Around Da Lat

A bit disillusioned with Da Lat itself, we decided to hire a bike again, after knocking back some very insistent "Easy Riders", who take you on motorbike tours around the area; out of our price range again. We headed off to Tiger Falls, which should have been the easiest and closest to get to of the many in the area. We thought we'd be able to get there without the decent map we couldn't find, because the direction in the Lonely Planet were quite good, but not long after we hit the road I realised that neither the speedo not the odometer worked. The speedo's not a problem, since these bikes can't really break the speed limit, but without the odometer, we have no way of following the Lonely Planet's direction. Regardless we found our way to the neighbouring village of Trai Mat, where we noticed a Pagoda, marked on the map, but not mentioned in either guide book. We nearly didn't bother because we'd seen several of them already, but this one was absolutely gorgeous -- and free! I think it must be a newish one, therefore of no historical interest, therefore not of tourist interest; but it was still beautiful... and free! Now we reckon we don't need to see any more pagodas as this one was so impressive; a bit like never needing so see another Catholic church after St Peter's in the Vatican.

Da Bao Tower at Linh Phuoc Pagoda in Trai Mat

Tiger Falls

After a bit of searching we found the turn off to Tiger Falls and took the bumpy, loose road to the waterfall. At one point we almost turned around when we noticed that the ground to the right of the road was burning; and then we noticed that the ground to the left of the road too. A bit like a forest fire. But we pressed on anyway as it was starting to rain a bit, and it didn't take long to get through the smoke. The falls were a bit disappointing; you can see stuff like that, but better, all over Scotland. Same same but mosquitoes instead of midgies. The had a story behind their significance, but it all seems to centre around making the large game, that used to live in the region, extinct.

View from Cable car to reservoir in Da Lat

Next stop was the cable car. I didn't really care where it went, but the guide books talked about the stunning view. Then, at the cable car station, disaster struck! One of Joanne's fillings came out! We decided to wait for Saigon to deal with that.
The views on the cable car were OK, but nothing compared to, say, the Aonach Mor cable car. And, strangely, the cable car seemed to owe its existence to a reservoir. OK, it's quite a big reservoir, but a tourist attraction? There were loads of shops, and stalls, and restaurants, and boat trips on the reservoir, and some gardens, and temples. And so on.

Reservoir in Da Lat

They are obviously very proud of this reservoir, and see it as a great tourist asset. It's just a body of water. Really you can see much better bodies of water all over Scotland. At this point Joanne said "maybe there's not point coming the highlands of Vietnam if you are from Scotland". Maybe. But Scotland doesn't produce coffee, which is one of the reasons I wanted to go there, but we hadn't signed up for the Easy Rider trip, so we weren't going to a coffee plantation anyway; good maps are impossible to get hold of. Anyway time for another local speciality: egg, (soy, of course) milk, and soda. It's exactly as it says, and not that disgusting.

Next up, the "Crazy House". Doubled its price since the November guide book, and not worth the money. The architect is the daughter of Vietnam's second president, which is apparently why such monstrosity has not been bull-dozed. The guide describes it as a cross between Gaudi and Alice In Wonderland. I'd say it's more of a cross between Disney and Alice In Wonderland. They're still building it too, which I suppose is why they needed to double the entrance! It's what happens when an architect falls too much in love with reinforced concrete. And animals.

Durian ice cream and salted apricot and lemon drink

I got rid of another book that day: Tales of Power by Carlos Castaneda in the Peace Cafe. I also had two more local specialities: durian ice cream, and a drink made from salted apricots, and lemon, hot.

Da Lat, Vietnam