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Dalat, Vietnam

Vietnam & Cambodia Trip – Stop Five – Dalat, Vietnam

DalatWe had a VERY early flight on the 10th, leaving Hoi An while it was still dark, and driving back North to the Da Nang airport. Interestingly the airport was the Da Nang Air Base, a U.S. base during the war. Our flight took us South to the mountain city of Dalat. During the French rule of Vietnam the city was a retreat for military officials wanting to get away from the heat. It still is a popular vacation destination due to its cool climate year round. It is also known for its flower industry and there are flowers all over the city with many of the markets only open leading up to the Tet holiday.

From the airport we went to the restaurant associated with the hotel for breakfast then started touring the city while we waited to check in. Our guide took us to the cable car station where we rode across the pine forest to the Truc Lam Monastery. We were able to walk around some of the temples and gardens in the Zen Buddhist Monastery which is an active monastery. Our guide told us that his mother is now a nun at this monastery and we saw many monks walking around the complex. It was a beautiful and peaceful place to wander around with the flowers in bloom.

From the monastery we went back to the hotel to check in and freshen up before finishing our tour of the city. We stopped briefly at the Dalat Railway Station. Art Deco in style, built by the French. It no longer serves as a transportation hub; now it offers tourists rides on the historical steam engine. Since a lot of steam is needed to run it, it only operates during the high season, thus it was not running while we were there. From the train station we drove quite a while to the Linh Phuoc Pagoda. This is one of the most interesting looking pagoda’s I have ever seen. It is decorated with collected glass and pottery pieces, most of the dragon scales are made from beer bottles.

The complex includes a seven tiered bell tower. It is tradition to make a wish and then ring the bell three times, so Chris and I made our wish and rang the bell. In the basement of the tower is a hall of statues and a tunnel depicting hell. It was slightly scary and very odd. In fact there were a few other tourists there that waited to walk through the tunnel with us because they were afraid to go in alone.

We finished our touring by walking along the road were there were large French style houses, many currently being used as hotels, and Orchid stalls set up for the Tet holiday. We saw many people purchasing flowers to ship to their family homes in other parts of Vietnam for the approaching holiday. It was interesting to see how the plants were carefully packed.

At evening we left the hotel and walked down to the Dalat Street Market in search of dinner. All the restaurants we had found online were closed either for good or for the evening. Hungry and tired to walking we decided to give the local fast food place, Lotteria, a try. Many of the locals were stopping in and we saw lots of people eating the ice cream. While we are not typically fast food people – I do enjoy trying it out in other countries. Unfortunately the meal did not agree with Chris and the next morning we stayed in.

When we did adventure out of the hotel it was to walk the several blocks to the Hằng Nga guesthouse. The Crazy House as it is known was built by a local architect from Dalat and in fact is a hotel with guest rooms. It is hard to describe the buildings design. Definitely organic, it is animal shapes mixed with plant structures and narrow passage ways connecting rooms. It was tricky to climb some of the stairways that were more like ladders and slightly claustrophobic. Construction continued while we were there and we could see the wire structures which would later be covered in concrete.  While we were there we did not see any sign of guests staying in the building but there were lots of other tourists wandering around.

After checking out as many of the corners and passageways as we could we headed back to the hotel. Along the way we saw some teenagers dancing in front of their school and other activities which appeared to be part of the everyday in Dalat. Chris was still not feeling great so I went back to the restaurant across from the hotel to eat and he went back to bed, hoping to feel better for moving on the next morning.

Chris’ Comments: Dalat was a blur. I got quite, quite sick during our full day there and it ruined the plans we had for that day. A few skipped meals, a lot of time in bed, and an antibiotic helped me limit the impact to 24 hours. Other than that, I remember Dalat for a tourist-destination-in-a-mountain-town-at-low-season with the cool, dry, and sunny weather that makes for fantastic pictures. In fact I took one of my favorite pictures on the trip there. Somehow I managed tiltshift without actually using one or trying. Oh, and I was surprised at how many Russians there were in contrast to none in the other parts of Vietnam. I wish we could have done more, but I was happy I was only out of commission for one day.

