Sophie and I hopped on the back of some pretty cushy bikes
(they had BACK RESTS!) with helmets with actual visors too. We had negotiated
to have a personalised tour of the area and had chosen our top sights from the
list of options we were originally given
to create a super awesome tour covering all the good stuff J
Our first stop was a strawberry farm where the local Dalat
red wine is made using strawberries and mulberries.
Up into the mountains we went until we were told to head up
into the hills for a trek. The smell of pine trees was just overwhelming and
there were even some beautiful wild horses right at the top. It was so peaceful
and we felt so lucky to have the whole hillside to ourselves – not a tourist
bus in sight!
Back on the bikes and on to one of the regions Flower farms.
Dalat exports a lot of roses and orchids,
which you see being carted around rolled up in rugs on the back of
motorbikes.
Next we went to a coffee plantation. Coffee does not look
like how I thought it would and the coffee flowers smell amazing! They are sort
of like jasmine but with a warmer bittersweet smell. We also saw the weasels
who eat the coffee beans and then their poo is collected and roasted and ground
into THE BEST sweetest coffee you have ever tasted. The coffee we tried here
was out of this world. It was absolute Pip heaven – good coffee and animals…
You would have loved it Rue. I wish I had room in my bag to take some home L
It was lovely going at our own pace and just hopping on and
off the bikes as we wanted and not to
be governed by a schedule or other people toilet breaks!
Our next stop was a silk farm. Mum you would have loved it
so much! The little silk grubs make these amazing really quite hard and
plasticy cocoons which they turn into raw silk and then spin. Nothing is wasted
– they even eat the grubs! We of course had to try them too…kind of tasted like
sandhopper J
(shrimps for those who haven’t even sandhopper before).
After a shared lunch of caramel cooked fish and some kind of
meat and rice we wizzed off to a beautiful waterfall. We had to climb through the jungle to get there – lots
of big roots and rocks,sort of Indianna Jones territory.
Our next break was at a minority village. This particular
culture had been banned by the government to live anywhere but the jungle until
30yrs ago. Now they have been granted small crappy patches of land in which to
live on. Coming from the jungle they have bought many things to make this new
land feel like home. Amongst which they brought monkeys as pets which they
chain to trees near their homes. It was an eye opener, the treatment of the
people in the minorties is really very shocking –they are not allowed even to
send their children to schools..
I was even lucky enough to have a go ‘driving’ her <3
Such a beautiful afternoon. Yet again I am blown away by
Vietnam and all the surprises it has for me.
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