[monumentum]

Day #8: Outskirts of Dalat (7-May-2010)
Earlier yesterday I'd met Chung, a member of the renowned Dalat Easy Rider, so we'd striked up an agreement that he'd take me on a tour around Dalat today. Not so much of Dalat itself, but further afield, places not usually accessible to average tourists. The morning started, visiting Linh Quang Pagoda after we covered a considerable portion of winding mountain roads out of Dalat city centre. It was a little lower as compared to where Dalat is, so naturally the temperature soared - significantly.
Impressive it was, this pagoda with a dragon straddling the entire length of the compound. So the path on which visitors walk was pratically intertwined with the dragon's body. Of course, like any other pagodas, the main building was typical. The 2 golden dragons somehow guarding the main temple were of a magnificent gold though. Really illuminated in the sunlight - gorgeous. Is that even a right way to describe a religious entity? o.0?

The compound of this temple was a rather huge one. & at that, one crowded with Buddhist characters. For Buddhism somehow originated from/related to India, the statues in Chua Linh Quang are too, very India-inspired. Costumes, religious postures.. However the part I found intriguing was that this temple had the Monkey God & his company of pals too. Arent they supposed to be Taoist Gods? Please tell me if you've the slightest clue.
In Vietnam, it's really hard to avoid a Buddhist temple I guess. Majority of Vietnam's population are Buddhists, & thus no matter how poor a village might be, you'd find signs of Buddhism somewhere - a small shrine, a simple altar, or perhaps just the Buddha statue. It's how religious the Vietnamese are - something we should in fact emulate, for in my opinion, Buddhist teachings are probably real virtues. Then again, who am I to define what a virtue is? You live by your own while I live by mine. [Ramblings]


The following are what the mountain roads would allow you to enjoy. Sights like these are common. Serenity at its best. Other than the ocassional motorbikes passing by these roads, there're only the calls of birds & insects. Overlooking villages & agricultural terraces, mountains afar, while savoring the constant breeze, I thought I could sit under a tree for hours, dozing. Heck the tight schedule of having a guide. Another reason why you should be self-sufficient when it comes to transport.


So next, Chung took me to trek at this pine forest. Secondary forest, as it would likely be considered. For during the Vietnam war, many primary forests were destroyed, by bombs or otherwise. It wasnt till recently that the Vietnamese government was kicked forth a campaign to replace bare mountainous soils with these pine trees - a cheaper, easily grown option. So I trekked up one of these, on which Chung assured that there'd be awesome view of its surroundings.


That was just a random shot I thought would justify that I was indeed in a PINE forest. These little 'fruits' of the pine trees are amazing. How one tiny thing like it could be so compact, holding such a complicated structure. There were so many scattered all over the ground, so do you think any 2 would be exactly the same? Beats me.

Though the climb was rather nerve-racking, for the path up was steep, the soil overly dry & loose. Loose soil are terrible at maintaining your grip, they simply give way, so would your footing. To top it up, my shoes were approx 3 years old, its soles worn & a little detached. But upon reaching the top, it's couldnt be more rewarding.
Doesnt this feel liberating? To be so high on top of the world? Perhaps being at high places excites me, which is the reason why I'd been climbing things ever since I can remember. I'm not sure if they would be the same for you, but do try it someday if you havent. Perhaps then you'd like it.

