Dalat, Vietnam

This morning started at 3:30 AM. As I rolled over I found a few new bruises from yesterday’s basket boating adventure… The one where our boat flipped at least eight times.  We checked out of the beautiful Ancient House Resort in Hoi An and headed for the airport.  By eight o’clock we were in Dalat, Vietnam and headed down a bumpy road to Dalat Milk, a government owned milk processing plant.

A large herd of cows supply the milk to this plant.  We also saw a village where nearly every house on the street had about four Holstein cows in the backyard. Something like Sudan grass was planted in the front yard of these houses for feed. We met several tractors driving down the road and the shops in the area were tailored less towards tourists than we have seen in other areas of the country.  We sped past a tractor dealership/repair shop and a few metal fabrication shops and we shot straight up a steep hill. The road was non stop switchbacks and yes… the infamous Vietnamese motor bikes.

After we topped the mountain we saw the city of Dalat. We stopped at a supermarket similar to Walmart. Only it wasn’t similar because they put our pocketbooks in plastic bags so we couldn’t steal stuff. It was a little strange but I’m sure it cut down on the stuff that just walks away.  It was fun to see the different foods but also the brands that are familiar to us. But even those had differences in flavor and packaging. Coconut Oreos? Ice cream Oreos? They have them both here in Vietnam!

We headed to a greenhouse next. It was just one greenhouse in a sea of mix matched greenhouses of different sizes and with different crops inside. The one we went into grew black tomatoes.

We also saw a greenhouse full of lilies and a terrace of artichokes.

By Four in the evening we were relaxing for a bit at a coffee shot. Sounds fun right? The coffee was a little stout!

Most of the entertainment at the coffee shop came from the school letting out across the road. The kids liked seeing the big Americans and saying “Helloooo” to us.  Of course we smiled and said “Helloooo” back because we are the “Hello People”. (A name given to Americans by yesterday’s tour guide when she was just a little girl because all we ever say is hello.)

We continue to have a great time on our international trip and are seeing new things everyday. By tomorrow evening we will be another town and we will have another story to tell!