welcome to the jungle

For our second day in Da Lat, we booked a tour through the jungle of Vietnam. We started our expedition punctually at 8:37 am.

Guide Mingh and driver Phuog turned out to be funny companions.

Our first section took us through small coffee plantations. After visiting a large plantation yesterday, we were able to get an idea of the strenuous work of small family businesses here in the mountains.

We broke a sweat already during the first ascent with an incline of about 45°.

On the soft and moist clay soil, we discovered the tracks of cross motorcycles. As it turned out, they were not the tracks of enduros, but tracks of the chains on the rear wheels of the small mopeds owned by coffee farmers, which should give their "fire horses" more grip when descending the harvest and climbing the mountains.

We could imagine the amount of work that is done here not only during the harvest. And all for the following pay: The farmers earn less than 1 US DOLLAR for 1 kg of coffee beans, while a kilogram of ground coffee is sold in our supermarkets for 16 euros. Another reason to buy fair trade more often in the future and to handle things more consciously.

We continued uphill for 2 hours, passing ancient trees that can also be found in the UNESCO Red Book. We saw beautiful butterflies, small lizards and squirrels, listened to the mighty orchestra of cicadas - astonishing how loud such a small insect can be - learned about the healing and dangerous properties of jungle mushrooms, or simply let the atmosphere take effect on us. In the process, we were drenched in sweat - a fine thing, because at least we got some desired endurance training. Our stuff was covered in dirt, we looked like the way one looks when playing outside.

The originality reminded us a little bit of the wildness of the Darß Forest.

Arriving at the summit, we met another group: French (father, daughter) with their Vietnamese guide. The daughter lives in Berlin. We weren't sure if she enjoyed the tour as much as her father did.

Finally, we continued hiking towards our destination. In 2 hours, we want to reach our goal, a beautifully located lake called PARADISE LAKE. We want to conquer the route quickly and not extend the time with more breaks. The route is demanding but very beautiful. Our guide is lucky that we are fit. We continue to fight our way through the thicket, slide over roots, until we finally see light at the end of the forest. Happily, we find ourselves in the middle of a protected world that was threatened by slash-and-burn agriculture until just a few years ago.

We see the lake and feel hungry. After another 45 minutes passing by wild horses and under pine trees, we finally sit on the shore of PARADISE LAKE, looking at a great landscape and enjoying the self-made sandwiches with cucumber, tomato, cheese, chili, pork, and herbs, as well as the dessert made of cake and fruit. Mingh, our tour guide, magically pulled all the delicious things out of his backpack, including a first aid kit.

We learned that land here is sold in hectares to banks and the land price is top secret.

We were able to admire the first examples of modern architecture on the riverbank. If this is supposed to be the new direction, it wouldn't be a dead end from our point of view. Modern houses, well coordinated with each other, in an enchanting landscape.

If one had to flee or simply leave Germany, Da Lat would be a beautiful place to live.

Since the way back would have led us exclusively along the road, we had Phuog pick us up and comfortably take us back to the hotel; after all, we had already covered 14 km and had our next appointment at 4 pm: Our honeymoon bath from yesterday. Only one thing should be said at this point: The Vietnamese know how to do spa. A soothing end to an exhausting day.

We discuss the details for the upcoming days with Than, our guide through the national park from November 9-11, and after a delicious dinner, we still find time for the Sunday crime scene. We are happy to be able to be HERE.

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