Here I met a clique of Germans, with whom greetings were exchanged. Of course, who wouldnt want to stop & chill under the shade at a place like this? I would too if I could. Yet the day was drawing on & we still had places to go to. So several rounds up there, then I made my way down along that same path. Thankfully, going down wasnt as time-consuming as climbing up, for if you kept your centre of gravity low, you could easily slide down the dry sandy path safely.
This is where I had another of my mishaps - the flower farm. Due to the temperature at the mid-height of the mountain, flowers could grow well here. No I couldnt understand the demand for flowers being so great. For this was only one of the many that we visited. According to Chung, Dalat was supposedly the only exporter of fresh flowers throughout the country. Yet, how could so many people need flowers huh? Who'd need flowers like everyday?! That's erm.. Crazy.
Being anthrophobic (yes I do NOT touch that - even the slightest bit), I still managed to snap a few close-ups of these creatures. No I do not think that they're hideous. I simply do not touch them, & neither would I try to. It really got on my nerves I was on constant guard while walking among them. No I did NOT want to brush against any of them.
Worse still, the seeming 'paths' werent actually for walking on, they were the flower beds! So people had to practically tip-toe along whatever little soil they could find. It also happened to be watering time during my visit, so while tip-toeing along, I fell! Ok not very glamorous thing to happen, but well it did. Thankfully I fell the other way, away from the flowers & not right ONTO them. Would've suffered a cardiac arrest if I did. Thank God, though my hands & legs were already coated with mud.

I found the above bamboo structure more fascinating than the flowers though. Sturdy things. I wouldnt imagine they could withstand storms & monsoon, but somehow, who knows?

Just planting the flowers & harvesting them wasnt the end of the story apparently. The workers still had to trim each individual stalks to specific lengths & weight, & package them accordingly. How many of us would consider these facts when we purchase them at the florist, lamenting about the exorbitant prices that we pay at the cashier?
More fresh facts: There were actually coffee 'fruits'! Each 'fruit' contains 2 coffee beans, which after harvested, would be dried & roasted. The green little fruits would only be harvested when they ripen - turn red.
Amazingly, despite coffee's strong wafting aroma, these beans do not have a scent. Only upon roasting would they acquire their trademark characteristic. It's questionable how coffee was even first discovered due to their apparently 'hidden' property.
This coffee plantation was a random one at which we stopped along the way. It's confusing as to the different types of coffees, for they were planted together, no labels whatsoever, & looked roughly similar.
More travelling it was.....................................................................
Viewers' discretion below. That's how the locals sell the catch from the lakes which you can see in the above photo. A stall like the one below houses living catches in basins. So you could choose which you wanted. They'd provide the slaughter service indicated by that bloody mess. It smelt horrid if you were there. A lingering smell of coppery blood, the still air & the heat simply made it worse.


So these were the very picturesque dams - a rare sight for an actually man-made structure. Though the gushing current under the peer-through bridges would send shivers through & through..
The following was in a minority hill tribe village. A section contained the work area for women weaving hand-made items for sale to visitors, where you'd see exquisite merchandise you couldnt take your hands off. Prices werent exactly appealing though, for the women would cite the long hours making each item. So I haggled really hard, & ended up spending an ostentatious 220k VND despite the effort.


Although prices here were fairly high for an average souvenir, it nonetheless was much lower compared to what you'd find at popular tourist destinations. Prices made in comparison to other hand made merchandise. Besides, judging by their aesthetic appeal & quality, I guess it was worth the money.
It turned out that this minority village didnt only boast its handicrafts. There was a rather impressive waterfall - the 'Elephant Waterfall'. One that required lots of climbing again. Down down down... In order to catch a slight glimpse of its foot.
So the photo below was taken halfway to the bottom of where the rocks ended. Steep. It's fortunate that humans have 2 pairs of limbs. No I couldnt catch the waterfall in its glory.


The photo below was not meant to be misty. That was plainly the force of the waterfall.. How the water, the bits of white sputtered so far away.
So there goes, the evidence that it was indeed that ELEPHANT waterfall. ElephantS waterfall. [Laming].
Besides the above, just within walking distance was a rather magnificent Chua Linh An, or Linh An Pagoda. Built up high on the hill, like most temples in Vietnam are, it sprawled easily over a huge plot of area.
The entrance obviously didn't speak much of its interior, neither did the Gods guarding near the entrance. But yet below are some snapshots of the pagoda's majestic interior.





