Da Lat

Dalat seems to be the agricultural center of Vietnam, specializing in commodities such as flowers, coffee, tea, wine, and artichokes. The French established this city as a respite for the colonists leaving in the warmer parts of the country and indeed the temperatures are quite pleasant, hovering in the 70s.

The city is in the mountains, with windy streets, many viewpoints, and there are flowers everywhere.

Our hotel is quite luxe with comfortable beds, flowers in the room, and a hot pot (yay--I've been getting up at 6 each day to pad down to office to get the owners to fill up a hot pot, best to have your own). 

The city market is a highlight, right in the center of the city. Vendors sell dried fruit -- millions of varieties, presumably made from local produce -- and wine, coffee, and tea in addition to food...vegetables, meat, and rice. We had a great meal on the second floor food court. We think it's called bun cha -- what we call vermicelli bowl back home. Grilled meats atop vermicelli and vegetables with a sweet and sour fish sauce dressing poured on top. Dessert was the signature Vietnam "little yogurts" and an avocado coconut ice.

We toured two Buddhist pagodas. One was a pristine zen monastery -- Truc Lam. It had a very peaceful feel, with perfect flower gardens and bonsai trees. The monks were having lunch when we arrived and we watched them carry their bowls into the central hall, and then wash them out afterwards. We had hoped to sign up for a meditation center, but there seemed to be no administrative offices, so we settled for the peacefulness of the place.

The second pagoda, Linh Phuoc, had a wild party feel -- perhaps because it was decorated with thousands of beer bottles and other cutlery. We learned that only new bottles and cutlery are used, donated by the villages. One of my guidebooks gives it only 3 stars. What? It is a wonder of the world!

Lady Buddha, surrounded by many gold lady Buddhas.

Detail on columns, brown bits are beer bottles, the blue and white made of new dishes.

Lady Buddha, made of dried chrysanthemums. Hard to tell here, but she is hundreds of feet high.

We visited a tea plantation and were able to taste the leaves right off the bush. Our guide We (sp) told us that some people make tea out of the raw leaves, but truthfully it tastes very different. The only flavor that I could detect was the tannins - if that is a flavor at all.

Tea plantation.

We toured an oolong tea factory where fresh leaves were left out to dry in the sun. The workers first turned the leaves, then went indoors and sorted tea, removing stems and sorting through the dried buds. In the factory itself there were fermentation baskets and dryers. We are told the entire process for making oolong tea is two or three days from harvest to final product. 

Up in the hills near the tea plantation, it seems that every house has coffee beans drying in their front yard. Tarps are stretched out and covered with the raw beans and we drive through many blocks like this. We stopped at one of the "houses" where a family had an unusually large area devoted to drying. This family takes in coffee beans from other families and dries and sorts them. The beans were still wet...the berry that surrounds the coffee seed was not completely gone in all of them. The smell was quite unique and familiar, but not coffee like. Although the beans were drying, it smelled as if some fermentation was occurring. I also noticed that many of the beans were much larger than the ones I purchased in Ethiopia. I suspect that the raw beans I bought in Ethiopia were inferior - not for export. 

Forest Management

On a hike in what seems to be a park -- Lang Biang -- we hiked up a few miles of steep roads through a conifer forest. On the way back, little forest had been set all along the road. Each set of fires was monitored by an older man...not in uniform exactly -- but we assumed they were some type of ranger. We have been told that these fires are set as a way to prevent larger forest fires. From the time we walked up the road to the time we turned, the sky was choked in smoke, and there was no view to be had. 

Mui Ne

We're staying in the beach town of Mui Ne for four nights at a beachfront hotel with pool for $25/night, breakfast not included. Right now I'm peering out over the ocean from my front porch and watching the fishermen pull in their nets which sit just a 100 yards out from the property. Beach erosion is a problem here so only during low tide do we really have a sandy beach and the prospect of swimming is frightening. In the afternoon and evenings the lapping of the surf against the concrete bulkheads is quite menacing, but heck, beachfront for $25/night, who can criticize?

We're having a lazy stay here -- Barbara is under the weather with the same cold I arrived with (I suspect)...she's been spending quite a bit of time at rest and can't manage any long or strenuous activities. It's okay, this is the kind of place in which it's okay to take it easy. 

