Mekong Delta

No more luxury, goodbye Hyatt.......our trip to the Mekong Delta starts at 7:45 when we are picked up by our tour guide and driver. After picking up another couple who booked the same tour, we drive for two and a half hours to XXX. The driver and guide unload the bikes and assemble them. Our first real exercise is about to start.We start cycling to a boat that will bring us to our first destination. After unloading the bikes from the boat, we start biking over small paths next to side rivers of parts of the Mekong. Lunch is served at a restaurant overlooking one of the 9 big splits (still a good mile wide) of the Mekong river. We are served grilled Elephant fish. The waitress shows us how to cut parts of the fish, put them on rice paper together with some herbs and fold them like a spring roll. With a little sauce, it is a great treat (not for Anna though, she gets the vegetables ;-). After lunch, we cycle another 15 kilometers to the ferry, to be picked up at the other side by our little van. A short drive takes us to the rice paddies. Cycling here, you really understand why the Mekong Delta is known as Vietnam's rice barn. Although the terrace style rice fields in China and around Sapa were stunning, the flat landscape filled with rice paddies is also great.

For dinner, we end up in one of the most touristic places in town on advice from our tourguide.....not the best advice. But French fries fried in fish oil is something special you should taste at least once in your life (trust me, once is more than enough).

Next morning, we visit the floating market of XXX. Since it is hard to describe, I've put in a slide show with pictures of the market (and the rest of the Mekong...PicasaWeb does not allow me to take only a few pictures from an album in a slideshow). The morning ends with another 15 kilometer bicycle ride. However, I decide to do another 5 with the guide into town to see how much a man can sweat in the burning sun ( a lot).
A quick shower in the hotel and we leave for the bus station to say goodbye. Mark and Lou-Ann are brought back to Saigon with the van while we continue our trip to Rachia with a Mailingh suicide express minivan.

Dalat and Saigon, Vietnam

Here comes the big tip: Never, ever take a bus from MT brothers/TM brothers/MT/TM cafe...we tried to ban the name of the company from our memories, but although we forgot the order of the letters T and M, we remember the letters. The bus trip from Nha Trang to Dalat was supposed to last 4 1/2 hours according to the lady who sold us the tickets. It turned out to be 9....It all started with the bus going slower and slower, the airco was turned off and the front door opened (while driving). After 5 hours, the bus stopped to get some water....on the engine! We continued with 20 km/h and after an hour one of the tires exploded. We continued our journey, while being overtaken by other buses, cars motorbikes and......bikes!

After arriving in Dalat, we decided to walk to our hotel: the Dreams hotel. When we arrived, a nice Dutch couple (with whom we had shared the bus, but who had taken a taxi) told us the hotel was full. They had the last room and two German girls just left the hotel disappointed. Almost beaten by lazy people taking a cab, we were so happy that I had called from the bus to make a reservation. For the first time, but at the right moment.

Dalat is supposed to be as French as Vietnam can be. Nice hills, a town build around a lake and trees like the French Alps. They even have a wannabe Eiffel tower! Different than in the North, you can even drink something on a terrace. Of course, as good French town, Dalat does not only have a catholic church, it has a cathedral!

After cruising Dalat for a day, we were ready for adventure! We rented a motorbike and started driving. First to a town way too far for two people on one bike :-(, than to some destinations more within reach of our limited speed.We started by cruising the area East of Dalat and exploring some waterfalls.

On the 12th (my birthday) we took the bus to Saigon for some well deserved luxury in the local Hyatt hotel and a good dinner in La Camargue, a 'real' French restaurant in Saigon. It really felt like a birthday: The Dreams hotel in Dalat gave me a bouquet of flowers, and after arriving in the Hyatt after our great dinner, a birthday cake was waiting for me!

Next day, the heat really got us. We did three things: we walked a little through the centre, got me a new backpack (the old one I got in Bangkok last year fell apart under the heavy weight of all our new clothing from Hoi An) and booked our trip to the Mekong Delta for the next day. So, no fancy, juicy Saigon stories, but a slideshow (the lazy blog).

Buddhism in Nha Trang

Although Nha Trang is touristic, we had our most spiritual experience in exactly this place. On Wednesday we met a couple we met in Hoi An before. That day, they went with a guide to a Buddhist Monastery. Apparently it was a great experience, and the guide would take them back the next day (New Years day) in his own free time on a moto bike. They offered we could come along. So the next morning, we got our own bike and drove to their hotel. The guide had no problem with us coming along, so we set off for a 30 minute ride to a place we would never have found ourselves. A monastery in the mountains, with a beautiful waterfall next to it. Just before the entrance of the monastery, the graves of family members that had passed away were visited by numerous people. We passed by and parked our bike. After we walked the stairs, we went into a chamber were we shuffled a round box with wooden sticks. Each of these sticks had a number. After shuffling it for a while, one would come out. With this number we went to a monk who gave us a piece of paper (in Vietnamese). With this piece of paper we went to the next monk (yes, Buddhist monks know about red tape and paper shuffling too apparently!). Here, we waited in a room, and a nun (indeed, the monk was a nun) explained the paper and our future. My future was bright: I am a talented man who should fear no one and I would be rich soon. However, Anna would have to wait till after she turns 30.....

After hearing our future, we went for the ritual cleaning. We took a glass and put in in the cave (see picture) where it was filled with droplets falling from the ceiling. When the glass was full, we took it out and drank half of it. The other half we used to clean our face and arms. Now we had our future read to us and we were cleaned for a new year, ready to enjoy more of Vietnam!

Anna on the motorbike on our way back from the temple