Hoi An To Saigon

BBQ Banana With Coconut Goop. Yum!

From Hoi An we started our journey inland to the highlands and Dalat. Arriving at the train station in Danang (about 40 minutes north of Hoi An) we quickly discovered that the upcoming holidays (Reunification Day and Labour Day) were going to cause issues considering our rather last minute approach to travel planning. So we spent the night in Danang and departed the following morning on our ten hour train journey to Nha Trang. This beach destination town, popular with Saigonese and Russians, was just a stopover for us and we were thankful that our stay was limited to one night. Nha Trang has a beautiful beach but the thumping music reverberating throughout the night and the rather busy and touristy nature of the place wasn't our bowl of rice. One more bus ride and two and a half days after leaving Hoi An and we finally arrived in Dalat.

The trip to Dalat sees a rise in elevation and a notable change in natural features. The palms of the coast give way to pine trees but as Dalat draws closer those trees are replaced with a landscape full of greenhouses. No kidding, at spots there are rolling hills of greenhouses as far as the eye can see. Once in town, villas from French colonial times give the area a different feel and a bit of a European touch. But the core of town is undoubtedly Vietnamese with a vibrant central market full of cooler-weather produce that we haven't seen for some time such as yummy strawberries. Dalat marked a change in weather as well. The area is always cooler than the neighbouring lowland regions but our arrival here also coincided with the arrival of 'mango showers'. These pre-monsoon thundershowers usual arrive around 2-3 in the afternoon and have been with us most days since Dalat. As we draw closer to June and the monsoon season we're told these short but heavy showers will get heavier and last longer.

Gondola Ride To Hilltop Temple

 

 

Looking back at our time in Dalat it feels as if we spent the whole visit moving from one accommodation to the next. Because many places were booked for the holidays, we ended up staying in three different guesthouses during our four night stay. On the bright side it gave us a chance to see different parts of town and meet more locals. And meeting locals is something we've been trying to do more to help us better understand the country. We asked several Vietnamese how they celebrate Reunification Day which marks the day the north 'liberated' the south. But for many this day is no celebration. In fact we were told that some Vietnamese consider Reunification Day as the "day they lost their country". Most people we asked though didn't want to talk about it at all as they feared the repercussions of discussing anything remotely political. Sad.

The Crazy House

 

Continuing our pattern of visiting strange attractions we ventured off to Dalat's Crazy House. This unfinished project of a local (and dare I suggest eccentric) architect is a rather strange collection of buildings tied together with oddly formed and at times downright dangerous passages. Imagine a Dr. Seuss building gone wrong. It hit about a six on the weird scale edging out Vientiane's Buddha Park with Chiang Rai's sites retaining their title on our tour of bizarre.

Early Morning Ferry Ride To The Park

 

 

 

From Dalat we made our way by bus south to Cat Tien National Park where we stayed in a little riverside bungalow. We were up at 4AM our first day at the park to join a hike with two other travelers and a park guide. With our leech socks and oppressively hot army jackets on we made our way off in the dark and after a short walk through the jungle the guide set up hammocks for each of us with instructions to relax, be quiet, and keep our eyes on the tree canopy.

Hot Weather... Heavy Canvas Jacket... Bad Combo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK, you may be wondering why we got up so early just to stare at trees. Well, we were in fact in search of yellow-cheeked gibbons and despite my wish for hammock time to last long enough to catch a little nap it wasn't long before we heard the songs of a local gibbon family just a few trees to the right. Just hearing their calls, which in this case was a duet of the male and female intended to mark territory, made the early rise worth it. I could have packed it up then and been satisfied. But the guide led us through the bush a short ways where we peered at the gibbons high above us as they swung from branch to branch. They are incredible at what they do and can apparently swing from branch to branch for distances up to 50 feet and at speeds up to 55 km/hour. Pretty darn cool. Click the image at the bottom of this post for a worthwhile sample of what we heard on our gibbon walk.

Our Ride With The Butterflies In Cat Tien

Following our gibbon hike we took a boat to the nearby Dao Tien Endangered Primate Species Centre where one of the staff gave us a tour of the facility allowing us a closer look at the gibbons and the chance to learn a little more about them. Dao Tien rescues and provides rehabilitation for four types of primates including yellow-cheeked gibbons with the intent to release them back into the wild if possible. Typically the animals are being rescued from illegal trade (for pets, tourist attractions, etc.) and some of their stories are pretty sad. But the good news is that due to the existence of this facility some of these animals are making it back into the wild.

From our gibbon adventure we made our way to our last stop in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City (the locals call it Saigon). We spent a few days here to catch our last looks at various propogandist museums and historical sites as well as to do our own tour of as many vegetarian restaurants as we could fit it. Similar to Hanoi, the traffic was crazy but we're experts at human Frogger now so it was no problem. We were looking forward to catching a bit more war history by visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels (an example of the large network of tunnels built by the Viet Cong during the war) but we turned away by the fact that all tours include a stop at the firing range. There you can try out a wide variety of weapons such as an AK-47 and, for the super twisted individuals, for $350 you can even try out a grenade launcher. It seems the organizers of this important historical site might be missing the point.

Sleeping Bus To Saigon. Weird.

 

Unlike Laos and Thailand, we were not sad to be leaving Vietnam. In fact, I'd say our recent trip across the border to Cambodia was a relief. We saw some wonderful sights and we're glad we came but for us it wasn't the easiest country in which to travel. Having said that we've left enough of the country undiscovered that it might just be worth coming back some day.

 

 

 

Click here to hear what we heard on our gibbon walk.