Mon, Jan. 29 - Birding Day 2 in Di Linh

 We were up early with breakfast at 5:45 AM and off by 6:20 heading to the 2nd hide in the area.  The drive was about 30 minutes and Bom pulled over where he could park and we could get out at the side of the road.  We had stopped part way as there was quite a bit of bird activity in one set of tall trees.  We walked into the hide climbing up fairly large rocks for part of the way in what must be a small stream in the rainy season.  Then the trail went up hill for a ways and there we were in the hide.  Tien did his “hide whisperer feng shui” thing with making the area in front of the hide most attractive to the birds.  He swept and cleaned out the small water hole and placed corn and meal worms around.  

Tien setting up the area outside of the hide

We started seeing more Orange-headed Thrushes almost immediately. They were quite aggressive with each other.  Then a White-throated Rock Thrush hopped into sight going from grabbing a worm to a large vine about 4 or 5 feet off of the ground.  He was quite beautiful in black and rust and white.  As we sat, a very handsome Blue Pitta appeared and a Blue-rumpled Pitta stood guard over the whole scene a bit back in some large leaves.  Tien said he can be the most fierce and can scare the squirrels away.  There was a red-cheeked squirrel hovering in the back of the area and he popped out once or twice.  We also saw a Siberian Blue Robin, a Large Scimitar Babbler and a White-bellied Erpornis.  Once we had seen the 2 life birds for Bob, we had seen all that there would be at that hide.  Everything else would be a repeat.  

We walked back to the van and then did some more walking down the road hitting some great spots along the way.  One particular tree had all sorts of Bulbuls and another had a Maroon Oriole which I finally got a great look at. We also admired the wonderful big and little gardens where all sorts of things are growing.  Some gardens plots are large while others have fit in a few vegetables in a few feet in front of their house.

Roadside garden

Huge hand of bananas - not quite ripe yet

Around 10:30, we headed back to the hotel where we would have lunch at noon and then could go back out at 3PM to the first hide to see if the elusive bird we didn’t see yesterday might put in an appearance. 

Lunch was excellent.  Louis made some of the best spring rolls any of us had ever had.  Katy and I opted to take the afternoon off and then Bob joined us as the idea of going back out to the hide for a single bird didn’t seem worth it.  We head to Cat Tien National Park tomorrow and that should involve some heavy birding and hot temperatures (mid 90s and it is only January).  

Lounging by the pool before lunch

Really wonderful spring rolls and a fish sauce based dipping sauce

I found how you get to the pool.  I don’t think it has been cleaned in a while as it likely seems too cool to the locals to swim.  But Katy found the net to clean out leaves and proceeded to remove all of the leaves and bougainvillea blossoms floating on the surface.  She then put on her suit and took a dip!  We both did a bit of laundry (they don’t do it here) and the weather was perfect to get something to dry before tomorrow.  

Katy getting ready to take a dip

About 5PM, she and I took a brief walk down the road and along the village street so that Katy could get a few photos of the typical narrow houses that most people build.  We saw more little gardens and a number of plants that we couldn’t identify.

Dining Area

Threshing rice/wheat?

 There was one rice paddy and a side yard with ducks, hens and rooster and a small pig.  There were a couple of small children outside and the little girl (maybe 3) said Hi bye Hello.  That seemed to be the extent of her English but that’s more Vietnamese than I have so I told her “very good” and she beamed and repeated Hi bye hello.

Rice paddy

When we got back, it was just about time for a drink so I got another of the son’s really good beer and Katy ordered a gin and tonic.  We were told that we were having water buffalo for dinner and tried to imagine what that might be like.  The owner came over to the fire pit and pulled some hot coals out of the fire and placed them on a clay pot holder.  She brought this to our table and put a covered pot on top.  Her son, Louis, brought out a large platter of raw meat with some onions and she added a big plate of lettuce and various leaves.  She described the leaves with different medicinal/herbal values so we all tried a variety.  The meat was cut up very thinly and you place it into the pot which had a broth in it.  So it was sort of like a fondue but no cheese.  You cook your meat however you want it and then place it in the lettuce and/or leaves.  Roll this up and there was a great dipping sauce to use and then eat.  It was remarkably delicious and tender.  She also brought a green papaya salad that had some bite to it.  We all unexpectedly really enjoyed the meal!  David had a brownie and ice cream for dessert but Katy, Bob and I all opted for the bananas flambé with ice cream.  Louis does a great job making the bananas with crunchy sugar crust on top of the lengthwise banana slices.  The food here has been wonderful.

