I arrived in NhaTrang at 7:00 am., waking up 20 minutes before arriving in NhaTrang. It was a nice break from the confusion and rush of getting the hotel in order. I met with the manager of a large hotel to pass on some vitamins that Ken had brought from the Us. His name is Tan, a nice fellow. I was treated to a nice buffet breakfast before heading to the hotel to pick up li’l Sissy. Back to the confusion!!

I arrive to find my cleaning lady scraping the new paint off the stairs in order to get rid of paint splatters. She has scraped it down to the old paint. I then am doing room checks to see that everything is in order when I discover to my horror that all of the wiring and controls for my new neon sign are located on the floor in the middle of the 1^st floor balcony. One child or rainstorm will destroy all of my efforts… Then my night receptionist comes to work after too many beers, and when I go to work on my computer, I discover that the browsing history is full of pornography sites, a great thing for a government inspector to see…… My handyman storms out in a rage about something, and more unseen expenses have surprised me….and later in the evening, an official of some sort cruised up on his bike to ask why we had no flag displayed yet…. Egad!!!! Will it ever stop??

 The boat driver turned out to be quite the adept and concentrated on the heavy waves. Somehow he was able to read the timing and the severity, riding some almost surf board like, and others crashing into head on. I was not able to get any photo’s as I was too busy trying to unclench my but from the bamboo seats. The water calmed and we merrily chugged our way. There is a tourist facility called Unicorn Island that I have been to before. It is a delightful place visited by many tourists, but another less touristy venue was on Hau’s mind. The boat veered its way down a narrow rivulet or channel for a ways and docked at a little used concrete stair. We climbed and proceeded to a coconut candy factory located close by. Here we learned

Making coconut candy

of how a coconut was processed from its raw state into a delicious treat. Nothing is wasted. The husks are used for fire and for all sorts of goods. And of course the pulp is turned into candies and other tasty items. It is a small world…. At this not to visited site, I ran into another tour operator who I just

Our transportation

happened to meet a day earlier in my hotel…. Huh….We then walked a short distance through the jungle and came to a road where a man with a cart and pony were waiting for us. Up into the cart we went for a long ride up island. I felt sorry for the poor pony having to haul my fat carcass in the hot sun. I truly

Banana tree

 hope those animals are well cared for….. they look pretty exhausted to me. Anyway….. As we trotted along, I beheld one of the most unusual sights of my life. There were two young men with fishing poles at a small ditch. The poles were a long bamboo with a line tied to the end. At the other end being

Homestay

used for bait was a duck!! I am not kidding. I guess that the duckling swims around and threatens  The baby mud fish. In it’s baybies defense, the adult mudfish will nip at the ducks feet in order to scare it off. The duck will have a hook dangling undernieth to snare the fish. How ingenious!! And cute too.

Home made wiskey

  We were dropped off at a location in the middle of nowhere and proceeded to journey through beautiful narrow paths in the jungle. After walking for a while, Hau thought we might be getting lost so he asked a local for directions. No problem! We were on the right track. On our trek, a large insect of

Duck bait at the end of the line

some sort was buzzing around the back of Hau’s head. I thought it was a bee, but when it landed, I was slack jawed to see the mesmerizing beauty of one of the most colorful beetles I have seen in my life. I did not know beetles could be pretty to look at. At last at our destination, we encountered a

Catch of the day?

 monkey bridge. We crossed and arrived at our destination. The resort is called the An Khanh Vuon Dau….They offer a homestay which is a very interesting way to enjoy Vietnam If you are interested in a jungle stay, you can email Mr Vo Thanh Dung at ankhanvuondau@yahoo.com . There was to be three of us for lunch but Ken was not attending, therefore, Hau invited a local to dine with us. He was a very thin man that seemed to have no interest in food, so we called the driver to make his way to us and have lunch and a drink. It took him a while and many phone calls from being lost but he finally made it. I feel saddened that Ken is not here with us. It is a beautiful spot and the company is good. It got to be around 2 pm and it was time to head back as I had a night bus to catch to come back to NhaTrang. Traffic was light at that time of day and we headed back via the old highway. ( For those of you that were with me last year) I asked if we could drive by some cafes that I thought might lead to some interesting photo opportunities. They feature road side hammocks where a person can nap in the afternoon. For us it was about coffee time, but for many others it was sleep time. Even though there were many shops, we elected to find one that had people awake. We did eventually find a place and we were dropped by the driver. Hau and I walked a hundred yards or so to a place that had a couple of pretty waitresses swinging in a hammock out front.

Well….. there is that word count thing again…..

What a day!! It all started simple enough. One of my nephews joined me at 7:30 for coffee. I looked around for his bike, and not seeing it I asked where it was. He said that he would ride on the back of mine.. What!!? I did not think this possible, and told him to get a motorcycle.  It is a good thing I insisted on this as you will read. We swung back to borrow a bike and were on our way. It was only 15 minutes or so until we started to see the country past the houses built against the roadside. We turned off the main highway onto a smaller potholed secondary road that would get us to Dalat. We started to cruise by some beautiful scenery, and countryside houses, when, the road ended. The Typhoons of a month ago had washed out and damaged much of the road. Ahead for unknown kilometers was the roughest, dustiest, ugliest road I have ever seen. The road was dried red clay and the dust filled the air like a smoky fire. We are stuck behind big trucks and busses kicking up clouds of this dust, bouncing over terrain that would challenge a trail bike. After endless kilometers of beating our bodies and bikes, we finally found some pavement. We increased our speed ant were starting to move fast, when we hit the rumble strips. I guess the traffic in these mountain road was getting too fast and crazy, so rumble strips  were placed wherever there was a good stretch of road. We left the last of civilization and started deep into the jungle and mountains….. Then It happened. Li’l Sissy stopped dead!! We determined that there was no spark. We pushed it back a kilometer or so and found a small repair shop. The mechanic changed out most of my ignition system, and tested it. We took the time to hose ourselves off and remove some of our clothes to bat them against some bricks. After we had lost enough soil to plant a small garden from our clothes, and washed the rings of clay from out eyes and mouths, we were on our way again.

