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.

Easy Ride with Dalat’s Easy Rider

Alright here I go with my latest trip travelling like a local in Vietnam.

Pressure from work pushed me to get on Phuong Trang bus at 10:30 pm on Friday supposedly heading Nam Cat Tien for Safari watch at Cat Tien Park. However, I did not anticipate that we will be at Nam Cat Tien almost 2 in the morning where not a shadow of human being was visible.

For me, travelling within Vietnam is quite safe but for a solo female traveller who doesn’t speak fluent Vietnamese I was having cold feet thinking I’ll be alone walking on a dark street in the countryside of southern Vietnam with just the sound of crickets comforting me, so I decided to skip Nam Cat Tien and go with the bus all the way to its destination, Dalat.

For my $8usd bus fare supposedly for Nam Cat Tien, I landed in Dalat at 5am. I left Saigon with the temperature of around 34 degrees Celsius with unbearable humidity that I wore only tank top and skimpy shorts, which was quite comfortable for the weather. But that was a bad choice because when I get off the bus in Dalat early in the morning I was slapped with a windy 19 degrees Celsius weather temperature.

For an Asian who is not used to live in cold weather, the temperature was enough to make my bones and hands shaking as I walked on the streets with my lonely planet guide book map. Dalat is not an active city like Saigon or Hanoi, so at 5am there were no guest houses that are opened, which left me without a choice but to keep on walking, stretch my body to gain more energy to fight the cold. Instinct told me that the more I move, the more warm I get.

Finally at 6:30 am, I was able to get a room at Nam Hoa Hotel along Hai Ba Trung Street. No one understands English but I managed to get a $10usd room for early morning check in. The room was clean but the windows and the door gave me an impression that it’s not safe to get out of the shower naked. But I was desperate to change into warm clothes, so I ignored everything. Besides I won’t be staying in my room.

True, I went around for breakfast and that’s when I saw the signboard Easy Rider Café. Easy Rider is a group of bikers which has been established by some random Americans after the war in Vietnam and nowadays it became famous in bringing tourists to the countryside, giving a different perspective of how to explore the country.

I was at the Peace Café at Peace Hotel along Truong Cong Dinh St., where most of the members of Dalat’s Easy Rider were hanging around, waiting for potential customers when I decided to get on one of the bikes. I was given the option to either take the city ride for $18usd or the countryside ride for $20usd. The countryside ride itinerary looks more exciting, riding on the bikes up and down the hills to visit some tourist spots, so I took it.

It was fun riding up and down the hills on a bike heading outside the city of Dalat but at noontime I started feeling the heat of the sun burning my skin and the humidity made me sleepy that my Easy Rider guide, Lam decided to stop in every coffee shop we passed by, so I can rest. I even took a nap at the hammock in one of the coffee shops. Well, if you are in Vietnam you will see that hammocks are normally hanged in the coffee shop of the villages for farmers taking their rest.

At 3pm, however, rain pour hard that Lam stopped again in one for the local stores, so we can put on our raincoats.

By the way I will commend Easy Riders for their sensitivity on the needs of their guests from raincoats to stopover. Lam never utter a word of complain even we stopped by several coffee shops just so I can rest. Waiting was safer though than him rescuing me falling off his bike.

Amidst the heavy rain, we arrived Dalat City at 4pm and I paid Lam his $20usd with additional small amount for a good service. Tips, however, are not necessary but Lam was too cautious for my safety that the tips and food I offered were not enough.

Now, if you are in Dalat and is planning to take Easy Rider trip, take the countryside option and you will be able to visit the flower garden, silk worm factory, mushroom production, rice wine making shop, climb up pine tree hills, visit at least two temples, old train station, crazy house, and the elephant waterfall.
Here's the thing, there’s nothing to see in Dalat City unless you go for a countryside ride which can be fully experienced by riding motorcycle.