My travels through Vietnam continue, having left Saigon earlier this week. So far, Vietnam has been very good. I suspect that, like the first trip to Bangkok, this is due to having a great tour guide showing me around.
Sunday, 6/1/03
Thien and I hauled all of my stuff from my hotel room to his place on a motor scooter. I stayed the night at his house, since we were heading out of town early the next morning. His house is complete with a very nice little Buddhist pagoda in the garden. And 13 little dogs running around, constantly under foot. (Can you imagine having 13 creatures running around your house? ;) )
We spent the day tying up loose ends before leaving town--like going to the ATM, settling up the previous night's bar bill, using the internet, and stopping to say goodbye to Thien's mother (who is staying at his sister's house in Saigon for an extended visit.) As an added bonus, I got to see the 80-kilogram mushroom at his sister's house.
Monday, 6/2/03
I slept like crap and we had to get up very early to catch the bus out of Saigon. We got to the place where we were to catch the bus about an hour and a half early and bought our tickets. Unfortunately, there were some people who decided that their kids needed seats of their own even though they didn't purchase them. As a result, Thien and I got kicked off the bus due to lack of space. I was SO pissed. I was tired, my cold had gotten really bad, I had gotten up at 5:30 to catch that $#&*@! bus and they gave my seat away. I usually don't make a fuss when this stuff happens, but that morning I was just too sick and tired, so like a true American tourist, I threw a tantrum. I slammed my bags to the ground and yelled "Fuck!" when I was told how long we would have to wait for the next bus. I was kind of surprised that I did this, and Thien and the bus guy certainly weren't to thrilled by it. The heat in the cafe where we waited for the next couple of hours for the next bus just made me sicker and sicker. Once we got on to the air-conditioned bus, I was fine.
The ride to Dalat was very nice--hilly and green. The little villages we drove through, though not especially attractive, were quite clean. I've been noticing a lot this trip how little litter there is in Vietnam. Maybe I'm just comparing it to India. :)
We ended up hauling our luggage to the hotel in Dalat in the rain, and were drenched when we got there. The hotel was quite good for $5, but a little noisy.
In the evening, we visited Thien's friend from school, Thanh. A few years ago, Thanh got sick and woke up the next day blind. His vision is still impaired, and Thien had to lead him around town.
We went to a really cool art gallery where all of the "paintings" were painted with embroidery. Some of them were really impressive. We got to see the workshop upstairs where the women stitch them.
Walking around Dalat, a hill station, it was clear we were back in tourist country. Every few minutes someone came up trying to get us to a cafe, or shine our shoes, or sell us something, or ask for handouts.
Tuesday, 6/3/03
Thien and I rented a scooter and visited several waterfalls in the area. One of them required riding quite a way down a dirt/gravel road past rice paddies and fields. After the first water fall, it started raining, so we kicked back in hammocks in a covered cafe overlooking the river from a cliff.
Wednesday, 6/4/03
I woke up feeling like someone had poured glue into my lungs. My cold reached the stage where I hack up yellow-green globs of goo every morning when I get out of bed. Fun.
At 5 AM, the kid in the room next door started screaming like someone was killing it, which, unfortunately, was not the case. Luckily, those people left that day and things were a LOT quieter for the rest of our stay in Dalat.
We rented a scooter again and drove through the hills around Dalat, after briefly getting lost and visiting the local landfill. The road was very scenic, although parts of it were mud. It wound though tea and coffee fields and a pleasant little village. Some of the valley views were very good.
After getting back to Dalat, we went to the Crazy House. This is a hotel with some truly bizarre architecture. Very organic. It makes Gaudy look conventional.
We then went to a rather unimpressive former palace and got soaked on the way home. Due to my cold, I fell asleep around 7 or 8pm.
Thursday, 6/5/03
We took the bus from Dalat to Nha Trang. The twisty ride took us through the hills down to the palm and rice paddy clad low lands. In one of the villages, it appeared that the main mode of transport was pony cart.
Nha Trang's claim to fame is its beach. It is a beautiful, clean beach that stretches for many kilometers. Off the coast are several mountainous islands. The water temperature is perfect. And although it has plenty of people, it is not a crowded madhouse.
We took a little swim, showered, and grabbed a cyclo to a restaurant for dinner. It was my first time in a cyclo. A cyclo is like a bicycle rickshaw, except that the passenger is in front and the driver in back. They are all over Vietnam. On finding out that I was American, our driver commented that he worked for the South Vietnamese and Americans at an airport down south. I didn't catch everything he was saying. According to Lonely Planet, a lot of cyclo drivers were on the side of the south and ended up with their job after "re-education".
Friday, 6/6/03
We both felt a little crappy, so we just hung around the hotel, had lunch on the beach, and walked to the aquarium.
There was a birth in Thien's household, and it was decided that the newborn would be named after me. So there is now a Chihuahua in Saigon named Sidney. :) (Though this dog is the 14th in the house, not the 13th.)
Saturday, 6/7/03
We both still feel crappy, so we're just chilling today as well.
Hopefully, this cold will go away and I can get back to having fun. I'm looking forward to snorkelling at the islands near Nha Trang.
Later,
Sid
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