that he could inform the rest of us. The bus driver got off the bus, walked away, then disappeared. Where'd he go? No one knew. Then, some people got off the bus 20 min later and walked back. What was going on? We were so confused. Finally, the Vietnamese man was able to help us out after speaking to the police. The bus driver finally came back and off we were to go up large hills where the engine almost failed several times. The bus rocked back and forth pretty violently here and there. Oh, yeah. I felt safe. I was laughing a lot.

We reached Dalat. I got off the bus. I wanted my fleece. My fleece! The novelty of wearing one! A couple of volunteers who were already here met us at our hotel, which was swank, by the way: the were two shower heads and 6 sprayers (3 on the left, 3 on the right). There was urinal with a sensor, and an energy-efficient toilet. Even the sink had the option of hot water. Crazy! Best $20 spent! We met up with the rest of the crew, then went off to the market where we bought strawberries (STRAWBERRIES!), mulberries (MULBERRIES!), avocados (AVOCADOS!), and almonds and cashews (NUTS!). I got a kilo of the strawberries for $1, 1/2 of one of the mulberries for $0.50, and three avocados for $1.75. I was absolutely elated. We ended up buying some Delat wine (red and white) and mixed in strawberry and passion fruit juice (respectively). We ended the night eating Pho then going back to big group's hotel to watch Zombieland together.

The following morning (this morning), we woke up to a homemade breakfast of local fruits, cornflakes, milk, yogurt, eggs, bacon, ham, passion fruit juice, and coffee. All of this was included in the price of the room. Sierra hung out with us for the beginning of the morning (she couldn't get a ride back to HCMC the day before) and had to wait for the 11p bus tonight (she just left). Around noon, Jill and I took a taxi ride to the cable cars which overlooks the city. We get there and it says "Under maintenance for April 11th"...out of all the days! Anyhow, we saved $3 by not doing that, right? Well, it cost us $3/person for the taxi ride to the cable cars then to the Crazy House, which is a house designed by a Vietnamese architect that would have members of Home Owner's Association in absolute hysteria. It basically looks like a giant tree trunk and has stairs that go every which way. You can actually stay in one of the ten rooms, each with its own strange difference. After visiting the Crazy House, we walked back towards the hotel. Or well, we thought we were heading back towards the hotel. We found a couple of drivers and write down the name of the hotel. They have no clue. Where were we? They didn't know our hotel, and everyone near our hotel knew of it. We get back in the right direction, and its the other way. It was actually quite a ways away from our hotel, but we were so happy to make it back. We spent the rest of the night chatting until going to dinner at a semi-fancy restaurant where I had sweet and sour pork with snap peas, bell peppers, cauliflower, and tomatoes. I had to leave early as I came down with something. I don't know what it was, but it hit me hard. I went white as a ghost, so I walked back to the hotel. It was amazing how much the fresh air helped. I'm fine, now.

Now, I'm in bed watching Homeland. We thought it was a movie before looking it up. It's really good so far. Okay, off to HCMC/Saigon, tomorrow.

Talk to you soon,

Garrett