Scuba diving in Vietnam

On our first full day in Nha Trang, we went scuba diving at Mun Island, located just off the coast of Nha Trang. Mun Island is a protected nature preserve. We went on two dives during the morning.

Dinner Guest

All around Southeast Asia, there are geckos - in restuarnts, hotel rooms, everywhere. They are harmless and serve a great purpose of controlling the bug population. Normally, they keep their distance and are just part of the decor. Rarely do they join you at your table for dinner. However, tonight, this little guy decided to join us. He started out on the wine holder and then came in for a closer look at Whitney's chopstick wrapper.

Happy hour

We spent happy hour playing a game of chess at a local bar. We bought this chess board in Cambodia and finally had a good chance to break it out. Neither one of us is good, but it's a great way to spend a happy hour.

Nha Trang

After another fun bus ride out of the highlands, we find ourselves in the not so sleepy beach city of Nha Trang. Think Honolulu, but for 1/10 of the cost. We are staying across the street from the beach and looking forward to a few days full of water activities. Our first activity was having a beer on the beach.

Dalat - City of Romance

Dalat is also called Le Petit Paris, the honeymoon capital and the City of Eternal Spring. On our last night here, we went to a nice little restaurant for what turned out to be quite the candelit dinner. The food was excellent and since Dalat is known for its wine, we had our first glass of wine of the trip. Not quite what we are used to, but worth a second glass (especially for $1 a glass).

Whitney is starting to get into the holiday spirit and wore her Christmas tree hat.

Lunch

Towards the end of the motorcycle tour, we had a great lunch at our guide's grandmother's house. After lunch, our guide gave us a "medicinal" treat to cure back pains. It is baby cow dung with soy beans wrapped in a banana leaf and cooked for about 4 hours. He did not tell us what is was until after we ate it. Pictured is Mike having another bite after we were informed.

On a side note, my back feels pretty good.

Minority village

Next stop was a minority village. In this village, each day the men gather food and the women weave. Pictured is their home (basically a shack), the grandmother (who is still weaving every day), their kitchen (basic as can be) and the woman of the house (the champion weaver of the village).

Also, FYI ladies, she delivered two children in the forest on her own. With nobody. Had the baby, cut the cord, burried the placenta. Solo. Then she had her third child in the hospital. She was so freaked haveing to be in the stir-ups, she said for the next one she's going back in the forest.

Dalat flowers

Many flowers are grown in this region because of the climate. This flower (the yellow sunflower) is the symbol of Dalat. There is a flower festival once every two years in Dalat. Also, many Vietnamese who get married come to Dalat to have their pictures taken.

Coffee farm

Next stop, a coffee farm. Coffee is grown extensively in this area because of the cool climate. People here can make a great living growing and selling coffee. This time of year is the coffee bean harvest. The beans are dried in the sun for months before they are ready to be consumed. Vietnamese coffee is very bold and very good(Whitney is a huge fan).

Videos of the waterfall

A video facing the waterfall and one from the cave below the waterfall.

Elephant Waterfall

Next stop, Elephant Waterfall. When this waterfall was discovered, there were many elephants living around the area. We viewed the waterfall from the top, then hiked down into a cave under the falls.

Our guide

Great guide, but a weird sense of humor.

Silk factory

Next stop, a silk factory. Our guide walked us through the entire process from silk worm to finished item.

Items to burn

The Vietnamese believe that when person dies, if they burn something the smoke will carry the item to the dead in heaven. They burn money, houses, cars, suits, motorcycles, credit cards, etc (all in the form of a paper representation of the real item). Pictured are paper money and cars for sale in the market.

WARNING: PET LOVERS SKIP THIS POST!!!!!

Next stop was a typical Vietnamese marketplace. This particular one is in our guide's home town. Among the normal items at the market (vegatables, fish, home items, etc.), these pictured items were for sale as well. A dog will cost you about 8US dollars and a cat about 4 US dollars. They prefer young animals to older ones for the meat quality. The butchered meat pictured is a dog leg for sale.

Bee farm

Next stop was a bee farm. We were lucky to show up when we did, since they harvest the honey only one week per year. The scene was a little crazy with hundreds of bees flying around us (as you can tell by the video). The bee farmers spin the honeycombs by hand to release the honey into a vat from which the bottle it. They gave us a little sample taste of the honey as well.

We BOTH ate crickets

And yes...

...we ate crickets. In an attempt to make them more appetizing for westerners, they deep fry the crickets in flour. But you can peel off the flour and eat them au naturale.

Cricket farm

First stop, a local cricket farm. Crickets are raised to be sold in the market place and to restaurants for human comsumption. Whitney was putting on a pretty brave face being so close to thousands of live crickets.

Dalat motorcycle tour

On our only full day in Dalat, we went on a motorcycle tour of different spots in the area. We were shown around by a local Vietnamese guide. Whitney played the roll of a paratrooper.

(and again, moms, we wore helmets of course)

Our place in Dalat

The view from the balcony in our hotel room in Dalat at sunrise this morning.

Dinner in Dalat

On our first night in Dalat, we ate at a restaurant that serves only one dish, beef pho. Mike thought it was the best pho of the trip so far.

Pho, a rice-noddle soup, can be served with pork, chicken, beef or just veggies. We have found that the better the quality of meat, the better the pho overall. We have run into some suspect meat that has been way too fatty, which downgrades the whole pho experience (in our opinion). Another element to good pho is the plate of accroutraments that can come with the dish to add to the soup for flavor. Normally basil, bean sprouts and lime are served, but we have experienced dishes with all of the above, none of the above and all of the above plus more (e.g., garlic, onions). There is usually also fresh chilis to add in to your liking. This concludes the pho lesson (by two white people).

The highlands

Once we were off the crazy mountain road, the highlands were a beautiful sight. It is about 20 degrees cooler up here than the areas at sea level. A great change for us.