After Saigon, we took a bus up to Dalat, a vacation destination in the Vietnamese central highlands. Dalat was created as a French colonial town and today is a very nice, picturesque town that appears to be a weekend get-away for Vietnamese. Its elevation is about 5000 feet above sea level, so the days are comfortably warm and the nights cool enough to wear a jacket. And as Elise mentioned at the end of the last post: Dalat wine is sold anywhere from $1.50 to $3 per bottle and is very drinkable…so we enjoyed plenty of that. And we are continuing to find it readily available all around Vietnam. Elise is very happy.
In Dalat there is a loosely affiliated group of motorcycle guides that calls itself the Easy Riders who do tours. They hit you up immediately and we quickly realized that would be a fun way to see the countryside after a sales pitch from Mr. Bin at our hotel. So we booked a day tour – me on a 250cc Yamaha motorbike, and Elise rode with Mr. Bin on the back of a larger Honda. The tour covered the countryside where we took a short hike to a viewpoint, visited coffee plantations, a minority village, an incredible waterfall, and toured a weird architectural phenomenon in town – the crazy house. The crazy house is a hotel that was designed by a Vietnamese architect who was trained in Russia and has well-decorated themed rooms and the place more resembles something a child would enjoy playing in with its maze of corridors and walkways over very nice grounds and scenic views.
In Dalat there is a loosely affiliated group of motorcycle guides that calls itself the Easy Riders who do tours. They hit you up immediately and we quickly realized that would be a fun way to see the countryside after a sales pitch from Mr. Bin at our hotel. So we booked a day tour – me on a 250cc Yamaha motorbike, and Elise rode with Mr. Bin on the back of a larger Honda. The tour covered the countryside where we took a short hike to a viewpoint, visited coffee plantations, a minority village, an incredible waterfall, and toured a weird architectural phenomenon in town – the crazy house. The crazy house is a hotel that was designed by a Vietnamese architect who was trained in Russia and has well-decorated themed rooms and the place more resembles something a child would enjoy playing in with its maze of corridors and walkways over very nice grounds and scenic views.
We spent another great day motor biking out to a trailhead and then climbing Lang Bien Mountain which at an elevation of 2400m (~7400ft) above sea level, it is the highest point in southern Vietnam. Great views and beautiful long-needle pine forests.
Our motorcycle guide recommended a resort at the far eastern edge of the Mui Ne strip called the Rang Dong Resort. It is a little far from the main restaurants and resorts, but nothing a motorbike or bicycle ride couldn’t solve (everything is spread out anyway). The best part is that we had a fairly nice bungalow complete with WIFI, fridge, cable TV, AC, and pool view for $15/night. And since it was pretty much a Vietnamese weekend place, we had the whole place to ourselves for the four nights we were there. Our stay consisted of sun-bathing at the pool, motor biking to the sand-dunes, and eating some great Vietnamese seafood. One night we ate at Lam Tong restaurant at tables on the sand and picked the fresh red-snapper we wanted grilled right out of a tank. Riding motorbikes and bicycles out on the coastal roads and visiting the sand-dunes was our favorite activity. There are two sets: the white dunes about 30km away from town, and the red-dunes only about 6km. The pictures will speak for themselves.
At that point, we needed to head back to Saigon for two reasons. The first was to pick up our passports which had hopefully been processed with a visa extension for an additional month in Vietnam. Thankfully, once we arrived in Saigon, our passports were waiting and there were no issues. The second reason for returning to Saigon is that my brother, Brad, had recently pulled off a world-travel logistical stunt that involved him stopping by Vietnam for a visit for a week. Last minute he booked a who-knows-how-many leg journey to spend time in India with his good friend Prakash’s family who had recently experienced a family tragedy due to an automobile accident. Amazingly, this who-knows-how-many leg last-minute journey of planes, trains, and automobiles actually ran very smoothly with stops in San Francisco to process an India tourist visa, and experimenting with a new online and visa-on-arrival process for Vietnam. Given our recent Vietnam visa challenges we were skeptical, but I am baffled after our experiences that Brad getting a Vietnam visa on arrival worked like clockwork and was inexpensive. Asia never ceases to amaze me by how completely unorganized some things can be, and how efficient others are – even for the same thing!