We did hop a cab to the Cham ruins outside of town. The Cham people apparently came to Vietnam from Borneo in the second century and are of Polynesian extraction. The ruins we visited were Hindu-like, Ninth Century, very similar to the ruins in Cambodia. Major Cham populations are in Vietnam and Cambodia, although the group converted to Islam in the 11th century. 

Inside Cham Temple.

Also near Mui Ne are sand dunes...not on the beach...a bit away. We booked a sunrise "jeep" ride to the dunes, leaving our hotel at 5:00 AM. On arrival, we were expelled from the jeep and pressured into taking an ATV ride onto the dunes for $15 (a fortune here). I kept saying, "can't we walk," and they said, "too far, too far." So we pulled out the money, and the two of us (think two big white ladies, tiny ATV) headed off on the back of the machine. Zroom! Zroom! We climbed the dunes along with many other buzzing vehicles. Going up one of the larger dunes I began to slip off the vehicle...thank goodness my wrist allowed me the grip I needed to stay on board. Once on the top of the dune we awaited the sunrise amidst the whir of engines all around us frolicking in the dunes. Due to some overcast, we missed the actual peaking of the sun. I refused to ride the ATV back -- turns out the distance was only one kilometer -- and had a much more pleasant trip back.

Our driver stopped at a second set of sand dunes but Barbara said, "no, no, no more dunes!" I suppose it was just as well, the previous dunes had been horribly unpleasant.

But the highlight of this "jeep" excursion was a stop at the fishing village. In the harbor were dozens of fishing boats, both the long and the round kind. On the shore there were women plucking various fish and shellfish from the nets. In another area there were large piles of various shellfish and small fish and eels being sorted. One woman had a large bucket of shrimp; another crabs, and so on. Any seafood you eat here is extraordinarily fresh...it is netted in the area of sea near the tourist hotels and brought back to the village for sorting where it is then purchased by consumers. It is fresh. 

We finally discovered a fabulous and inexpensive restaurant a few doors down from our hotel...thank you Lonely Planet! All one has to do is read it and secrets will be revealed. We had an amazing meal of shrimp in lemongrass and shrimp in garlic along with water spinach and slurped down a bottle of Da Lat white wine. The local wine is not great, but is only $4.65 a bottle at restaurants. I think it's just great!

Mekong River Budget Tour

It started out okay...pickup at our hotel, made friends with Amelie and Christ (from Germany), nice guide. And more or less it was okay. Truthfully we weren't sure what we signed up for. Barbara did not want to see the Cuchi caves (claustrophobia) and the other trips seemed too long. So we bought a rather inexpensive tour -- I think it was $10. For this we got an enormous amount of activities. First we drove out to the delta, boarded a boat that took us to an island. On the island, we were boarded onto canoes where ladies paddled through a two-mile canal. Off those boats, we went to a honey bee center where we were served tea and saw a beehive demonstration. These bees subsisted on Longan fruit although we couldn't really tell by the taste. 

We also saw a coconut candy factory where they demonstrated how the candy was made from peeling and cracking the coconut on to boiling and making the candy.

There was musical entertainment including jingle bells and "if you're happy and you know it clap your hands." We were served tea and an assortment of tropical fruits including Longan and durian. The durian was actually good.

Finally we boarded to boat again and went to lunch. We had thought it was impossible to get a bad meal in Vietnam, but it turns out this is not true. The meal, shockingly, was the low point of the day with uninspired pork cutlet, rice, and green beans. We also order the special Mekong river fish -- a whole (unsealed!) deep fried fish that we picked at and rolled into spring rolls. But yuck! No herbs, just lettuce, flavor just okay, no delicious dipping sauce. Hard to understand given that excellent food exists everywhere else.

We had an excruciating trip back on an overcrowded bus where Barbara vowed she would not book with anyone except the tour company we used for Halong Bay last year. I pointed out that we only paid $10 for this tour and $300 for Halong Bay. You get what you pay for. We agree that we would not be booking a budget tour again

Chinatown

Chinatown (Cholon) is a district in HCMC that is a 30-minute cab ride away. Because of the sprawl of the city, I didn't get a really good sense of our direction. We must be thankful for both Lonely Planet and the "HCMC Survival Guide" I pulled off Amazon for not getting ripped off on this ride. The first cab we approached wanted 200,000 for the ride -- $10. Very reasonable by American standards, but Lonely Planet and guide indicated the fare should be 100,000. We negotiated, but he would not budge below $150,000. We then went out to the street and hailed an official cab....with a meter. When we asked the price, he pointed. When we finally got to Chinatown, price was 87,000....

