From Mui Ne, located directly by the sea, we take the bus on a narrow mountain pass road to Dalat in the southern highlands at an altitude of 1500 meters in 3 hours.
Our hostel (Cam Ly) picks us up directly from the bus stop... ..by motorcycles. Because we happened to stay in a hostel that belongs to the 'Easyriders', an organization that offers one or multi-day trips on the back of a motorcycle. The hostel is newly built and beautifully located half-way up the hill.
Tri (right next to Leonie) is the boss of the company. His son is celebrating his fourth birthday that evening. We are invited to join them and celebrate.
There are fried frog legs, shrimp, rice soup and, of course, plenty of beer. The mood is rising and culminates in a big karaoke party.
We teach the birthday boy how to make balloons squeak and pop. In the evening, we decide with the bike guys that we can explore Dalat and its surroundings on the back of their motorcycles the next day. A good decision! The weather the next day is perfect, not a cloud in the sky, which is not so tragic here because the climate in the highlands is much more pleasant. That's why the French colonists decided to turn Dalat into a health resort. The pleasant climate is also liked by the plants, everything grows and flourishes in the surroundings of Dalat: cut flowers, coffee, strawberries, pepper, herbs, as seen in the picture, a mushroom farm. In a fabric factory, we are shown how silk cocoons are turned into a scarf. This is one of the nicer pictures because the larvae that have wrapped themselves in the cocoon do not survive the separation process at 100 degrees Celsius.The view from the mountain pass roads is overwhelming, everything is green and blooming.At 'Happy Buddha', an oversized Buddha figure that smiles and actually stands exactly like this in a monastery, we find a little enlightenment.Coffee is one of the export successes in Vietnam, only 8% of the coffee produced here is consumed here (although a lot of coffee is already drunk here), the rest is exported. The flowering season for coffee plants is just happening, it shines white in the green sea of plants. The beans for (apparently) the best coffee in the world are inside this civet. After the digestion process, the beans are spread out to dry. We try them anyway and find that they have a very intense taste... ...of coffee. Michael, one of our two companions, just likes taking photos of us. But he can also take good photos. The Pongour waterfalls are impressive even in the dry season, how much more must they be during the rainy season! When we return home in the late afternoon, we are completely exhausted from the 110 km tour, in the hot sun. But we still stroll through Dalat and let ourselves be carried away by the French flair in the streets and parks. We have Banh Xeo to eat, mini pancakes baked with octopus, shrimp, and sprouts, which are then wrapped in salad and herbs and dipped in fish sauce. Incredibly delicious!We actually just want to go to bed tired in the evening, but Tri has friends from Canada here and it's time to celebrate! We are naturally invited and spend a cozy evening. There are various types of snails to slurp and Balut. These are duck eggs with half-developed chicks inside that taste like a delicious chicken soup after cooking without any seasoning. Guess who of us missed out on this delicacy ;) On our last morning, we stroll leisurely through the city, get our hands manicured and our feet massaged, and find a cute café where we can relax. In the afternoon, the bus takes us to Thap Cham's small provincial station. There we spend some waiting time accompanied by numerous geckos at the station building. Until finally the night train arrives that takes us to Hoi An, the lantern city. We find our compartment and our bed and let ourselves be shaken to sleep by the rustic railway tracks and switches. Good night!