It was solemn in this temple itself. & dim too. It was difficult without. But nonetheless this was what I captured, & pardon the faults of this picture. The statues of this temple were rather well-maintained & impressive. Despite which, the caretaker politely allowed me to take photos of them. No I don't mean that poorly maintained places are more deserving of photos, just that this temple, I'd say, deserves a tad more of protectiveness.
The above were all mornings. It was about mid-afternoon before we finally settled down for lunch. Having gone to temples, I decided it was vegetarian for me then. It'd be disrespectful if I'd nonchalantly went ahead devouring meat.
The silk factory. One attraction I was truly looking forward to. Using an army knife, Chung sliced a nicely formed opening on the caccoon of the silkworm so I could catch the dormant creature.
A machine weaving patterned cloths out of fine silk threads. It was interesting to note that each machine in the factory could only weave a specific pattern on the cloth. You could zoom in to look at the one formed by this machine below. It's glaring though, beware!
The below is a worker setting up a machine of silk threads for the cloth to be spun.
Who said silk threads were so easily obtained? Of course, in order to end up with rolls of silk threads like normal sewing thread, the below process was necessary. It's how the harvested threads were actually 'organised' into neat rolls of sellable goods.
The below are self-sacrificial silkworms who'd lost their lives contributing silk to us vicious human beings. So without having to guess, you know that the basic process to obtaining silk indeed cause loss of lives. These smelt rather bad, like decaying proteins, which they indeed were. Decomposing meat, in essence.
A close-up of the silk thread spun into rolls. Here you'd be able to catch how fine these threads are. However, it's also surprising to note that they were rather sturdy, yet smooth.
The final product having been dyed & hung to dry. These really did appeal to the sight & tactile senses.

Putting your life on the shelf practically meant the below. I couldnt imagine how many silkworms were there, yet I'd be able to deem this a genocide.



Comfortably they lay in cubicles specially to house them, yet this treatment wasnt for long. They were only made to develop enough caccoon, before the value of their lives would be drained from them..
So then, the final products. Each shawl was like a mass grave of silkworms. But it is still a delightful fact that they'd left behind such lovely legacies (involuntarily of course!). Be a silkworm yourself, won't you? Should you die, die a worthy death!! LOL.
The robes made of silk particularly caught my attention. The silk was so fine the robes were basically see-through. A very fleeting feel to it. Ethereal, is that even the word? Not the earthly sort of solid clothing we wear. I wonder on what ocassion would someone wear something like that. You're certainly invited to zoom in for a closer look of its texture! (: Though I wouldnt brag about the picture quality, for there's no reason to.
Back to Dalat city - The Crazy House. That's the result when you put entrepreneurial skills & a quirky architect together. Poof! A hotel with the weirdest layout, inside & out, & of course an exhibit opened to the public.























Not to mention Crazy House's hotel rates, which was a significant bit higher than your average hotels. I bet you also didnt want to be an exhibit yourself at your hotel, for visitors really flocked the place, wandering & looking all lost into the most impossible corners of the structure. No it isn't where you'd stay if you cherished a teenie bit of privacy.


That's the end of Crazy House. Words wouldnt explain how it felt at such a mystical place. Truly amazing that settings like this exist in real life, for I would've thought to be simply euphoria. Perhaps I'm just lacking exposure to more awe-inspiring places. But I truly feel that fantastical places, apart from nature's serenity, are most liberating.
It was dusk when I arrived back at my hotel. Having earlier on boasted about the views from this hotel, I guess I'd just substantiate my point. This was only on the second storey. Imagine the higher ones. It was US$5/night! What a bargain huh! Perhaps off-peak period? But the minimum they had was double rooms. Which of course I paid for. This hotel is one recommended by Lonely Planet, right behind Sinh Cafe's Dalat office. Let's see if you'd be able to find it yourself.



Dessert & dinner are below respectively. Who'd forgo the opportunity to eat fruits if he laid foot in Dalat? So I bought myself mangoes today. Yesterday's opulence at the variety of dishes really got to me, so I decided to remain frugal today. My instant noodles no doubt looks yummy too huh!