Bing Tay Market - a huge wholesale market (Chinatown) There are multiple buildings - French built -- but with Asian decorative motifs. In the middle was a courtyard with a lovely fountain. We strolled through with vendors telling us - wholesale - and found the food court for a cup of coffee. We sat at a table with a middle-aged woman eating snacks...a sticky rice ball filled with pork, corn, various Veggies. She kept smiling at us an offered me some of her lunch...so sweet.

Have I mentioned the treacherous mess of walking in HCMC? My panic at most intersections where Barbara says, here, let's go, and I say "no, no, not yet" and we stand that way as time passes. Frequently a young man will take pity on us and escort us across the street, telling us when to walk, to stop, to continue. I think my recent fracture (lifetime first) has made me much more afraid --- injuries can take a long time to heal and they hurt! Why should I put myself through this?

All this to say that it took us two hours to do a one-hour walk from the market to the Phuong An Hoi Quan Pagoda. There are many pagodas in Chinatown but we decided to just see the most recommended one....so we walked and walked and walked. I panicked at most major intersections, adding time to the trip. And we walked. The pagoda itself was quite small compared to the temple complexes in Thailand. This is a Taoist pagoda -- first I've seen. It is quite elaborate with flashing neon at the three alters and incense burning everywhere.

Traditional Herb Shops. We knew we were close when the smell of herbs wafted into our nostrils as we exited the cab on a side street. There were no vendors at the drop-off point so we followed our noses up the street until we found the shops. Herbs and mushrooms poured out of sacks or were packaged in elegant gift wrap. Giant reishi mushrooms --  bigger than your head -- greeted us along with bags of  tiny lacquered versions of the same.

We wanted to try some artichoke tea, but could not find on our side of the street and were afraid to cross to see the remaining vendors. 

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Food

First, the food in HCMC is phenomenal. Any old tourist restaurant will get you a meal as good or better than stateside south philly restaurants. At the Ban Thanh Market we got two fabulous meals. They have the grilled beef rolls, this time wrapped in betel leaves instead of the grape leaves back home. I ordered these plus pork wrapped around sugar cane and then grilled. These were served as a "vermicelli bowl," much to my delight. The bowls have far fewer noodles than back home...perfect amount! My only regret is that I did not have two or three more meals at that beautiful market.

Ho Chi Minh City

The good news is that my visa is good for one year due to an administrative error. But I can't leave and come back so I will have to think about this.

We are staying in the backpacker section of district 1 so we are centrally located. The neighborhood is okay with many services within walking distance. There are food streets, bar (girl) streets, massage (non-bar girl) streets. The traffic is relentless. Because of the broken wrist, I find I'm a little less bold with the traffic causing long delays in street crossing. My favored method is to find a local and walk along with them. Barbara and I typically hold hands during these crossings. Yesterday we were trapped on a traffic island for maybe 10 minutes until a group of ladies our age came along and shepherded us across. People are so nice.

Yesterday we did the Lonely Planet walking tour around district one. Highlights are the public market (spotless) at the beginning and a drink overlooking the city at the end of the walk. We saw market streets, antique streets, and so on.

We have been warned of robberies via motorcycle which adds a bit to the paranoia level. Apparently the motorcycle drives by, slices through your purse strap (or backpack strap) and drives on. We are told not to walk with phone in hand for the same reason--What? This reminds me a lot of Ethiopia where you must pay attention to your belongings.

We met a young German last night (who by the way gave us a left handed compliment by congratulating us on traveling "here" at our age) who told us these kinds of robberies were common in Cambodia now. Behavior spreads...reminds me of Philly in the 80s. 

The food here is very much like our South Philly Vietnamese. Yesterday I had a lotus root salad, for instance, which tasted much like the one at Nam Phuong. I'd say the Pho is generally a bit better, but so similar....

However, we are in the backpacker's district, which is filled to the brim with white folk....it is amazing that the restaurants are good...I would say if anything we are overpaying...but the food is as good as we're used to in the States.

There is a lot of hustling going on, but it is not debilitating. Each restaurant and massage parlor has a hawker out front (at least in backpacker district). 

