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.