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| Sweet bean gruel, sticky rice, noodles, & banana leaf pork |
Our last long driving day! We met up with Hilary at 7 AM for a very large and varied buffet. Hil and Bob opted for the egg station, and I tried various Vietnamese specialties: delicious “Sweet Bean Gruel”, (very) sticky rice with red beans, and a gelatinous mass of rice with pork wrapped up in a banana leaf, plus some great French bread and jam.
We checked out at 8 AM and worked our way through the city amid swarms of motor bikes and buses. There was pretty continuous houses and retail quite a way out of the city, until we reached more sparsely inhabited areas of rice paddies, some just planted, some emerald green, and others already harvested, and the stubble being consumed by cattle and water buffalo
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| Our great driver, Bom, and David |
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| Roadside cattle drive |
The cattle are herded along the highway and seem to know to keep out of the way of vehicles. The traffic customs are pretty scary: one enters from a side street without stopping or seemingly looking! If you pass a truck into oncoming motor bikes, they know to slide onto the road edge and everyone seems to get through, although I don’t know how. At least we haven’t seen any accidents, fingers crossed!
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| New and harvested rice paddies |
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| Arabica coffee in bloom |
Our trip today started at 1400’, and we gradually worked our way up until we reached a pass at 4400’ at around noon. David thought we ought to stop for food and toilets, so Bom pulled off at metal Quonset hut place that had sit-down toilets (yes!) and an open-air kitchen that produced a very good lunch! We got a large bowl of rice, some chunks of chicken that were really tasty, pork, and stir-fried spinach. Simple but hit the spot!
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| Hil & Tien, a great birder! |
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| Burmese Shrike |
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| Lunch spot |
We continued driving until around 3:00 when we entered the city of Dalat at 4500’. There were miles of greenhouses for the cut flower trade that serves both Vietnam and large exports. Dalat has a year-round spring-like climate with many old French villas and new Vietnamese villas so people can escape Ho Chi Minh City’s steamy heat. We’re staying at the Hotel du Parc, an old French 1932 colonial style hotel. Bob and David set off for a little birding while Hil and I walked around the hotel neighborhood, and found a patisserie and a coffee shop for a snack.
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| Tiny side streets which only fit a pedestrian or motorbike |
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| Front of the hotel |
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| Fancy cake place near the hotel - we restrained ourselves since dinner was near |
Dinner was at the hotel which had a wide variety of items from steak to pork curry and a real Negroni cocktail!
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