I Think I Like Bangkok

This is my fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh time in Bangkok depending on if you count overnights exclusively for the purpose of airline transfers. I've been told generally to stay away from the place, that it is a necessary evil.

I think I may have to challenge that position. I booked an AirBnB place that looked very interesting, had great reviews, but appeared to be somewhat "out of the way." I was worried I would be trapped in a far Bangkok suburb with no access to the place. Thankfully I was wrong and the place is really better located than advertised. A 15-minute walk, barely dangerous, with an overpass that takes you over the most treacherous portions) takes you to the FERRY. The $1.15 each way ferry takes me anywhere that I know to go: Wat Po, Imperial Palace, Chinatown, and so on. I was so excited to be able to easily navigate to make this happen today. 

Have you heard of the Khao San road? Sadly, in spite of multiple trips to Thailand, I just learned of it from an old Susan Orlean article that I read during my recent wrist confinement. Tha Khao San road became a backpacker "thing" sometime in the 1980s. It was a place where folks from all over the world came to crash at (and I quote) "bedbug infested rooms" and to take in the ambience of Bangkok. Lonely Planet indicates it was featured in the movie "The Beach," and Susan Orlean found it a strange and unappealing phenomenon. 

Armed with the Bangkok Lonely Planet and wanting to see something new, I decided to go. Lonely Planet indicates that the neighborhood is an old Bangkok area with certain charms. Banglamphu is the name of the neighborhood which boasts sites other than Khao San (but which I did not see).

Following the map provided by our host Sarakasit, I walked to the Ferry. Along the way I was sidetracked by the pharmacy. Ok, yeah, I am recently retired from a drug company so I have this natural interest. I am also fascinated by the lack of need for prescriptions for all but the known addictive drugs. This means Yes to antidepressants but No to opiates or Valium-type drugs. My mission was twofold: 1) my doc at home only prescribed 3 azythromycin pills for a 10-week trip. Given that I intend to eat a lot of street food, that amount would only last for one bout (if, knock on wood, it occurs). So I bought a six-pack -- known in the states as a z-pack. It cost a lot - $5.00. I also purchased thyroxine, which I need to get through the trip -- $2.75 for 100. 

With finally the correct amount of prescribed drugs in hand, I proceeded to the FERRY. Adjacent to the ferry is a free outdoor gym. I peeked in through the foliage at a collection of buff and semi-buff Thai mean, some of whom greeted me with "Hello Madame." I so wanted to take photos of the guys pumping iron out of doors, but I was too shy to ask permission. Leave it to your imagination....park, "nautilus"-like equipment, buff and semi-buff men, signage indicating "free outdoor gym."

Okay, so I finally hit the ferries....fun, cheap, instructive, designed for tourists. The Chao Phraya Express Boats  run up and down on the river stopping frequently for tourist sites such as Chinatown, Flower Market, and so on. They were super fun and no one tried to scam me to buy a more expensive ticket...it was fun! The river, sadly, continues to be polluted with plastic bottles, seaweed, paper, dead fish. I remember the same from 2008. EVen so, it is remarkable to see such a beautiful city on a boat for $1.15 or so! 

I did finally make it to the Khao San road -- the end of the line and I boarded at the beginning -- and it was okay. I did see many young people. Anyone older was either on a tour or, truthfully, suspect. I say this of the men in particular. Many white men seem to have an obsession with Thai women and when I see a single man my age in Thailand, I assume either gay or into Thai (much younger) women. What can I say? It is liberating.

Khao San did its job as far as I was concerned..it gave me a destination where the journey outstripped the purpose.

After all this, what more is there? Well, I did score a massage..a tough love one...this afternoon and it was, in retrospect, yummy. I hope to go back tomorrow for two hours. The prices...$5.50 per hour! And some of the masseuses are gifted.

I also broke through on some street food phobias..unlike others, my phobia is not about sanitation, but about not being able to order in the correct language. My Airbnb neighborhood is filled with vendors, so I learn that pointing works very well. 

Cost of today's meals:

Breakfast (included)

Lunch $.55 (pork noodle soup)

Dinner $2.00 - fried rice and fried rice cakes

Such a deal!

I did try to get to a classic Bangkok restaurant in the neighborhood, but alas, it if was where it was supposed to be, the signs were in Thai....no comprendo