You know how sometimes when you don’t have any plan at all the best things happen? Well, today was one of those days for our little group. We had an idea that we might like to take the horse and carriage around the lake at some point but really....we didn’t know where we were going to find it as we’d looked the day prior and couldn’t see anything that had a horse attached!
So....after another lazy morning of yoga stretches in our very zen rooms here in the mountaintop retreat of DaLat we enjoyed breakfast in our pj’s now that we’ve got this bakery right across the street. We pick up peanut butter baguettes just before they close for the night and voila...when we’re ready for something to eat with our 3 in 1 Nescafé....we’re good to go. :-)
By the time we managed to get ourselves up into the lobby it was 10:00 and since the sun was shining we decided to just ask the reception desk to call us a taxi to take us to the horse and carriage location. We figured if the taxi couldn’t find them...it wasn’t meant to be.
Our little taxi driver turned out to be a sweetheart of a guy. He couldn’t speak a word of English but in the end (and with a little help from friends) it all worked out. First he took us to the horse and carriage starting point. Where we’d seen carriages earlier and thought was the place..he just waved his hands and pointed further forward. We were sure glad to be in a cab! The receptionist at our hotel had said we could easily walk...in maybe 10 or 15 minutes. Jeez...it was taking our driver about that long! It would have taken me an hour for sure and then my knees would have been done for the day!
When we finally arrived at the horse and carriage location our taxi driver decided that he’d just help us to get set up with a carriage etc. (Perhaps it was in part due to the healthy tip we’d just bestowed upon him. LOL. It turned out that two of us had tipped him not knowing the other had already done it!). We agreed on a price of 350,000 for a 20 minute (5 km) carriage ride around the lake. 350,000 is about $21 CAD and we thought WTH....$7 each...it would be worth it. Little did we know at that point that what we’d get was worth 10 times that!
I should begin by saying that Lynda and I were really glad to see that this carriage had four wheels, unlike the one that we’d ridden around the Philippine city of Vigan. That 2 wheeled sulky and tiny tiny horse didn’t have a chance with us two big Canadian girls in the back of it! Here on four wheels at least our little horse would have a fighting chance! LOL!
Our driver (he was just a little guy like the horse) had almost no teeth and he too couldn’t speak a word of English but he sure loved having us on board! He flirted and high fived us at every opportunity. As our little horse set out onto the road we weren’t sure what it would be like to be on the road with all that traffic. It is crazy enough in a car...here in an open carriage it might be a bit unnerving. We had no idea that the traffic would be the least of our worries! Within a single minute of our departure our carriage began rocking and rolling like it was going to tip right over! Lynda is certain that the driver had the ability to make that happen but I’m still convinced that it was due to the fact that all four of our wheels were tied on with string! (Foolishly we didn’t bother to look at the safety of the vehicle until after the ride was over!)
I’m not sure who said it first but at some point we all agreed that perhaps the 11 hour train ride from Nahtrang was better than this 20 minute ride from hell! Seriously, we were being thrown about so wildly for part of the time that it is a miracle no one fell out of the damn carriage! But we all held on for dear life and laughed so hard we lost the ability to speak. In the end, this crazy carriage ride had been anything but relaxing but it sure had been therapeutic. Laughter is said to be the best medicine and today we all laughed louder and longer than any of us had in a very very long time. In truth, I’m still chuckling as I type this!
During the carriage ride there was one point where the driver gestured that he was going to go into a round about with the rest of the traffic. We nodded our assent and before we knew what had hit us he was pulling a u-turn right there in the middle of the road at one side of a roundabout! WTH?! How no one gets hit on the road here is a miracle or at the very least a testament to the excellent mind reading skills the drivers all seem to possess.
When we got back to the parking lot where our carriage journey had begun there was our cab driver still waiting for us. We were glad to see him and piled back into his very small car. Yes, this was the tiniest little Hyundai hatchback. Definitely not made for the four of us but heh....it was working and the price was right on his meter so....we decided to figure out a way to get him to take us somewhere else.
We gestured that we were hungry and wanted to go somewhere for food. He gestured that he knew of a place where there was a great view and where the food was very good. We agreed and were off again. During the 20+ minute journey from that point we laughed some more as Lynda described the likelihood of this being some kind of crazy kidnapping. Her running banter kept us in stitches as we wound our way further and further from the city, up and over hills and past miles and miles of gardens and greenhouses. We passed a couple of small lakes and many big beautiful homes. Eventually we ended up at the restaurant and while the food was excellent there was definitely nothing on the menu that was for the vegetarian diet Gail has adopted during her time here. We opted for the BBQ chicken with 2 types of rice....sticky rice in bamboo stick and fried rice. We figured the rice would tide Gail over. :-). The meal arrived and it was beautifully presented....all looked like it was going well until we noticed that even the head of that damn chicken had been included in the BBQ’d pieces on the plate! That pretty much finished Gail - after that she couldn’t even get the rice down!
