Mountains and beaches

After a well-spent 5 days in Hoi An we have continued down south. Our first stop along the way was Nha Trang. We took a 12 hour, overnight "sleeper bus" from Hoi An to Na Trang and arrived just in time to watch the sun rise over the ocean. Because it was a Sunday the beaches were buzzing at 5:30 am with locals. It was amazing to watch hundreds of people up and going so early. There were badmitten games going on, tai chi, hacky sack, joggers, and swimmers. Na Trang is known for its nice beaches. It's possible to rent a lawn chair and cabana for the day and get up only to cool off in the water. Venders walk up and down the beach selling fresh fruit, lobster, donuts, and sunglasses. What more could one really want? We got the opportunity to tag along with a dive boat and do some snorkling. It was by far some of the best coral we've seen. While in the water we heard two huge bangs that seemed to shake us. We asked our guide what they were and he explained that a ways out local fishermen practice dynamite fishing. It is very common in the area and one of the reasons there are few larger fish to be seen.


From Na Trang we headed up to the mountain town of Dalat. Dalat is often compared to spring time in the Swiss Alps and is the number one town for Vietnamese honeymooners. Suprisingly, it actually lived up to its reputation and proved to be some of the most beautiful landscape we've seen. Because of the temperate climate, it is perfect for agriculture and especially the flower industry. The hills surrounding Dalat are white with greenhouses, each growing a specific flower. With these flowers women make huge flower shields and baskets which are used locally as well as sent to other cities in Vietnam. These shields are especially popular at weddings. We rented a motobike to explore the land further and got the opportunity to visit a traditional silk factory. There were thousands of silk worms, and women worked each cacoon into a single thread, which got coiled and later made into thicker strands for weaving. One silk worm makes a thin, single strand of silk about 800 meters long.

Dalat also has a gondola that you can ride over the town and into the hills to a temple. It offered us amazing views of the area and really completed that Alps feel. One of the best parts about Dalat was the night time activity. In the evening the streets fill with venders. Women carry a wooden pole over their shoulder, each end of the pole with a huge basket filled with anything from bananas to hot pots of broth. After carrying this hard pole on their shoulder, often loaded with 50lbs or more, over a long distance, they pick a spot, set up some miniture plastic chairs (which are everywhere and definatly our most used means for sitting) and start selling. These women were everywhere in Dalat. Specitalities included Banh Bao (rice flour dumplings filled with meats, eggs, and vegetables) and Sua (fresh made soy milk that comes in a variety of flavors including chocolate/peanut). It was easy to be stuffed by the end of the evening for about one dollar without ever having to look at a menu or go inside a cafe.



After Dalat we headed back to the beach to a town called Mui Ne. Known for its surfable waves and endless sand dunes Mui Ne has become somewhat of a resort town. We found ourselves at a nice guesthouse with a pool and ocean views. We spent our days relaxing on the beach and diving through (and gettimg plummeted by) enormous waves. We also made our way to the Red sand dunes where we spent hours running up and down the largely deserted, beautiful rolling dunes, only returning to our guest house to enjoy a sunset beer.

From Mui Ne we shuttled to the famous southern destination: the former Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City. This city, similar in certain ways to Hanoi, seems like a exciting place. After exploring here for a bit we will explore the Mekong Delta on a moto.

J & L