the world for more than it simply is

I took a late-night walk yesterday around the entirety of what is Ho Xuan Huong in Da Lat. It really is beautiful at night as an almost silence compliments the thirty-something odd street lights reflect off its surface. As I walked, thoughts came abound–I cannot fathom life living in the shadows of others. I have decided that I would rather be a leader in my own right, that I will make my take my own roads. This was the sense of what I perceived to be individuality yearning to make itself realized once again. In recent months I have become too lethargic and not determined enough. I see this trait as a significant flaw that needed amending–thus, during the course of my late-night walk I have made up my mind to become this leader whom others will be inspired by.

The city of Da Lat is as I remember it from months ago… the traffic is light compared to Ha Noi or HCMC, the people wearing winter clothes in cool weather, and the scenes brilliant. I do believe that I have enjoyed this southern town more so than its northern equivalent Sapa. Likewise, the food is getting noticeably better once again.

This evening after a day long bus ride with a stop over at the Pongour Waterfalls, I am finally back in Saigon. This is what I have been waiting for for weeks.

Our second day in Da Lat we paid 11USD each to go on a day long tour with our own personal driver.  The tour we chose, tour number two, offered the locations of Bao Dai’s Summer Palace, Crazy House, Truc Lam Pagoda, Tuyen Lam Lake, Prenn Waterfall, the Chicken minority village, Amazing table, Old Railway station, and the Valley of love.  We would make it to all but the Amazing Table and Old Railway Station as we were short on time.  Emporer Bao Dai’s former summer residence provided manificent views of Central Da Lat.  Keeping with the preservation of this place, we were made to wear slip covers over our shoes when entering.  Because of these hideous shoe coverings and a slippy wooden floor, I had to wear a bandage on my chin for a day.  Crazy House, an architectual marvel built in 1994, also provided manificent views of Da Lat, especially on the highest rooftop.  Truc Lam Pagoda likewise provided a scene of the serene landscape of Da Lat.  Here you will find many benches donated by residents of the US.  Tuyen Lam Lake had a spectular essence despite nearby construction projects.  The red earth really gets onto your sandals and stains your skin as you stand there taking breathtaking pictures.

Prenn Waterfall is probably the most memorable in terms of the effort it took to actually view the site.  The endurance it took to reach the top of the mountain was strenous since we were all wearing sandals.  I must truthfully admit that we took our fair share of breaks on the way up as it was tiring as hell to get there.  On the top of the mountain as I’ll call it, there are several Buddhist temples in addition of magnificent views.  After spending nearly close to two hours at this location, we were taken to the Chicken minority village where we were bombarded by children covered in dirty clothing asking for money.  I felt bad for these kids who asked for money being used as a tourist destination.  Instead of giving the individual children money directly, which numbered up to twenty, I purchased an article of clothing from these peoples who speak Khor.  Here we conversed with the shop keepers who conveyed a brief history of their peoples which derived from the Malay.  It was interesting to know that they fluently spoke Vietnamese, and also their native language at home.

The Valley of Love was our last destination for the day–a brief twenty something minutes as the tours ended at 5pm.  Assuming this to be a theme park for lovers, we were surprised to find a large valley with lake included nestled among the mountains.

Currently in Da Lat.  The bus ride here yesterday was a long eight hours, but I managed to pass the time by looking at the scenery.  There’s always something to look at while riding in a bus from city to city in VN–from the buildings to the locals doing the tasks of their everyday lives.  I once saw two locals carrying a mirror twice their size on a motorbike.  It was an amazing sight; people have to live with what means they’ve got.

The temperature here is much cooler than it is in HCMC.  Also the people seem more adept at wearing western fashions.  My assumption is that the 100,000 or so residents of Da Lat get more tourism to their area, and with fewer people to divide it among have a higher standard of living. Upon our arrival in Da Lat, we were to stay at A Chau Hotel, but opted for one closer to the bus dropoff poing at Kim Travel (a branch of the ever-popular Cafe Sinh).  Thus with the first and only offer for a place to stay, we chose Nam Viet Hotel.  The night of our arrival was a cool and damp one, but the view from the hotel balcony made up for the humidity.  After checking in, we scoped out the town for eateries and came upon a large indoor family style one a few minutes from our abode.  Despite the faulty advertised price of 10000d per person on the outside window, the food was still good–Ga Roti, Canh Chua Ca, Bo Cari, Tom Xao.  I have come to realize that most of the streetside food stalls sell almost the same type of food in the south; that being com tam, hu tiu, pho.  Then there are the common banh mi stalls and banh bao sellers. 

After dinner, the three of us wandered the city and stumbled upon the night markets of Cho Da Lat.  Personally I enjoyed being lost in a new place, but the other two enjoyed stability and direction in my opinion.  At the streets of the areas around Cho Da Lat are a multitude of stands selling crafts, clothing, and food.  The most noticable of these was the clothing racks which lined the streets with merchants yelling out the prices of their wares in a speedy manner.  I didn’t buy any of the dirt cheap clothes at around ~1USD or less though since most of them had stains and appeared to be used.  Next we explored the areas around Da Lat’s minature Eiffel Tower which is in fact a very large antenna transmitter for the television station.  Once we got lost, I decided to take my own separate way back to the hotel and found myself back there twenty minutes after the other two.  That night I read a book in the hotel’s lounge since Hac and his friend Kenny had fallen asleep.

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