Again our driver had been waiting for us and when we got back to the car we tried to tell him we wanted to go somewhere for coffee. Just as we were moving back into our sign language....and our driver was trying to use his google translator but had selected Arabic or something rather than English...we heard a voice right outside the car ask, “translation challenges?” It turned out to be a Vietnamese guy from California and he was happy to be our translator until we’d gotten our next stops all figured out.
First stop was to the red clay “tunnels” that are a popular attraction here. We really had no idea what we were going to. We thought tunnels meant tunnels....but no....it was a type of Flinstone Village that had been carved out of clay. It was massive! We clambered down steps and up steps and past prehistoric creatures and along waterways and beside houses and up and down more steps before we came across the bathroom. We’d been looking for it for a while and so it was a sight for sore eyes (and full bladders!). That is the happy part of this story...the rest of the story is not so happy! There was no t.p. (That’s not such a big deal as someone always has tissue) but there was also no water which meant no flushing....and some of the toilets had “deposits” left in them. There were no toilet seats so hovering was the only option and holding your breath for as long as it takes to pee when you have a really full bladder is a tough thing to do! But, again we all survived and here we are to tell the tale and carry the memory of yet another “colourful” adventure home with us. Eventually we found the LoiRa (exit) and again our little driver was there waiting for us so back into the car we crawled.
By this time we had it down to a fine art and everyone was getting so used to the crazy traffic and near misses that Darlene and Gail exclaimed that this was all seeming very familiar to them. My thought about that is that Summerland traffic and pedestrians had better watch out if these two girls think this is “normal” driving!
After much more laughter (perhaps this is why our taxi driver stayed with us for so long...he was enjoying our enjoyment!) we rolled around a corner and up a driveway that was covered in green turf! It felt like we were driving onto a golf course green. In fact, I wondered for a. moment if we were going to be golfing instead of having coffee. But no, this was just the fancy entrance way to the little caphe where we’d be able to sit up on their terrace overlooking all of DaLat while we sipped on our coffee drinks and reminisced about the fun day we’d had. Our taxi driver left us here...we’re thinking he likely was off shift or had other commitments. In the end we’d spent more than 4 hours with him (much of which was driving) and our total bill including tips was equivalent to $30 CAD or $7.50 each. Not bad! LOL. :-)
After our coffees the caphe called another taxi for us and we headed back to the hotel where we took a little time to catch our breath after this fun-filled day. We had time to pick up our laundry and begin to figure out the plan to get to the airport tomorrow and what else we might like to see and do here in DaLat prior to our departure tomorrow afternoon.
Tonight for dinner we located a little place very near the hotel called the Wheelhouse and it was a great little find. Food was excellent and on the way home we came across one of the street vendors who sells warm soy milk. We’ve been keeping an eye out for this tasty treat and so to find it on our last night here was a real gift! Gail and Darlene headed back to the hotel while Lynda and I opted to try the soy (with sweetened condensed milk) and the black sesame (with sweetened condensed milk). Both were served in a plastic bag with a straw as we wanted them to go. I would have liked to have it in the glasses that everyone else was using but....those tiny stools that come up to just above your ankle are just a tad too tiny for my liking! So, to-go it would be. The drinks were delicious and when we got back to the hotel we gave both Darlene and Gail a taste of each. They agreed that they were yummy and admitted that they didn’t want to stay as they thought the mass of people perched on tiny stools looked like another beer corner and they weren’t interested in having any beer! LOL. :-)
In the same area where we got our soy milk we watched another vendor make DaLat pizza on her rack over hot coals. It is a piece of rice paper placed on that rack. Then there is an egg and veggie mixture poured/spread (thinly) over that. Once the egg starts to set up from the heat she adds in a little laughing cow cheese. Once that is all melted and bubbly she cuts up some wiener on the top and then folds the whole thing over into a crunchy pizza roll. It actually looked really good (minus the wiener).
Wandering back to our hotel from the soy milk corner we happened upon a brand new shop that just opened its doors 10 days ago. It caught our attention as it was playing Christmas music! Eeeek! It can’t be time for that yet?! It was a great stop though as the young girl working in there was so sweet and she was happy to tell us all about the products they sell. We got to taste all of their dried fruits and learn about the bee pollen and their Asian turmeric. And did you know that DaLat grows macadamia nuts and almonds too? I didn’t know that until today!
Bottom line, it’s been a great day full of fun and friendship and laughter and learning. Tomorrow will be another one. Till then.....
Darlorlyngai
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