Truc Lam Temple

Dalat Railway Station

Linh Son Pagoda

Flower Sellers

Streets of Dalat

Crazy House


Restaurants:

Le Cafe de la Poste – We went to the restaurant main because it was affiliated with our hotel. The breakfast buffet had a pretty large selection, if not remarkable. I did have lunch here and ordered a club sandwich. It included fried egg and chicken breast pieces to my surprise. A bonus is that this was the closest place to the hotel to buy a large bottle of water.

Lotteria – A fast food restaurant in the center of Dalat. We saw several of these in other cities as well but during our stay here we were enticed inside by the ice cream. Ultimately it was fast food and I enjoyed the ice cream (think Dairy Queen Blizzard) we suspect that the food did not sit too well with Chris so I cannot say I would recommend trying it.

Note to our readers:
If you are interested many of the photographs are captioned, just select the individual images to open them in a new window. Also, we were surprised how large the country was for a small country. I have put together a Travel Map with the places we visited to give an idea of how we managed to cover a good portion of the country during our trip.

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Hoi An, Vietnam

Vietnam & Cambodia Trip – Stop Four – Hoi An, Vietnam

Hoi AnOn February 7th we once again packed our bags, checked out of the hotel, and drove to another city. It was an adventurous drive from Hue to Hoi An, being stopped by the police at one point. The route took us over over the Truong Son Mountain Range through the Hai Van Pass. We stopped to take some pictures of the Lang Co Fishing Village at the start of the pass. The pull off area was full of other tourists doing the same since most locals skip driving over the mountain now that a tunnel has been built.

We did not know about the pass prior to the drive, however once we started up the mountain side we remembered seeing it on Top Gear. Once the car started winding up the narrow roads we remembered how the hosts talked about the beauty of this stretch of road. It was remarkable, and slightly scary. It is known as the Ocean Cloud Pass, a name which become clear when we reached the stop at the top. One side was a mist-filled forest and off to the other we could see the beach and bright sun. For us it marked the line between the cold rainy segment of our trip and the warm, often hot, portion that remained. We stopped here at a market area clearly set up for tourists, across from former French and American bunkers. While we were there a couple were on top of a bunker having wedding photographs taken. Our guide explained that in Vietnam most wedding parties have there photos taken as much as a month before the wedding.

On the other side of the pass we stopped at the Museum of Cham Sculpture in Danang, the largest city in Central Vietnam. The Cham people were an early Vietnamese civilization and the museum, while small, has the largest collection of the sandstone sculptures. We wandered around for a bit then continued on along the coast. This took us past the area know as China Beach and many new high end beach resorts. We also drove past Marble Mountain, which is actually five formations rich in marble and limestone. We did not stop to hike it but did shop at one of the tourist shops selling a ton of different marble objects. They had huge statues taller than me, tables made of marble, small carved figures in every size you can imagine and jewelry. We saw some people working on pieces and purchased a few souvenirs.

The shop was our last stop before reaching Hoi An. The historic city is clearly a vacation spot close to the beaches on the bank of the Thu Bon River. Right away I felt like we were on a vacation, not just traveling. We stayed three nights at a resort style hotel with a central pool and the rooms divided between several different buildings. It was great to open the doors onto the balcony and enjoy the warm weather. We were then completely on our own for the next two days in the city and started this time out by walking from the hotel into the historical old town section of the city.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the evening the streets were scooter-free; it was so quiet, even with all the other tourists walking around, after days of loud scooters and motorcycles everywhere. We had dinner and by the time we were done ,the sun had set and the streets were lit up by lanterns. Even before they were lit up it was a beautiful city but once they were glowing it felt magical.

Chris’ Comments: Hai Van Pass is the stuff of dreams. While it’s true the locals don’t use it, you have to travel it if you’re driving through the area. The views and perceivable climate change have only been matched, in my life, by the windward and leeward sides of Big Island, Hawaii. The married couple getting their portraits done on top of the turret is one of the highlights of the trip for me. It’s a very vivid memory and one I’m glad I experienced.

