Relentless Sweat and Culinary Explorations

Xin Jao!

We are now two and a half weeks into our trip and life in Asia could not be more exhilarating, overwhelming, and sweaty. Each night we return to our guest house (hostel) exhausted but still laughing and ready for our third daily shower prior to climbing into questionably clean sheets. Our entries have been infrequent but our adventures have been just the opposite!


A rainbow welcomed us to rain filled Da Lat, a bohemian, or maybe more kitchy, city built down the side of a hill. Despite the rain, we explored the streets for local cuisine and a flat screen to watch the world cup. Although we failed at finding any sort of tv, we did manage to eat a chicken foot, of which Gabi burped up the nails throughout the rest of the evening. To swallow down this delightful snack we indulged in locally made Da Lat wine (which can always use a few minutes to 'breathe') and the most delicious pastries, made by a sweet woman who found our enthusiasm comical. We returned the following night for seconds and to document our happy tastebuds. These are only a few of the new dishes we continue to sample daily.

While in Da Lat we befriended a hip young Australian family of four and spent the day "touring" the surrounding region. Seeing as our guide did not speak English the six of us invented our narratives to the historical significance of each sight. We rode a cable car over a mountain, visited a buddhist temple that coincidentally had received donations from Seattle, the Crazy House - a massive architectural feat of maze like tree houses, an anticlimactic Christian church, a palace, a market and a handicraft village. The 10 year old girl and 13 year old boy appreciated a break from their parents and engaged us in constant conversation. The parents breathed a sigh of relief as well.   

Leaving rainy Da Lat, we arrived in hot and humid Nha Trang during Vietnamese school holiday. Nha Trang, a touristy beach town with beautiful waves, $4.00 lobsters, and disappointingly tasteless banana splits. Being written up as being the best diving in Vietnam we decided to fork out the $40.00 for a two tank dive followed by a delicious French meal...perhaps one of the few left over benefits of the French invasion during the early 20th century. Although we looked absolutely stealthy in our wet suits, the underwater life did not quite measure up to previously experienced diving in other counties. We did see some new types of fish and vibrant coral and Lisa managed to hold a frog fish and play with sea urchins. We were disappointed to see so much grey dead coral due to irresponsible tourism practices.

Later that evening while roaming the streets for a local bite to eat, who did we run into...our beloved friends from Mui Ne just as they were leaving for Hoi An, our next destination. Failing to rent a private motor boat with a group, (costing less than $10 per person/day), to visit the four surrounding islands, resulted in booking an unexpected 6 hour “booze cruise.” Instead of enjoying the local taste of island hopping, we sat crammed between 35 tourists and Vietnamese families; eating lunch from communal bowls, plugging our ears to a local Vietnamese boy band belting Back Street Boys, and drinking from a floating bar. This experience sent us a clear message not to book further “party” adventure tours. We ended the night meeting a few French guys, playing pool, and watching the world cup.

Among many successes, a second failure included the attempted booking of our 12 hour bus ride up north to Hoi An the following evening. Due to utter exhaustion, a bit of late night stress, and sweat drenched bodies, we missed the agent's instructions to “please return tomorrow morning to confirm your seat reservation.” This mistake resulted in what we thought of as our “confirmed” bus which was scheduled to pick us up the following night at 7pm. At 9pm, we realized our bus had left without us and further yet, were booked out two nights. Not wanting to stay in Nha Trang for two additional nights, we rushed to the local train station booking office, arriving with 10 minutes to spare (due to our taxi driving not understanding the word “train” and leading us in the opposite direction), we booked a $20/each train ticket leaving at 5:00am, at the time only 7 hours away. In the mean time we had to switch guest houses because where we had stayed was now full and of course it also started to downpour. Although now laughable, this mistake cost us near $50. As usual, our stressful event resulted positively with a scenic train ride full of new cultural experiences (almost all positive). Upon entering our “private sleeper room” on the train, we found a man sleeping in our bed and that the “private room” consisted of bunkbeds two wide and three high. The bathrooms on the rickety 40 year old train consisted of a hole in the ground with the view of the moving tracks.

As always, we need our precious sleep to rejuvenate us for further adventure. Sweet dreams and remember to click the “follow” link to the right of this blog entry for automatic blog updates.





View of sun reflecting on rice paddies from our bumpier than usual bus ride.