Anyway, we were very glad Brad could come visit. We met him at the Saigon airport and jumped on the same domestic flight from Saigon to Haiphong in northern Vietnam. Our destination was Cat Ba island, situated very near Halong Bay. Halong Bay is a world heritage site and arguably one of the top natural wonders of the world. With thousands of islands with secluded beaches and sheer limestone cliffs that jut out of the emerald waters of the Gulf of Tonkin, Cat Ba Island and Halong Bay sounded like a pretty good place for Brad to spend his “layover” in Vietnam.
Here are the highlights of our week:
- Drinking Bia Hoi (draft beer) with the locals on a sidewalk beer-station in Haiphong where we stayed the night prior to catching a morning ferry to the island.
- Arriving in Cat Ba town to find an $8/night hotel room that would sleep all three of us with a balcony that overlooks the craggy island peaks and Gulf of Tonkin.
- Purchasing multiple bottles of Dalat wine at $2.50/bottle and drinking said wine (as well as Hanoi Vodka mixers) on the balcony mentioned above. The lady at the convenience store was very appreciative of our repeat business.
- Introducing the TV series Modern Family to Brad and catching up on this season’s episodes viewed via the internet. Quality show.
- Renting motorbikes and touring the island’s rural roads overlooking dramatic landscapes of seaside cliffs, beaches, and farmland among very rugged mountain peaks that look more like a fairy tale than real life.
- Touring the secret North Vietnamese hospital cave, a large cave that was turned into a hospital and secret hiding place for the army and even Uncle Ho at one time for a week. A retired, super-friendly, and very proud North Vietnamese Army soldier gives the tour. The cave consisted of hospital rooms, sleeping rooms, kitchens, and even a pool and movie theatre. No matter how many bombs were dropped on the mountain above, everything inside the cave was unharmed.
- Taking an overnight boat cruise through the bay that included floating villages, sea kayaking, visiting a cave, and islands. The route and activities that were “sold” to us changed slightly (for example the boat did not tour near as much of the bay as we were told) – another example of a “bait & switch” – notice the theme? But hey, it was still a blast and now we’re just expecting it!
- Sneaking into a resort on Monkey Island via a remote trail and grabbing a quick beer before returning to our boat.
- Drinking plenty of wine that was snuck onto our overnight boat trip and sharing a glass with our crazy non-English speaking captain. Alcohol works just fine to bridge the language gap.
- Discovering phosphorescence in the water by spitting our toothpaste and going “number 1” into the water off the side of the boat. The result of course is a glowing sparkle that can be seen in the pitch-black of night. We then proceeded to have our 20-year old German boat-mate jump off the upper-level of the boat into the water to watch the phosphorescence that way (yes, you probably have noticed that was after going “number 1”) until our guide came out and stopped us from swimming due to the dangers involved in swimming at night. There is a safety conscience in Vietnam so our fun ended immediately.
- Having beers on the CatCo #3 beach at a high-end resort’s beach-front bar on a sunny day.
- Getting locked out of the hotel at 10:30 at night.. After a long time knocking very hard on the front door and asking for help from adjacent business owners who made phone calls for us, the hotel owner’s daughter, and who we presume is her boyfriend, randomly came downstairs to open the front doors. We were pretty slow because it took another 10 minutes and the stair climb to our room before the light-bulb went on in our heads and we realized that she and her boyfriend may have been enjoying a little alone time while the parents were out. Given all the surrounding business owners were helping us try to get back into the hotel, we’re guessing her secret wasn’t safe for long.
- While searching for dinner one night, we passed a large rowdy Vietnamese group having a great time at a restaurant and there was a keg. Of course, both are a good sign that this would be a good place to eat. While trying to find a table, I heard what sounded like a beer-chugging contest going on. After turning around, it was Brad randomly in a chugging contest with a Vietnamese kid and the entire crowd chanting appropriately. Brad was defeated. Not sure how he got singled out but he got a free beer out of the deal. The rest of the evening was spent having dinner at this place, listening to techno and dance music, and watching this group Karaoke.
Brad left Cat Ba on a ferry this morning on a 48-hour journey back to Colorado. We wish him a safe trip and as smooth of one as he has had so far. Elise and I are staying on Cat Ba for a few more nights. An 18-km trek through the National Park is on the agenda for tomorrow. Then it’s off to Hanoi and more of northern Vietnam.
We are now very comfortable with the travelling lifestyle. The downside to that is that time seems to be speeding up. We have already been in Vietnam 25 days but it feels like we just arrived. An up-side is that Elise and I have recently found ourselves debating what day of the week it is.
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