[monumentum]

Day #10: Road to Lak Lake (9-May-2010)

This'd be my 1st day with Chung on an Easy Rider tour. It's been 2 days already & he'd brought me to fabulous, unexpected places. On this 1st day I was yearning for it to remain the same or better. It wasn't fun to pay a hefty US$70/day, but experiences are worth more than $$ would. So here we embarked on our 5-day journey along south-central Vietnam.

This was the entrance of Chicken village, with its iconic rooster looming over its visitors. Plain as it may seem, the story (or 'stories' rather would be accurate) behind it varies considerably from one to the next, such that it becomes more intriguing than the statue itself, for this rooster, if you'd noticed, has 4 claws on its right leg, & 3 on its left. I've heard several versions of the 'stories', so do ask your guide next time you're there!

I havent tried rice wine, but here we visited a household making ricewine for a living. On those stoves heated by burning dried rice husks, pots of rice are being steams, then to be fermented with alcohol in vats to produce its final product. I regret not having pictured the rows of gigantic vats which could potentially have held gallons of the wine. Anyway, this place smelt strongly of soured steamed rice. I couldn't entirely call it a pungent smell, for I actually liked it, despite the knowledge that it's actually spoilt rice.

Who'd walk by this dog without noticing him?! Haha... His face is pratically screaming "Hey! I'm feeling miserable you know..." Either way, he's still a dog, so he's cute no matter how he looks miserable (: But why should he look miserable anyway? He looked well-fed. Most dogs in Vietnam (other than those dwelling in or around eateries) are scrawny creatures. They make you cringe at imagining how they must've starved, really! So maybe this dog gets to eat rice, since he's living here, of all places.

Being one of the world's major exporter of rice, there're many other rice products worth savoring in Vietnam. Of course, rice paper is one of them. So many Vietnam delicacies include rice paper. It can even be eaten on its own!! Like the Gardenia bread slogan goes, "So good you can eat it on its own!" This goes for rice papers too. Below is a close-up on the rice papers being dried in the sun on bamboo racks. Following, you'd see the lady at the house where rice papers' being made.

I apologise for abruptly interrupting the rice paper segment. But this photo below is of Lien Khuong Falls. No we didn't get any closer, just stopped by at a 2-storey cafe along the road, where we witness the Fall's glory from afar on the cafe's 2nd storey.

Ok, let's continue with rice papers. Despite the lack of verbal communication, Vietnamese are mostly warm & welcoming. This family actually allowed us into the kitchen to witness the matriach carrying out the family's livelihood. She held no restraint in showing us how the process goes too, even enthusiastically explaining in Vietnamese how the amount of rice mixture is crucial in determining good rice papers.

Most rice papers are sold after being dried under the sun for a day or so, while some are subsequently roasted, like the one below, to make something like a cracker snack. We ate some of those. With its black sesame seed, the taste was uniquely fragrant. I'm not sure if you noticed, but the rice papers in the photos previously had significantly more sesame seed than this one below. Yes, they're different 'grades' of rice paper. Of course, those with more sesame seeds, needless to say, would be sold at a higher price.

Of course, kids in a friendly household are not likely to be any less welcoming. Just a little... Naughty (literally!) I guess.

Along the road we came to a passion fruit juice factory. Photography wasn't allowed in there, thus this was my only photo taken. The boss was a thirty-something (but she looked totally like in her early twenties!) lady, a very capable lady for that matter! She conversed with me in fluent Chinese, & mentioned how she wanted to export her passion fruits to Singapore as well. Here she let me taste passion fruits for the 1st time. & believe me, until now, I'm still in love with this succulent tropical delicacy I'd buy whenever I can lay hands on any. It's a surprise how I never tasted any, given the fact that Malaysia is also a large producer of passion fruits.

The picture below illustrates subtly how war leave behind lasting remnants. Those ridiculous-looking concrete structures arent build to be just like that. According to Chung, these were once bridges, bombed by the Americans to prevent advancement of the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. I admit I am not clear-headed enough to state further historical facts other than what Chung shared with me, but along the way, you'd see more of such tragic reminders in a country struggling to outlast its grim past.

Nothing special about the photo below. Just love how the clouds cast shadows over the hills, like a giant spacecraft, darkening the shades of everything under them in comparison to all things bright in the surroundings.

Ok the above picture looks like an emo shot depicting loneliness, or something along that line. But I like the composition. Can't comprehend why either.

The openness of mountain roads scares me sometimes. Especially travelling on a bike, while heavy vehicles share the very same roads. A slight nudge from this monstrous conterpart can probably send a bike tumbling down countless foot of foliage. I couldn't imagine what would be of the rider when he finally comes to a stop after the fall. Anyway, to top it off, mountain roads arent exactly wide, sufficiently 2 lanes, one to & one fro, & when a lorry in front inches along painstakingly, the bike has to overtake using the other lane, hoping there'd be no speeding oncoming vehicles.

Every beautiful thing comes with an ugly side. That's how the world is fair, perhaps. As much as being dangerous travelling on mountain roads, the privilege of getting to enjoy views like these is probably worth the while, besides the bliss of tasting the nature-scented wind against your face.

We stopped at a small shop at the roadside along the way, which served our sumptuous lunch. A 4-dish meal with a generous portion of rice cost us 30k VND per person. Converting the currency to back home, still cheap I guess. Here I shared our food with a doggie who kept lingering around while I ate. My shots of him are too pathetic to share. That's how lovely this country is. They allow strays into their shops, & to be fed on the shop grounds. Try it at home, I'd probably be thrown out of the eatery, together with the dog.

