Wednesday, 28 August 2013

Mui Ne

Deciding not to spend my one full day in Mui Ne on a beach I hired a bike and cycled up to the main resort. There was not much to see other than a string of hotels punctuated bu restaurants and a few travel agents so I cycled back the other way, passed my hotel to Mui Ne town and then over to the Red Sand Dunes.
Not a bad place to have a little wood and metal house. Fisherman pulling in their nets and tiny fish drying in the sun.

Tuesday, 27 August 2013

First night in Mui Ne - there is a storm coming

Mr Star finds me a nice cheap hotel away from the main resort. However this means that my closest beach is not managed by a hotel but used by the fishermen...
... and is therefor covered in rubbish. Horrible
I walk along a bit and find a nicer beach

But when I get there I realise that there is a storm coming.... and so swiftly return to the hotel and run in the door just as the heavens open, much to the amusement of the proprietor.

Easy Rider Day 2 - Di Linh to Mui Ne

Day two was less sight seeing and more riding, we had to get to Mui Ne in time for Mr Star to ride al the way back to Da Lat the same night.
We passed the tea plantation and a rubbish dump
At one stage Mr Star dropped me in the Jungle to walk half a kilometre on my own while he rode on to wait for me at the bottom of the hill. As he drove passed me, I did wonder for a second, if he would indeed be waiting for me or if I had been abandend in the Jungle in the middle of Vietnam. Sure enough I came round the last bend and there he was. Phew!
I was very excited to see an avocado tree full of fruit.

Gia Bac Villiage
A calf chilling in someone's front garden next to some flip flops
Tapioca, rice and dragon fruit trees
Vietnamese scaffolding and freshly ploughed rice paddies
Cows pulling a cart
Getting close to Mui Ne as the soil turns to sand.

Monday, 26 August 2013

Easy Rider Day 1 - Da Lat to Di Linh

My driver/guide Mr Star.
Because of the altitude and climate in the De Lat region many vegetables can be grown here that cannot begrown in any other part of Vietnam
The hills surrounding Da Lat are covered in green houses, many of which are used to grow flowers,
The stunning view over the Central Highlands
Along the road.

Mr Star told me that Vietnam has over taken Brazin as the biggest exporter of coffee in the world. I don't know if this is true but we certainly pass a lot of coffee plantations. I get to see Arabica and Robusta coffee beans growing, and of course I had to try some, even as a non coffee drinker.
I also learnt the possess for making weasel coffee although I declined to try this, especially after seeing the little cages the weasels are kept in. What a sad existence they have.
Next stop was a silk factory. The Cuong Hoan Silk Factory was totally different to the one I saw in Beijing which was basically a huge shop. This silk factory was not a tourist attraction and the only visitors were those on the Easy Rider tours like me so only a couple a day and there for you were seeing how things really were and not a staged version.
Poor little silk worms never live to be moths. A lot of the cocoons are supplied by local people and the can make a lot of money this way. Along the route we say many racks of cocoons under the warmth of the sun outside houses. They import the eggs from china, feed the worms up on the mulberry leaves they collect and then sell the cocoons to the factory. The discarded worms are then eaten by many local people. Nothing is wasted.
Drying the silk.

Patterns used on the huge and incredibly noisy weaving machines.
More weaving and dyed silk hanging outside to dry
Next stop was Elephant Falls. You arrive at the top of the falls and there is a treacherous climb down the wet rocks to view the calls from underneath. (and my camera somehow got changed to a strange setting)
We then went to a cave right behind the the water and the force of the water was incredible, there was so much spray. We were soaked amd almost blown away. I imagin it was like being in the middle of a huge storm.
Right next to the falls is the Linh Au Tu Pagoda. (Spot the offerings of coca cola)
And the mint green Happy Buddha.

Nest stop was 'Mushroom Villiage'
And then onto Pongour Falls which were huge but not s huge amount of water coming through due to the dam upstream. Mr Star left me to explore on my own and initially I went the wrong way and ended up at the top of the falls where I sat quite happily on a rock watching the water cascade over the top.


And the on the right trail to the bottom to appreciate the full scale of the falls.
More crops along the way... this time the curry plant.
When we crossed the river in the new bridge you can see the remains of the original bridge which Mr Startold me the Americans destroyed towards the end of the war as well as the American strong holds that were there to protect the bridge.
Last stop of the day was the brick factory which was also surprisingly interesting.


The final push to Di Linh before it rains.
Too late, the heavens open about 1km from the hotel and it is the fasted kilometre of the day as Mr Star tries to get is there before we are truely soaked.

Sunday, 25 August 2013

Da Lat

Da Lat was a breath of fresh air. Literally. It is located in the south central highlands with an altirude of 1500 meters and so is considerably cooler than I have been used to. A pleasant 24 degrees in the day but I soon found myself shivering after sunset.
The view across Xuan Huong Lake
Xuan Huong Lake

Da Lat Railway Station

Hang Nga Guest House AKA The Crazy House