Market, river, bridge, houses
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Friday, 30 December 2011
Thursday, 29 December 2011
After the Tour
What a day, what a day. I have had such a great time riding very strange clutchless motorbikes around the highlands of vietnam. We have seen cricket farms, markets, silk factories, waterfalls, coffee plantations, obscure and different villages, a long session with a family of Cil (pronounced Chit) people, lunch at our guides family home and enlightening talks about Vietnamese and Cil culture - who can marry whom, the role of women in society, the role of men in society and the good /bad things that the government is trying to do.
It was fantasitic and really worth the $30 cost. It started at 7 in the morning and we got back at 7 in the evening. There were 9 intrepid travellers and our guide and his cousin. We started off visiting the only cricket farm in Vietnam. We were shown how they are grown and then given a chance to sample the product. I have to say that the fried crickets were delicious. Crunchy and sweet with a subtle hint of peanut. I pigged out! Then we stopped at a village/town market and were given a detailed description of some stalls specialising in stuff for dead people. paper suits, televisions, video recorders and mobile phones. On the dead persons death anniversary family members burn these so that the dear departed have the things they liked in life. Something way out of my culture. We then went into the veggie section and got details about all the produce. I now know what morning glory looks like! We were given alot of detail about the meat/flesh section while checking out the cage of dogs ready for eating. Back on the road again we stopped at a silk factory. We were able to see the whole process from extracting the threads from the balls of silk around the worm to waeving the finished thread. Very interesting.
Next we rode to an impressive waterfall - Elephant falls. We looked from the top then climbed down the bottom. lots of photos were taken. We were even able to get into a cave that led to the back of the falls. It was bit wet however. On the way to our guides village for lunch we stopped of at a coffee plantation to get a spiel on coffee growing in Vietnam. Apparently Vietnam is second only to brazil for the production of Coffee. Judging by what we saw most of it is grown around Dalat (cf photos). Lunch was had and enjoyed and then we went to visit the Cil family. Very interesting. We got chapter and verse about Cil culture from the horses mouth. We first were individually introduced. The women we were talking to varied in ages from 83 to 19. I can tell you that I would not want to be a Cil woman. There were 4 women present and they had a combined total of 29 children! back at our guides house we got a spiel about Vietnamese culture. I wish I had had this spiel several years ago. It was so informative.
The trip back to Dalat was staggerde by a visit to a mushroom farm. Weary and worn we wended our way back to Dalat. A very happy crew that carried on the rage by going out to dinner together. Thus ends another day. tomorrow its wandering around Dalat and then a flight to Hoian. catch youse later cobbers.
It was fantasitic and really worth the $30 cost. It started at 7 in the morning and we got back at 7 in the evening. There were 9 intrepid travellers and our guide and his cousin. We started off visiting the only cricket farm in Vietnam. We were shown how they are grown and then given a chance to sample the product. I have to say that the fried crickets were delicious. Crunchy and sweet with a subtle hint of peanut. I pigged out! Then we stopped at a village/town market and were given a detailed description of some stalls specialising in stuff for dead people. paper suits, televisions, video recorders and mobile phones. On the dead persons death anniversary family members burn these so that the dear departed have the things they liked in life. Something way out of my culture. We then went into the veggie section and got details about all the produce. I now know what morning glory looks like! We were given alot of detail about the meat/flesh section while checking out the cage of dogs ready for eating. Back on the road again we stopped at a silk factory. We were able to see the whole process from extracting the threads from the balls of silk around the worm to waeving the finished thread. Very interesting.
Next we rode to an impressive waterfall - Elephant falls. We looked from the top then climbed down the bottom. lots of photos were taken. We were even able to get into a cave that led to the back of the falls. It was bit wet however. On the way to our guides village for lunch we stopped of at a coffee plantation to get a spiel on coffee growing in Vietnam. Apparently Vietnam is second only to brazil for the production of Coffee. Judging by what we saw most of it is grown around Dalat (cf photos). Lunch was had and enjoyed and then we went to visit the Cil family. Very interesting. We got chapter and verse about Cil culture from the horses mouth. We first were individually introduced. The women we were talking to varied in ages from 83 to 19. I can tell you that I would not want to be a Cil woman. There were 4 women present and they had a combined total of 29 children! back at our guides house we got a spiel about Vietnamese culture. I wish I had had this spiel several years ago. It was so informative.
The trip back to Dalat was staggerde by a visit to a mushroom farm. Weary and worn we wended our way back to Dalat. A very happy crew that carried on the rage by going out to dinner together. Thus ends another day. tomorrow its wandering around Dalat and then a flight to Hoian. catch youse later cobbers.
Wednesday, 28 December 2011
Dalat Nightlife
Having arrived and been settled in my room I had time to take stock of where I was and what was going on. Dalat is a very beautiful, what I would call city spread like a carpet over alot of hills. The buildings ooze over every hill and gully leaving little alleys and snaking roads to service them. A stroll around shows lots of stairways between roads. It is quite cold here. I have had to resort to Jumpers and thermals.
The hotel I am staying at has very friendly staff. I have signed up for a M/C self drive tour today. All day from 7 till 5. from what I was able to understand I will be seeing every possible thing from Hill tribe Villages to waterfalls and onto industrial sites! Yeha.
Last Night I went with one of the hotel people to a resteraunt/nightclub. We had a meal that could not be beat (Dalat style hot pot - steaming boat with seafood and beef). It was very tasty although I would have added more seasoning. After the meal we went upsatirs to the nightclub where my guide is a singer. Vietnamese modern pop is a day out! Barbra Striesand goes asian. Long songs full of emotion with an ABBA like bạcking wierd man. After that nightclub he took me to another where he was invited to sing again. We finally made it back to the hotel by midnight. A great night was had by all, while my beard my have sufered a bit from all the stroking. I have a new lookalike here - Saddam Husein!
The hotel I am staying at has very friendly staff. I have signed up for a M/C self drive tour today. All day from 7 till 5. from what I was able to understand I will be seeing every possible thing from Hill tribe Villages to waterfalls and onto industrial sites! Yeha.
Last Night I went with one of the hotel people to a resteraunt/nightclub. We had a meal that could not be beat (Dalat style hot pot - steaming boat with seafood and beef). It was very tasty although I would have added more seasoning. After the meal we went upsatirs to the nightclub where my guide is a singer. Vietnamese modern pop is a day out! Barbra Striesand goes asian. Long songs full of emotion with an ABBA like bạcking wierd man. After that nightclub he took me to another where he was invited to sing again. We finally made it back to the hotel by midnight. A great night was had by all, while my beard my have sufered a bit from all the stroking. I have a new lookalike here - Saddam Husein!
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