Dalat- Rocking it on the rocks

Escaping from the humidity of the lowlands I head off to Dalat- a summer destination in southern Vietnam. I miss the cool climate of Hanoi during winter and Dalat is just a perfect alternative.

Dalat is just a small place and one visit is enough to have a glimpse of its scenic landscapes and nice looking houses with a touch of European design.

This is my second visit to Dalat, so I was wondering what would entertain me since I am an outgoing person and I don’t intend to stay in my room the entire day.

Although, the comfort and beauty of the place I stayed with gave me reason to hang around. I was in one of the apartments of La Sapinette Hotel and I could just watch TV

and dozed off in a queen size bed or drink on my own in the mini bar, stay in a hot tub or just sprawl myself on the couch at the mini living room and watch TV.

However, my gypsy character forced me to find an activity, so I decided to go out of my comfort zone and joined Groovy Gecko Canyoning Tour.

The canyoning tour is one of the famous sports adventure in Dalat that involves abseiling in a

waterfall, rappelling on the rocks, jumping on the water and sliding on the slippery falls.

Groovy Gecko supposedly would pick me up at 8:30 am but this is Vietnam, so expect that everyone is not on time. With a team of six travelers and three guides Groovy Gecko driver

was on the hotel’s door step at 9am picking me up.

The ride was not far. We get off the car after 15 minutes and started trekking towards the jungle with our helmets, no bags and all our mobile phones, wallets, and cameras turned over to one of the guides.

Because the activity was a bit rough and risky then it is advisable not to bring anything.

Having nothing on hand to worry about, however, turned out to be more fun than carrying something which will only bother me.I don’t have to worry about taking pictures while we were abseiling on a 25m waterfall or jumping on the water from 11m cliff

as one of the guides was assigned only to take pictures of us.

The other two guides were directing and assisting us when we abseiled or jumped.

Here’s something you have to take note though, if you are a novice and you don’t know how to swim make sure you are with a group of travelers who can swim and strong enough to assist you.

Usually travel agency would tell you it’s alright but trust me don’t jump on the water from 11m cliff because your life jacket might not stick with your body from the impact and you’ll be left strugg

ling to get into the shallow part of the water.

How do I know? Well, I don’t swim and guts were all I have, and trust me I felt the danger despite my oozing confidence. The guides will not be on your side but your team mates will be there on the water when you jump.

I don’t know my team mates personally, I just met them there but I kept bothering them for help. I was lucky they were quite nice,

couples from Denmark, Germany and England. Being Asian I’m small and I knew it was a burden to them since they have to adjust their speed for my sake.

The least I can do to compensate them of their effort to rescue me on the water when necessary, was to stay friendly and to never utter a word of complaint.

The canyoning program, however, was well planned for beginners. We started with moderate rappelling, jumping and sliding to practice us. The second leg was a bit rough, higher cliff, longer water sliding and rappelling on the rocks with water at the bottom.

The last part was the hardest, abseiling on the 25m waterfall, getting into the middle where water will push you down and

the rocks were quite slippery. I had to invest a lot of effort to control, balance and guts to let go of the rope and jump where I can get lost on the streaks of water.

Then there was the jumping on the water from 11m cliff and the so called “washing machine” where I’ve abseiled on the waterfall with water grinding me down.

The activity ended with a 2k uphill climb back to the highway where the car was waiting for us.

And if you ask me what was the most fun part of the adventure, it was the unavoidable intake of water when you

abseiled or jumped plus the dimples forming on my legs and butt from the exercise.