Hoi An is everything you picture when you think a southeastern Asian resort town. It’s combination of warm weather, old world charm, open air restaurants, shopping, and people who are obviously vacationing make it the perfectly place to relax after traveling for awhile. Were we beach people, I could see whiling away a week here. Actually, I take that back… Hoi An (and Saigon) are on our short list for places to revisit. Besides, I can spend my days renting a scooter for $5 and driving through the markets and streets (video coming). Great fun. Hoi An was also the place I ruined Melissa on Bánh mì for life. She’d never had one before and will probably spend her life looking for one as good as that one.   :-(     :-)

Museum of Cham Sculpture in Da Nang

Marble Mountain Stop & Hotel in Hoi An

Streets of Hoi An

Hoi An at Night

Second and Third Day in Hoi An

It felt great to have no rush to tour or move on to another city in the morning, so we slept in and enjoyed the breakfast buffet at the hotel. After that, we dropped some of our clothes off at a laundry and took the hotel shuttle to one of the many tailor shops. It was experience just like the guides and reviewers say, we explained some clothes we would like to have made, the staff sketched designs, we picked out fabric and within minutes we were being measured. Done placing our orders, we went in search of Madam Khanh – The Bah Mi Queen’s stall for lunch. The walk took us away from streets we had already wandered and to the most tasty sandwiches ever. Madam Khanh did not appear to speak any English so conversation was limited, but we left full and happy.

Done with our lunch, we wandered through more of the old town stopping by the Japanese Bridge before crossing over the river to walk along the opposite bank. All that was left to do was find a place to sit and watch the world go by, so we found a table at the Lantern Town Restaurant and ordered some drinks. It was a cozy courtyard decorated with lanterns set back from the busy streets. Not really hungry, I ordered what I thought would be a small Dragon Fruit Salad and Stuffed Squid. On our way to catch the shuttle back to the hotel, we stopped into a temple lit up. I am not sure exactly which temple it was but added to the wonderful experience of the city.

On our final day in Hoi An, we rented a scooter. For five dollars we were able to drive around the city all day. Our first stop was fittings for the clothes we ordered the day before. Most of the pieces were ready to go; my dresses only needing a few adjustments. Plenty of time until the final fitting, we took the road out of the city to the beach. As soon as we walked into the sand people offered us lounge chairs and drinks. I put my feet in the East Vietnam Sea, was almost knocked over by a wave, then elected to take a chair. Chris ordered an Iced Vietnamese Coffee and I decided to order “coconut juice” from the menu. I had not expected a whole coconut with a straw in it, but enjoyed sitting in the sun drinking it.

Before heading back to the tailor we attempted to find a place to get Bún and took the scooter into a new area of the city. There was a bunch of tables under an roof along the rivers edge, so we stopped. Unfortunately we were unable to communicate what we wanted to order other than Vietnamese Coffee. The result was a plate of rice crackers to go with our drinks.

At the end of the day, before returning the scooter, we managed to find ourselves driving through the packed central market. While we were barely crawling through the streets, it was very chaotic. Stalls spill into the streets as we had seen in other cities, but carts and tarps were in the middle of the streets piled with merchandise. If you wanted to buy it, it was for sale in these few blocks. We ended our stay in the city with dinner not far from the hotel, returned the scooter, and our new clothes were delivered to the hotel.

Beach Trip by Scooter and Final Fittings

 

Restaurants:

Morning Glory – A little more expensive than other restaurants we visited in Vietnam, however still cheaper than other parts of the world. Once again, as with most every place with seating, it catered to tourists. We ordered a bunch of different plates to share including the White Rose Dumplings known as a specialty of Hoi An. We also had a skewered meat dish with rice paper that was very tasty with some vegetables that were completely new to us.

Nhà Hàng Nhân Nghĩa – A fairly typical restaurant in Hoi An. Small, catering to tourists with a mix of Vietnamese and Western dishes. Service was a bit slow, even for the Vietnamese coffee we ordered, but it was a nice place to sit and watch people wander by.

Madam Khanh: The Bah Mi Queen – This is just a small stall away from the very touristy areas of Hoi An but worth the search. We pointed at a few things and waited inside at the tables for the magical sandwiches to appear.  It was my first Bah Mi and I will forever be searching to relive its gloriousness.