The house cats were bartending tonight

)

The cooking pot on top of the clay pot with hot coals

Plate of buffalo meat and onion

Plate of lettuce and herbs from the hotel garden in which we wrapped our cooked buffalo meat

We are to have breakfast at 6:30 AM and head out at 7:10.

Sun, Jan 28 – to Di Linh and Birding Day 1

We had one last fabulous breakfast buffet.  I (Katy) had been feeling squeamish and, starting yesterday, had had a bit of Delhi Belly, or whatever tourists call it here, so just had the recommended plain toast, plain rice, banana, and coffee.

Duparc doorman loading our van

We packed up and checked out at 8 AM and drove a short distance to Datanla Waterfall park.  One enters at the top of a canyon and then can take various tiny tracked cars or zip line to the bottom. The park also had “canyoning” and lots of people were filling the parking lot with themselves and piles of gear.   The idea for us was to bird with the treetops at eye level which you can do from the open air restaurant.   I thought it looked like fun to zoom down the canyon in a little car, and David said go for it.   The map was in Vietnamese and Korean and I couldn’t figure out how to get back up once at the bottom, and then spotted a large ruler and saw that I was way too tall anyway, so that solved that!

Small car on the track that was tempting to Katy

But alas, we both towered above the measurement sign!

Note the stuffed animals inside the windshield!  We’ve seen many tourist buses where the driver is definitely showing off his personality.

We drove for three hours through little towns and past vast agricultural valleys and hillsides.  Acres of blooming coffee, mango trees, chilis, bananas, lettuce, tomatoes, on and on.  Nurseries are all prepped for Tet, which starts next week, with perfectly blooming flowers and potted plants.  Tien stopped in one retail area and took me across the street, dodging motorbikes, to a small shop where I could buy some bright red Tet paper lanterns!

 

Small, but pretty, Vietnamese house

Country club & golf course

Bom finally came to the town of the Di Linh and pulled into a small alley leading to the Ivory Falls Guest House – a classic tropical small hotel, painted brilliant colors, surrounded by bananas, outdoor eating terrace.   There were some other birders here who were checking out, and we discussed what birds they had seen.  Bob and I got a lovely room with a view overlooking a wide valley, reminiscent of the San Diego backcountry. 

Some of the colorful buildings

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Open air living room and restaurant 

More of the Ivory Falls Villa

 

We got lunch of beer and excellent fried rice and set off to a hide that Tien has set up.   We had to climb a short, but steep, trail.   I was feeling woozy and almost fainted several times, but finally made it to the hide where I could just sit.  Tien swept the area, filled a small pool with water and sprinkled meal worms in strategic places.  It’s like watching a bonsai master arranging a garden – he is so meticulous in making it attractive for the birds and easy for us to see them!

Tien cleaning the “birdbath” and setting out corn and meal worms

Getting ready to see what we could see from the hide

Orange-headed Thrush

Black-crested Bulbul

Siberian Thrush

Blue-rumped Pitta (female)

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We were there for 3.5 hours, and saw a lot of beautiful birds, plus another cute shrew and red-faced squirrel.  I was feeling better when we finally climbed down to the car, but when we returned to our room, I started a prescription of antibiotic as I want to feel better for the rest of the trip.

Orange-headed Thrush - subspecies with tear drop like markings across the eyes

Sunset from the outdoor living room

 

Dinner of grilled chicken pieces, roast potatoes and green salad – a nice change.  I downloaded my photos a bit did Not write the blog but crashed at 9 PM and slept through until the alarm went off at 5 AM – feeling Much better!!

 

Sat. Jan 27 - Birding Day 3 in Dalat

 Since the large Japanese golfer group overwhelmed breakfast yesterday (and especially trying to get eggs cooked), we decided that we would beat them at their own game and get there at 5:45AM!  It worked as David was able to order and get his eggs as was Bob before the hordes descended.  I was right next to Bob as the much shorter ladies jockeyed for position.  One ran into me - I’m kind of a tall wall so she got her sticky rice and waited.  Once the fried eggs were being placed on the serving tray, I got one and the rest were reaching for them behind me.  The egg cookers do 8 of these eggs at a time as that seems to be the only variety of egg the golfer group eats.  Most unusual but culturally pretty fascinating to watch.