Vietnamese food & Chinese food back home are rather similar in sights & taste (probably ingredients too), short of the ample use of fish sauce, maybe. Therefore, gladly to say, that throughout the trip I hadn't experience any episodes of sickness relating to the stomach. (;

Thatched house! I love the pattern! Even the houses are a work of art on their own.

A village of abject poverty, the below is how the people make-do with whatever they have. Below is the interior of the kitchen. As the structure of their houses couldn't possibly be more complicated considering how they build them, or what they build them with, each individual shelter like this houses a room for separate functions. A kitchen, the bedroom, a family room. None adjoined to each other.

Village girls - & a boy.

Here we'd see young boys in the trees, plucking mangoes so expertly. & then there's an avocado tree in the yard as well! It isn't a rare sight to see a Vietnamese family owning a wide range of fruit trees in their very own backyards. How very nice, really. Perhaps that's why they've such lean built, so healthy & active.

In the shabbily thrown together shelter above, are seedlings of coffee plants. Being too young & fragile to be out in the harsh weather, they're first grown in this way, where sunlight is limited & conditions are largely controlled. Until they're bigger, would they be transplanted to the fields.

The above is a caccoon-ing (what's the apt word to describe this process?) silkworm. Ewww eh? Oh man I'm sorry to say but I couldnt believe that your lustrous silk comes from such lacklustre (pun intended) creatures. For humans too probably? Intelligence don't really come with aesthetics huh? The product of this hypothesis is probably a dumb blonde chiobu.

Weaving mats. They're really soft to touch! Must be really comfortable to sit on too. These are actually stems of waterlilies. Couldn't have imagined it right? The unlikely candidate. A very friendly family too.

& a shy boy who's attempted a smile, to no avail though. (:

Random random.

Being in the central highlands obviously gave the opportunity to spot many members of the minority tribes along the way. Of course not everyone wanted a photo of themselves to be taken. But below, this mother-and-child pair allowed me to do so. Xin cam-on! ;D

Don't you love her skirt & leggings? I do, very much indeed! It's probably handmande, & the maker has done an awesome job! I'd placed so much focus on the skirt that I still feel apologetic to this nice lady here. Her face is rather... Out-of-focus. ;X

Having earlier on seen the passion fruit juice factory, below shows how passion fruits are grown. Thankfully they're very light & hollow fruits, considering how the plants need to be held up by stilts as thin as those.

As a prelude into the very picturesque Dak Lak, we captured these sights along the way. Withering trees though they were, the entire combination that balanced hot & cold colors was pleasing to the eyes. Though it'd be better without the mist. Too much burning I guess.

These are also common sights on the mountain roads. Buffaloes & cows. They sashay their way while vehicles to teeter along behind them, as if they were the righful users of the roads. No offense though. I enjoyed the sights. Anyway, Vietnamese are rarely in a hurry at regions like this. So I guess it's an ok phenomenon for them.

This boy who was probably barely 10-years-old herding the cows, only served to remind me of how fortunate children back home are. In their air-con rooms fixated & mad punching at their xbox controls, this boy had to travel a straggling hell of kilometres before he'd reach home. & he's had to do this every single day. I wonder how it'd be on rainy days though.

A wash of orange over the pictures you see? You bet, it was a scorching day! So here you see experienced Chung slicing the watermelon he'd brought along, with his army knife. The watermelon was totally a saviour in that sweltering heat! Though Chung was complaining about how un-sweet it was. The main subject of the watermelon was the juice, Chung!

Chung poses in front of the long house, of which the interior you'd see below. Long indeed, & its rustic simplicity I find was rather appealing. I wouldn't mind living in somewhere like this. It was surprisingly cooling inside compared to the heat we'd experienced out in the open. But... Where's the toilet gonna be huh?

Late afternoon, & these youths are probably heading home after a day's long of work. Nevertheless, they're still lively enough to spare me a smile! (:

When the sun was almost down, children would play in the waters. Camera-friendly, aren't they? They must be having a blast in there, so was I up here snapping photos of them.

Being the only resort at Lak Lake, the Lak Resort was a truly luxurious place I wouldn't have stayed at if I werent on an Easy Rider tour - & needless to say, the rate was a 5-star one too. Chalet style accommodation, open the windows, & you'd be exposed to the scenic Lak Lake. There was even a door to each room, opening onto a porch, that'd allow you to seep at your lemonade while relishing in the traquility on the bank of the massive lake, which I did not utilise. One, I was preyed on by mosquitoes ever since I'd gotten off the bike & the air around me was still. Two, it was well past 6pm & what I witness was merely the darkness crawling upon the lake.

Neat eh? Spells luxury. Even the toilet bowl bears a "cleaned & disinfected" paper strip. Hmmm... All these you pay for, I guess!

My butt hadnt even touched the seat when I had to grab my camera, rushing out to snap the lovely sunset beyond Lak Lake. Yes I contributed to the mosquitoes.

That was how pleasantly I'd ended my day's worth of adventure.

Dinner at Lak Resort wasn't a choice, but rather a lack thereof. A splendid 35k VND lightened my wallet by a bit. Fried beef noodles, of which I couldn't take a photo of for I'd left my camera in the room in a fit of laziness. Serves me right.