[monumentum]

This is seriously intensive blogging. I've no idea how many days this'd persist before I'd truly finish 'documenting' this entire trip. If only carrying a laptop around wasn't so much of a hassle, I'd willingly do that instead of compounding this journaling process.Day #7: Dalat (6-May-2010)
Despite Dalat's resemblance to Miyazaki's town settings, it's a totally different story when it comes to BEING in one. Its visual appeal doesnt lead to practicality, for being so compact & complicated, it evokes a sense of claustrophobia, & also makes you get lost easily. So many alley ways, veins which are hardly visible on maps.
It was quite a struggle to manoeuvre across this highly 'networked' town. Though I managed to find this cathedral I was looking for. So these were the street of Dalat. Though the town structure, looking close to how HCMC is like, was quite a letdown, I'm glad to say that traffic in Dalat wasn't so busy. Thus, breathing was easier there, & much quieter compared to its irritating counterpart.

Overwhelmed by lethargy for the day, exploring was limited, so I'd myself a set of postcards to be sent back home to friends & family. Yes, stamps for postcards were cheap. A mere 8k VND each. But not if you bought a large quantity like I did...
I couldn't draw myself away from the bustling Dalat market. So once again I was back there to soak in its atmosphere. It was near dusk, yet the stir at & around the market wore on.
Unleashing the true gluttony in me, I declare this day the Food Day. The following were only some of the food I ate that day. I'd start off with Vietnam's specialty fruit here below. This dragon fruit was unlike any I'd seen back home. It was huge. Something you could easily call a meal. No, but not for someone with an insatiable appetite like me.

When there was the luxury of boiling water, I made the most of it. Water in Dalat was a fair bit cleaner than what I encountered in Mui Ne (there were tiny little wriggling worms in the tap water! Eww!). Plus the water looked yellowish there, but not in Dalat. The water was clear, so I was rather emotionally assured. Or at least, ignorance was bliss.



Gluttony it was indeed! The above was what I'd bought at a roadside stall earlier on, for a humble 7k VND. Good value eh? There were chinese sausages, fried onions, pork liver, some ham-like meat, a quail egg, with sticky rice. Dalat, being where it is, with its favorable climate, is famous for its fruits. So I decided to buy a fruit too! The very eggish-tasting avocado which gave me a 'nice' time trying to finish it...
I wasnt done. The following are small treats I found on a roadside stall as well. They tasted similar to how a Malay kuih would taste like. Tapioca I guess? No the stallholder couldnt tell me what they were, language barriers kicks in yet again. But fortunately were more than edible.

The above was the rather common 'Vietnamese sandwich'. Those were glutinous rice cakes sandwiching what tasted like the western pork ham, from which the seller would cut from a big fat slab, to give you this tiny bit. It was nice though my stomach was already bloating on its part. Thankfully the below, was a tiny piece of tapioca-tasting sticky dough thing. A tinge of sweet, & only the tapioca-glutinous rice combination was most recognizable.