Da Lat

Friday, November 28th. I booked the 3 Waterfalls tour, a bit pricey. To my surprise, it wasn't a group tour but a private motorcycle tour with just Hu and me for the whole day. He looks much older than he is (45). First stop: Datanla Waterfall, which is like a small amusement park. Included is a ride on the summer toboggan run. It was good, but the French woman in front of me kept braking. When she stopped to take photos, I got a bit loud. Hu is a bit quirky and talks nonsense sometimes. He complains about the corrupt government with me, but wouldn’t say that openly in Vietnam. We often stop, and he shows me a lot: Chicken Village with local housing, where an indigenous group lives and grows flowers, mushroom cultivation, wood carving, silkworm farming, a silk factory, pepper trees, passionfruit plantation (he snatches a kilo for me) and so on. The second waterfall is the Pongour Waterfall, very big and somehow calming. For lunch, there is very good chicken. Other stops: Lady Buddha statue at Elephant Waterfall (there haven't been elephants there for 50 years), rice whiskey distillery (he tries to push fried crickets on me, no thanks), and a tourist coffee plantation. Specialty: digested weasel coffee beans. If you like it. Last stop: an abandoned American airbase. He earned his tip. It's exhausting to spend a day with just one person, especially with his limited English. And him constantly promoting Vietnamese women is annoying. In his opinion, I could find a wife even today. At the silk factory, he almost tried to set me up. Country women have fewer expectations and are therefore better than city women. In the evening, I eat with Abhay from India and we go to the Night Market. He feels a bit lonely.

Abhay twisted his foot, I give him my Ibus and we go for breakfast, then we head to a new hostel. The first hostel wasn't good, way too loud, too many drunken people, and it desperately needs renovations. It's amazing how manipulative they were with the pictures and reviews. The best criterion is the price. The new hostel is a dream: clean, everyone is friendly, tea, bananas, a spacious common area, and no party crowd. Otherwise, a quiet day, did a bit of shopping (I negotiated way too little at the market) and walked around Da Lat. A beautiful mountain town. Typhoon Koto is weakening and will probably only brush against Vietnam. In the evening, I participate in the BBQ at the hostel, really delicious and great conversations. Since I've chosen the vegetarian option, I sit with the women.

According to my count, today is day 31 of my trip. I've found an agency that offers trekking and kayaking, which wasn't easy. There are currently very few tourists here. Before it starts, I randomly meet Hu. He starts talking about the girls at the silk factory again. Viet, the guide, picks me up, and there are two Vietnamese women with us who don't speak English. We go over 3 hills, I estimate about 10 km and 400 meters of elevation. Plenty of sunshine. At a campsite by the lake, there is lunch, plenty of Banh Mi and fruit for everyone. There are two horses and a dog that watch us. The horses are tame and we can sit on them. After lunch, there are five of us. The dog follows us. We cross a few streams and walk through the forest. In the end, we kayak for half an hour, me with Viet, about half an hour. The girls stop after 5 minutes to take photos and pose instead. They have already been doing that on the mountains for ages. They even carry extra accessories with them. An incomprehensible world to me. Viet did a great job, such a funny guy. On the way back, it starts to rain heavily. I chat a bit with Kristine and that’s it for the day. Da Lat wasn't bad; I would have stayed longer if there had been more to experience.