The drive to Dalat is spectacular. The rugged mountains climbed or dropped on each side of us. In every direction was almost endless jungle, a beautiful expanse of wilderness. The mountains were jagged and waterfalls were plentiful. We started up the steepest of mountains, a hard climb for our little 110 cc bikes. At times we could not get over 40 kmph. At high altitude we could hear the poor overstrained engines straining for air. Still, the views were breathtaking and I was enjoying the drive. Alas….. the strain of the roads where too tough for Li’l Sissy and she conked out again. I had fried the new ignition system that was installed only 2 hours earlier. Again, we pushed the poor thing around 5 kilometers until we found a repair shop on the fringes of Dalat. The mechanic replaces a burnt out coil with a much heavier duty one which he guaranteed would not burn out. Finally on our way again, we arrived at Dalat. We passed among the endless green houses and stepping hills, along a cool almost cold mountain plateau. Here it is a forest more than jungle. There are pine trees and some others that could be recognized in more cold climates. Dalat is a beautiful city. There are flowers, and fruits everywhere. It is known as the agricultural hub of Vietnam. The climate is suitable for the growth of all kinds of vegetables and fruits, not able to be grown in the lover elevations. We headed for the central part of the city when………    Wham!!!!!   Traffic..  Lots of traffic, people are everywhere. As luck would have it, it is the flower festival. In Dalat every year they celebrate a festival and decorate the city with flowers. People from all over the country come to attend. We fought the traffic and then braved the market to purchase some dried fruit. Mayhem….   I love it!!  There was a time that I was intimidated by the noise, confusion, and all around chaos, but now, I fit right in. My nephew is amazed how well I fit in. The last time we traveled together anywhere, he was a baby sitter. No longer, now he could have fun with me as a partner. He laughingly translated numerous times from the native hill women that I was being offered second wives, Of course as normal I politely refused and told them if I ever wanted one, it would be them. They laughed at this and off we would go. My nephew got an offer himself J

We left around 5 with the intention of returning to NhaTrang about 7. I thought it unlikely as it took us so long to get here.

We left with the light hoping to make some good time on the decent plateau highway before we would be forced to slow in the jagged mountains. It was not to be. After cooking along at the maximum speed out little bikes would go, Li’l Sissy decided to throw a tantrum and lost her chain. It jammed in the chain guard, and I came skidding to a halt right before a hairpin turn around a cliff. It was not a close call, but reminder enough to drive defensively here. We were able to re-attach the chain, but had lost our light. As the day passed into darkness, we both learned new and valuable lessons. The temperature dropped by 10 degrees. I started to get cold in my tank top. I did not get much chance to get to cold though, the clouds had dropped to mountain level, and it got wet, miserable, and cold. The mist of the clouds soake3d my glassed and the intense fog made visibility only mere feet. We were forced to slow to 20 or 30 kph for very long distances, the whole time trying to keep the bike stable from our shivering. This was insane!! Driving could not be more dangerous, but we had nowhere to go. All there was is jungle and cliffs. No houses, hotels, or shelter of any kind. There was one good thing however. There was almost no traffic. The locals are too smart to attempt such a foolish trek. From time to time, a oversized monster of a vehicle would blind and deafen us. Thankfully after a couple of hard blind hours, we broke through the clouds and had descended enough to have some visibility again. The country was now so dark, our feeble headlights did little to show the way, so we cruised on, not being able to see the potholes until the last second…. Bang!!!….. another Bang!!……   Ouch!! For a moment I thought the torture was all over when, THE ROAD FROM HELL!!. I had forgotten. Now, in the dark, we had to negotiate this dirt, dust, mud, and mayhem for att least an hour. I did not have the gumption to get off and take some night shots, as my but was too busy clenching my bike seat. Along this bucking ride, I lost a foot peg, side cover, and any sense of fear I may have ever had. We finally broke through back onto the potholed roads, then back to the highway, a couple of battered hardened men. We rode side by side, grinning like children. A four and a half hour ride in hell, we both understood. It was a bonding experience. An experience that that we probably both hope not to share again, but we prevailed. We limped back into NhaTrang at 9:30 pm. We phoned and learned that everybody had already eaten so we stopped at the closest roadside street vendor we could find, and hungrily devoured a steaming bowl of beef noodle soup.

This morning, I am suffering from a pinched neck, a bit of sunburn, and a few sore muscles. Otherwise everything AOK!  I have replaced a part or two on the bike, and washed the cached dust from it. I think I may need to invest in a more powerful bike if I wish to make any more long distance trips. Li’l Sissy is good around town, but is a big sissy in the hills.

What is today going to bring???   I do not know…  Life is good

PS.

As happens so many times, I write this blog rushed. I do not have the time to go back and check for mistakes, so please forgive any boo boo’s I made.