Finally....Vietnam!

Clearly it's been a busy few weeks...trip to Vietnam and straight into 2 weeks of parent/teacher conferences at school. Conferences went really well...but I'm so glad they're done! 

Vietnam was a totally amazing experience and one I really never thought I'd have in my entire life....I think that's a big part of what makes it so great! We spent our first, very rushed night, in Ho Chi Minh City and then headed out the next morning for Dalat. We spent a couple of days in Dalat and then made our way to the beach town of Nha Trang where we spent 2 days. Then back to Ho Chi Minh for one last day before heading home.

Sadly I don't have much to share about Ho Chi Minh. I'm sure it's a great city, but we were so rushed the first night we were there, that we experienced very little. Then when we had our last day there we were so tired from our other travels that it was a very lame effort on our part, to explore the city.

Dalat and Nha Trang were both amazing for totally different reasons. Nha Trang was relaxing and warm, Dalat was an experience unlike any I've ever had. So glad I was able to experience them both. :)

Dalat is a small touristy town in the southern part of the central highlands of Vietnam. It was so lush and green with all kinds of vegetation and I was shocked to see so many flowers/plants that are native to the NW as well. Made me feel close to home in a way. :) The town itself was fine, nothing too terribly fantastic. It's pretty well known for some waterfalls that are a ways out of town...you need a ride to get to them. So we decided we would do one of the "easy rider" motorbike tours. When we talked to the guy running our hostel about finding the right people to tour with, we had no idea what we were in for! Mr. Rot, as it turns out, has his own "secret tour" he gives. He was an absolute riot explaining this to us. I wish I could convey with words, the personality this guy had...but sadly I cannot. He was so funny, a total practical joker which I'm not gonna lie...worried me a couple of times. ;) Anyway, we decided we would book his "secret tour" and see where it led. The next morning we met outside our hostel at 7am; Doug, Kayla and I, as well as a couple from Australia. We each had our own motorbike driver....I may be biased but I think I got the best girl. :) She sang or hummed  a lot of the ride and she was also very funny....also enjoyed the practical jokes. I never found out her actual name but Mr. Rot referred to her as "my sister" although she was not his sister. I don't know! :)

 

Me and "My Sister" 

Anyway, we started our tour, heading up into the mountains and the views were absolutely amazing! Pine trees as far as you could see, the freshest air I'd breathed in awhile...it was amazingly peaceful. He took us first to small village market that was pretty unreal. Here I tried two things I never in a thousand million trillion years thought I would EVER try! Fried crickets and pork blood!!!!

I deliberated about which one to choose for probably
a good 2 minutes. My hand would get close and then
I would jerk it away. I couldn't help it! 

First the fried crickets....wow! I just have to say, choosing a cricket to touch (and eat) was by far the worst part! I have no idea why, but I had this feeling that as soon as I touched it, it was going to jump, bite me...whatever! Completely ridiculous, I know, but that's me! Anyway, once I picked "the one", I dipped it in a little chili sauce which was a nice touch, and ate it! The taste was nothing really, the texture reminded me of popcorn....just kind of a puff of air. It actually wasn't that bad....I just had to make sure I didn't look in it's eyes as I took the bite. :(





Next we strolled through the rest of the food...some nice fresh fruits and veggies that looked and tasted great! Also...a WIDE variety of animal parts. I would say "meat" but I'm not sure that's a fair assessment of what was really there. ;) The picture to the left is just to give you a small idea as to what one might be able to find at this particular market. :) We were told that it is not at all uncommon for people to eat their dogs after a few years of having them as a pet. Mr. Rot said that they love them as their pets, but then they eat them. There were also some kittens for sale...not as pets. :( It was really shocking and awful to see/hear but....it's a different culture, different beliefs so I guess...to each his own? I just know, I won't be adopting any of these beliefs in the foreseeable future.

On the far left is the pork blood I ate. :( Since trying this I have learned it's pretty normal to eat in lots of places but I have to tell you....I did not care for it! The really funny part however, is that as I was lifting the congealed piece of blood to my mouth I saw a hair stuck in it! THAT was what freaked me out!!! Haha! I did manage to keep it down, but barely!!!

 After the first village we went to another village that was hands down the coolest part of the trip! It was the village Mr. Rot grew up in. We had lunch at his family's house where his sister who I believe is/was a monk (can women be monks???) prepared lunch for us. 

On our walk through the "neighborhood"...this was different. 

After lunch, Mr. Rot took us for a walk to a neighbor's home so we could get a chance to mingle with the locals. We weren't allowed to take photos in the actual village area where people live, but I have to tell you, it was unlike anything I'd ever seen or experienced. We came to what looked like an old shack that would house wood or tools or something like that. Standing in the doorway area were 5 or 6 women who looked old and haggard...like they'd had a very hard life. As soon as Mr. Rot began talking to them wow...the personality that came out of these women was amazing! This is when I started to think the Vietnamese were the funniest and most charismatic people I've met! Most of these women had maybe 5 teeth, wore no shoes and looked like they were 50 years old (a very rough 50 years old) at best. The oldest woman I was sure was in her mid-late 80's....I later learned she was 68. She was the mother of several of the other women and they very kindly invited us into their home and chatted with us for over an hour. We sat around on wooden benches, while they sat on the dirt floor. The room in it's entirety was about 10' x 15' and about 1/2 way through our visit with these women...I noticed a chicken just chillin on a pile of stuff right behind us. Ha! It was dark in the room...no electricity of course, and their left over lunch was still cooking on the tiny fire in the home. 

During our visit with these ladies, we learned about some of their customs such as how and when they get married. In this particular Vietnamese culture, which unfortunately I can't remember the name of, the women have to pay for a husband with money, livestock, whatever it may be. If you have a lot of daughters and don't have a lot of money, like this particular family, then not every daughter has the opportunity to marry. Out of the 3 sisters that were there with us that day, the older two forgo-ed getting married so their younger sister could get married. Their younger sister got married when she was 10 years old and had her first baby when she was 13! I really wanted to know how old her husband was...but no one asked that question. Anyway....we got to see the oldest woman take a dried piece of cotton, straight from the bud....roll it out....and then use a wheel to spin it and make thread. Right in front of our eyes! It was amazing because this "machine" she used was old old old and she used it so effortlessly. Such a different world than I'm used to. And I have to be honest, I found myself feeling bad for these women several times and then I realized...why? They seem happy! They don't know any differently! They're lives aren't tainted by material things. In a small way....I was jealous of them! 

After leaving this village we made our way to the Elephant Waterfall, which is what Dalat seems to be best known for. It was a beautiful hike down to the waterfall and despite the fact that the water was nasty brown...it was still really beautiful.

We're getting totally soaked in this picture! 

View from the roof deck of our hostel, where we had breakfast. 

After Dalat was Nha Trang which was a totally different kind of vacation spot! It was a tiny little beach town with beautiful beaches, delicious drinks and an ample amount of sun! We were so lucky, the weather was perfect! We had about a day and a half in Nha Trang and mostly our time was spent at the beach getting a tan, or eating delicious food and really fabulous dessert! The town was pretty much full of either beach bums or Russian tourists! :) Haha...that part really surprised me! Anyway, this was a great way to end our trip...nice and relaxing (minus the pretty significant sun burn I ended up with). 

Pretty much my favorite thing to do at the beach...read a good book. 

 We woke up at 4:00 the day we were leaving so we could get to the beach and watch the sunrise. It was a little cloudier than we would have liked...but it was still absolutely beautiful.