No Fixed Abode: Who’s Nose

Wed 23 Mar 2016 - Dalat scooter tour

Up and out and on our Yamaha 110cc scooter, hired for the day at £3 and, on this occasion, with good fitting helmets but still no speedo, Glenn sped us off to the petrol station to fill up where it was a free for all at the pump. Fuelled up, we joined the rush hour and negotiated the several roundabouts in Dalat with ease, basically you just keep going at a walking pace, bib at everyone you meet and all avoid each other. It’s a system which works very well here and Glenn embraced it quickly whilst Yvonne squealed, shrieked and basically, was a nightmare pillion rider through it all - mind that, watch out lorry, bib now, too fast etc.

According to the tourist map, our journey was roughly 35kms out of town and off the map into the countryside to arrive at the Elephant waterfalls, a must do. The road was extremely well made and as the volume of scooters decreased we enjoyed the strong scent of the pine trees as we passed through terraced coffee plantations, rows and rows of polycarbon tunnels growing Gerberas and whizzing past the daily life of bamboo weavers, coffin makers and the street vendor markets. To keep Glenn on his toes the lorries honked furiously with klaxon horns as they passed by and left a trail of thick, black exhaust fumes for us to wobble through.

Thinking we must be past the 35kms mark (no mileometer so who knows) we still had not seen the falls so we stopped with the somewhat hopeful aim of asking a local. By pure luck Yvonne spotted a little sign at a random shop with a small pointing arrow stating 100m elephant falls. Trundling along we spotted a very makeshift entrance proclaiming to be elephant falls and we drove in to be immediately accosted for an entrance fee - but no signs of the falls, just a tourist junk shop and a couple of scooters. Glenn wasn’t convinced we were at THE elephant falls and we rode out up the road and took a turning which led us to a most beautiful pagoda where scores of women of all ages were praying with monks leading a service in a melodic chant. From here we could just make out the falls so, indeed, we were at our first stop. The service finished as we were leaving and an elderly lady came up to Yvonne and held her hand out to shake hands, Yvonne put her free hand over the woman's and they both stood there beaming at each other. She then proceeded to gently pat Glenn's face and gave him a smile too. A touching moment.

We returned back to the falls entrance and decided to check the map for next destination and timings but in the last 100m we had managed to lose it. The rest of the day now relies on two memories of retirees to get back to Dalat and continue the sightseeing. Hmmm. Anyway, the falls. Hmmm. Guess they are spectacular in the rainy season but today they were slightly entertaining enabling us to stand in the spray mist to cool down and admire the hundreds of large dragonflies swarming around.

With an uneventful journey back to Dalat, we managed to get caught up in the swarm of scooters leaving the Uni at lunchtime and we were swept up in the traffic which took us to the other side of town without hitting the centre. Glenn was ecstatic we had found a shortcut but quickly lost his bearings. We blundered around for a while until we spotted the cable cars that take foot visitors to the pagoda we were heading for, where they teach meditation. But did we knew what it was called? This became a dilemma as we encountered a three way crossroad halfway up the hill. We both needed a drink and decided to follow our noses, shortly coming across a cafe of sorts on the edge of a pretty lake. It had wifi too and consulting google maps we were, by some more extraordinary luck, at the bottom of the lane up to the pagoda. High five time! Just as we sped off Yvonne spotted a cage full of tiny birds on the back of a moped. Sparrows maybe? Two minutes later we parked at the pagoda, a very peaceful place with beautiful melodic wind chimes gently ringing out over the well kept gardens with plenty of shade. After visiting the temple and monastery we took a moment to rest and reflect on just how happy we are - and surprise, surprise, Glenn took a nap.

Back on a different road winding our way down through a forest and following our noses, we headed into town to hunt down the Crazy House. We knew roughly where it was but after several twists and turns we couldn’t locate it so decided it was time to buy another map. Armed with this, we sped off, Glenn weaving around like a Vietnamese local, Yvonne too tired to manage any resistance and we pulled up in front of what clearly is a, crazy house. Built by a Vietnamese architect to bring people back to nature following the devastation of the countryside, this is ranked as #3 of the world's weirdest hotel rooms. A bizarre fantasy building made of cement with fantasy trees, branches, flowers making the structure of the building and a warren of small staircases to hobbit style rooms. All very strange but it does command your interest. The locals wanted it destroyed but the architect wrote to the communist leader of buildings and he supported it by giving it national recognition in 2007 making it an instant tourist attraction and mentioned in the infamous Lonely Planet. The tax bill from ticket sales in 2014 was 200 million dong (£63k). Not bad for a weird property.

With an hour of daylight left we went on mini tour of, what appeared on the map, northern Dalat countryside. Fighting our way through knocking off time in town we were soon speeding (we’ve found the accelerator a more useful collision avoidance technique than the brake) through the northern suburbs until we spotted a brightly coloured dragon. Pulling up swiftly we explored another pagoda complex with the most amazing array of brightly coloured figures including a huge dragon winding its coils around a pond. The temple itself had a an ornate and colourful roof but, regretfully, was masked by a marquee being erected for a forthcoming event.

A hearty dinner was required tonight so after dropping off the scooter, we headed for a cafe we’d passed last night serving up mexican, italian, indian and thai, along with good old fashioned desserts. One chicken curry, one thai green curry, banana split and carrot cake all tasted just soooooo delicious! Not a noodle, sparrow or frog in sight.

Tomorrow we start our 5 day motorbike trip along the Ho Chi Minh trail to Hoi An so goodness knows when the next internet access, and hence blog update, will be.