What can we possibly say about this part of the trip? This is how everyone should see Vietnam! Riding through the mountains, around rice fields and coffee plantations on the back of a motorcycle is simply wonderful.
Last night we stayed at the lak lake resort (on lak lake). The room was surprisingly nice. We had a view of the lake, a sweet bed and a bathtub (which doesn't really matter to us but usually signifies luxury). We also had the pleasure of bearing witness to an insect war outside our door. It must be cicada season cause they brought an army to our hotel last night. We heard bumps and knocks on our door all night. We woke up a few times from their 'mating calls'. It was crazy! When we left our room this AM at 8:30 we saw absolute carnage. Dead bugs littered our porch. Half dead cicadas all over, ants feasting on the left overs. It was crazy!!!! Anyway, left after breakfast and headed to a minority village to see some elephants and locals. We'd already ridden elephants in Thailand so we passed on that. But it's worth mentioning that the elephants were huge. They're obviously not the larger African species but gigantic nonetheless. So the minor people there are called the M'nong people. Years ago they used the elephants to clear the forest and move logs. Today clear cutting isn't allowed so the elephants are used for tourism.
We took a walk around the M'nong village where Mr Thai (my driver/ guide) told us about their customs and beliefs. Many things seem crazy to us but I'm sure our culture would be equally as strange to them. So we walked around in the blazing heat and then mounted our rides to the next stop.
From there we made our way across a beautiful valley with lush rice field all over. Picture perfect for sure! Along the way we stopped at a brick foundry and learned how the locals make bricks here. They just take some local clay, feed it into a machine which molds the brick. The bricks are then dried and fired before being shipped off. We even got to help! I threw some clay into the machine and of course was offered a job because my form was flawless :)
Stopped by a waterfall for a few minutes where Carolyn and I were eaten alive by the SE Asian pterodactyl (also known as a mosquito). From here we took a walk along an earthen dam which ended at a small park. Our guides were waiting there with some locals who were having a picnic. When we walked up they asked us to sit with them and hang out. There were about 7 of them having a birthday picnic for one of the girls (who turned 23!!!). They were all university students from Buon Ma Thuot University studying English and telecommunications. We chatted with them for a while and found out that we're the first foreigners they've ever talked to. We ate some chicken, roasted sweet potatoes, mangos and even had some yummy candy. They were all super nice and were genuinely happy to talk to us. It was such a great time chatting and hanging out with them.
We had lunch after at Mr Thai and Mr Young's favorite pho restaurant. We're not big fans of pho but this was actually really good. Even better, we had ice cream after :) made our way through a coffee plantation, a passion fruit farm and a cashew farm. I had a nibble of an un-ripe passion fruit and thought it was delish! The cashews were super cool ... We saw the cashew apple with the cashew tumor growing out of the bottom. Crazy.
Went to a nearby national park with some beautiful waterfalls all over. Carolyn and I walked around and saw some wonderful scenery. Near the tip of the waterfalls we saw a random amusement park thing with horses, animal statues and rides. Nothing was running but we did find the endangered Vietnamese Velocaraptor.
After the waterfalls we rode back to the city of Buon Ma Thuot. Along the way we passed a ton of young children on their way home from school. They all ran over and waved and yelled out 'Hello!!!!!' to us. They were so cute and seemed so happy just to say hi to a whitey!!!!
We got to Buon Ma Thuot during rush hour which was CRAZY!!!! People on motorbikes everywhere, trucks, some cars. Pandemonium.
We're staying at the Eden hotel here in Buon Ma Thuot. It's super nice and we even have wifi on our room!!!!! Seems the past few hotels in Vietnam don't use the same 'at the source' water heater like they do in the other SE Asian countries. Instead they have a small water heater which doesn't hold much water. Consequently we don't get a very long hot shower. Ohwell.
We met our guys for dinner an they took us to a popular local restaurant where we had an absolutely fabulous meal!!!! Fried tofu, rice, vegetables, fried chicken. Delish!!!! We had a few beers and Mr Young shows us a few bar tricks which we'll be using when we come home. Grand times indeed!!!
Mr Thai and Mr Young have been wonderful. Very kind, caring and so knowledgable. Mr Young was in the South Vietnamese Air Force during the Vietnam war. He told us a few stories and even showed us a picture of him in his uniform from 1970!!! They both speak very highly of America and the way things could have been. However they also told us about how things were after the fall of Saigon. Absolutely heart breaking. They were both put in re-education camps by the north and suffered greatly. It's wonderful to see that their spirits were never broken as they're both so funny and light hearted. We got very lucky with these two!
Tomorrow we're supposed to head to Nha Trang but we're tempted to keep on going north to Hoi An with our easy riders. Not sure what to do but we'll figure it all out in the AM.
Pics:
1) me on a fake water buffalo.
2) waterfall dak lak province.
3) kids waving.
4) elephants in Mnong village.
5) Mnong house.
6) Me with Cashew Apple.
7) Endangered Vietnamese Velocaraptor.
8) Carolyn and Mr Young.
9) Carolyn on her motorcycle.
No comments:
Post a Comment