Lantern Town Restaurant –  It was getting dark and we were searching for some place to stop with outdoor seating when we found the Lantern Town court yard. It was nice to step away from the busy street and relax and enjoy some great drinks. We both skipped the alcoholic options, luckily Vietnam is a great place for yummy drinks sans-alcohol. Food was good and portions way too large. Most diners were tourists but it did not feel as touristy as many of the other places.

Note to our readers:
If you are interested many of the photographs are captioned, just select the individual images to open them in a new window. Also, we were surprised how large the country was for a small country. I have put together a Travel Map with the places we visited to give an idea of how we managed to cover a good portion of the country during our trip.

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Hue, Vietnam

Vietnam & Cambodia Trip – Stop Three – Hue, Vietnam

Tomb of Khải ĐịnhWe arrived in Hue late day February 5th, after a short flight from Hanoi. Upon arriving at our hotel we found out that our room had been upgraded to the Golden Suite. It was a large room with a great view of the Perfume River that runs through the city.

Next morning the rain was heavy but we had plans to tour the city. Hue is the former imperial capital of Vietnam and our first stop was the Imperial City. The city’s proximity to the North / South Vietnam boarder meant that it experienced massive destruction during the war. Much of the Imperial complex was destroyed or damaged during the war, however many of the temples and structures have been rebuilt or repaired. Our tour took us from the Nine Deities Cannons located inside the wall of the Citadel through the Ngọ Môn Gate (Gate of Moon) into the city. We walked through Thế Miếu (Temple of Generations), Royal Theater  and into the former Purple Forbidden City.

Next we went on a cyclo ride around the city as the rain started to let up. After we drove outside of the city to visit Thiên Mụ Pagoda (Heavenly Lady Pagoda), Tomb of Tự Đức and the Tomb of Khải Định. The pagoda complex includes monks’ quarters where the car used by the monk Thich Quang Duc is on display and a stone stele detailing the history of Buddhism in Hue.

The tombs we visited are only two of the seven built for Nguyen Emperors. The first was for the second Emperor, Tu Duc, who personally designed the mausoleum and lived on the grounds for much of his rule. Where he was actually buried, however, is unknown in order to protect it from desecration. The second tomb we visited was for the last Nguyen Emperor, Khai Dinh. It is an elaborately decorated structure, covered with mosaics made from imported glass and porcelain. In fact, the Emperor valued imported items more than those made in Vietnam and even had the his alter statue made in France.

By the time we were done touring for the day the rain had mostly stopped so after dinner we walked around the city and even stopped for ice cream for Chris’ birthday.

Chris’ Comments: Hue is one of those places that appears to have two identities. On one hand it was a very old city with some great history and on the other hand it was a backpackers’ haven. There were countless hostels and bars in various parts of town and the city itself seemed very young… in stark contrast to the city itself. I believe we were told it was a college town; you could definitely tell even though our pictures don’t appear that way. Celebrating a birthday in a foreign country was way better than a day at work, although I will admit it was one of the hardest days to not drink alcohol. I think Hue is worth a visit, whether you’re interested in Vietnam’s history or want to party with the backpackers.

Imperial City

Cyclo Ride and Thiên Mụ Pagoda

Tomb of Tự Đức

Tomb of Khải Định


Restaurants:

Banana Mango – Another tourist-friendly restaurant with some Vietnamese dishes and western options. We tried the Hue specialty Banh Khoai, which is a pancake / crispy taco stuffed with veggies and meat. It was really good and I could have eaten another.

Zucca – A small Italian Restaurant next door to our hotel. It is not anything special to look at but it was a pleasant enough meal and the Vietnamese coffee was good as well. I was not adventurous enough to try the Italian dishes other than the bruschetta.

Hue

Sweet Kingdom Bakery N’ Cafe – This was a small Western style ice cream shop we stopped at. They had a case of pastries and a large menu of options however we had a hard time explaining what we wanted to order. On the plus side the family had a cute little kitten that was playing around the shop.

Note to our readers:
If you are interested many of the photographs are captioned, just select the individual images to open them in a new window. Also, we were surprised how large the country was for a small country. I have put together a Travel Map with the places we visited to give an idea of how we managed to cover a good portion of the country during our trip.