Sunrise from my room (pardon the window glare)

Part of the salad display for breakfast

Breads - there is one bread that is tinted green but we haven’t figured out what makes it green yet

 We got on the van just before 6:30 and headed back towards the mountain area north of Da Lat where we had been in the 2 hides on Thursday - about an hours drive.  This is also part of the Bidoup Nui Ba National Park.  Bom stopped at the side of the road and we wandered along to see what might be up there.  There was not too much action at first but then we saw a number of birds - Necklaced Barbet with the sun occasionally striking the bright scarlet on top of his head, Vietnamese Cutia, Chestnut-vented Nuthatch and brilliant sunbirds.

Lovely view to the east from about 5300’

We walked a ways and then Bom would take us down the road further.  Then we would walk some more, etc.  We did this until 10:30 and decided it was time to return to the hotel, take a rest and then head out for a bit of a city exploration drive in the mid afternoon.

At 3:30, Katy and I got on the van with Bom and Tien and they gave us a city tour.  First we went to the King’s Palace #1.  Tien had never been there so it was new for all of us.  This was built in the 1930s by a French millionaire and bought by the last Emperor of Vietnam - Bao Dai - in 1949.  He was born in 1913 and became emperor at age 13.  He didn’t really serve until he finished school and returned from Paris.  The palace is really a large nice house.  It isn’t ostentatious but in a lovely hilltop location.  There is a room where you can dress up as emperor and empress and have your photo taken!  

Some of the Tet decoration at the Palace which is the yellow building behind

Statue of Bao Dai - the embroidery of his coat in metal is beautifully done

Dressing up as the emperor & empress for a photo shoot

Then Bom took us to the Dalat Railway Station as it is a striking 1930 building and we wanted to take some photos.  We weren’t expecting more than a dozen tour buses!  Tien said that most of the tourists were Korean - likely escaping the winter cold.  

Dalat Railway Station

Free-standing faucet behind the station - the water is flowing

Vietnam Rail Engine

After that, I asked Tien what else we should see in Dalat and he mentioned the Xe Village or silk embroidery and the Dalat market. 

Bom pulled into a parking lot across from the Xe embroidery place.  Luckily, Tien crossed the street with us.  This may sound strange but crossing the street in Vietnam is a very different experience.  There are few stoplights and often intersections with no stop signs.  Cars merge on to the next street fluidly but it is a wonder how well it works.  There are crosswalks marked in larger cities but we were teased that they almost are targets!  So, crossing the street with Tien was the safe way to go as he held his hand out and worked our way through the cars and motorbikes.

The Xe silk embroidery is quite amazing as it is done so that you get the picture on both sides of the embroidery.  There was a young woman working on a piece as we walked in.  Each piece must take months or years for the large ones.  We wandered through trying not to get lost and then we were in a section of some very strange pieces.  There was a man dying with a woman by his side.  There were some quite macabre pieces in that section whereas everything else had been lakes, cherry blossoms, other flowers or portraits, etc.  

Family portrait done in silk embroidery

Fantasy pottery

Two of 4 embroidered panels of flowers & bamboo

Then we found the small room with iron bars bent back and memorabilia from the Vietnam war.  This is really the first that we have seen.  There were badges from uniforms, helmets, and photos.  Just outside the room, was a wooden and glass case of sewing needles with a sign saying that they were made from metal war materials - “Needles to building peace is made from metal weapons in war”.

Some of the badges from American uniforms & jewelry made from weapon metal

Sewing needles made from weapon metal

As we drove back to the downtown lake, we saw many many swan boats still out on the water even as the sun was going down.  We found ourselves at the Dalat Market which was a number of blocks long and is set up every night. 

Swan boats in the Dalat city lake at dusk

A tiny portion of the nightly Dalat market

Topiary piano in a round about by the lake

Street lights that were suddenly red then blue, green, purple - changing every 5 seconds or so with a very neat effect.