Vietnam : Day 2 - Around Da Lat

Because there were so few guests at the hotel, there wasn't a buffet spread. Instead, breakfast would be cooked to order.  We were presented with a menu printed in English, of which we understood that we could either choose between an American or Asian breakfast set. All the four of us chose the Asian set which actually had the choice of a fried rice or noodle soup set. We ordered 1 rice and 3 noodles.

Fried rice

Tasty egg fried rice

In fact, the kitchen dished out 2 fried rice for us. We only accepted 1 plate because that was what we ordered. But then the noodles never came. And in place of the noodles, each one of us got a pork ribs stew served with a basket of French bread .... 

Hmn ... I did not like the stew at all and did not eat much of it. The bread was fantastic though. Freshly baked, it was so crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. 

Heh. Had we known there was no noodles, we would have gladly accepted that second plate of fried rice. The staff had really minimal knowledge of English ... we had trouble communicating. 

Fruits for us to share 

CV and mother came down for breakfast later than we did ... 

And they got hardboiled eggs which we did not get .... 

And they had bananas which we did not have too .... 

After what it seemed to be a confusing breakfast, we set off for the day. We went to a number of places that day : Da Lat Cable Car and pine forest, Truc Lam Pagoda, Datanla Waterfall, Bao Dai Villa, Crazy House, Flower Park, and Domaine de Marie.

View of Da Lat from the cable car station at Robin Hill 

The cable car 

Riding through the pine forest

Alighting at Thien Vien Truc Lam or Truc Lam Pagoda


The temple hall

The main prayer hall is open to the public

A monk maintaining the garden ... 

They've got very pretty flowers growing at the garden here, and all visitors busy themselves taking photos among the colourful blooms.

A pond within the temple compound

Our second stop was Datanla Waterfall.

At the entrance

Walking down the steps to the waterfall ... 

I was quite excited to see the waterfall 

Datanla Waterfall 

We took the Alpine coaster ride so that we did not have to walk up ...  

Next stop was lunch at a place called Eros. Heh. What a name.

 Artichoke soup 

  

Lovely lunch

Next we went to Bao Dai Villa ... where King Bao Dai lived when he came to Da Lat.

The reception area ... 

The dining area 

The crown prince's bedroom

The king's chamber 

The kitchen 

The villa from the outside ....

Next stop was Crazy House ... really, it was crazy.

Crazy House, Da Lat 

View of part of the house from the top

The steps were very narrow

It was interesting, and some might say it is artistic. I justfound the house absolutely tasteless and confusing. I wouldn't want to stay here. Next, we went to Domaine De Marie Church here at Da Lat, which was constructed in 1940.

Domaine de Marie

The church wasn't open, so we couldn't go inside. We only walked around the compound, before going to the Da Lat Flower Park. There were lots of beautiful and colourful flowers around the landscaped grounds .... 

A nice place to stroll whilst admiring the pretty blooms

Pretty hydrangeas are abundant here ..

Colourful flowers

Flowers surrounding a water fountain 

We stopped by the night market after that. It was still very early, so the vendors haven't really set up their stalls. We did buy some dried artichoke tea, and some avocados from the few permanent stalls by the roadside. 

We went back to our hotel to rest ... and at 7.00 p.m., we were brought to a local restaurant for dinner. The restaurant was called Trong Dong, apparently a recipient of some awards from Lonely Planet and Tripadvisor. 

So we were seated and soon, our dinner was served. 

Pumpkin soup

Spring roll
I actually liked this dish .... the minced paste had been rolled around the sugar cane stick and grilled; the server wrapped the spring roll for us at the table. Too bad each of us could only have 1 serving of the spring roll

Chicken salad was also very yummy

Crackers


These crackers could be eaten with the chicken salad

The vegetarian salad was also very yummy, with lots of textures coming from the mushrooms

Then came the main dishes to eat with rice ... 

Tofu, sweet and sour pork and spinach
We found the dishes to be so-so; I enjoyed the entrees more than the mains

Vegetarian fried noodles
The noodles tasted great! Better than the dishes for the rice ...

Yogurt for dessert

My friends found it too sweet, but I enjoyed the smooth sweet dairy.

After dinner, we headed back to the night market where we shopped for more Atiso tea. 

Vietnam : Day 1 - Kul - CXR - Da Lat

It's my first trip to Vietnam, but I did not go to Hanoi nor Ho Chi Minh. I went to the less popular Nha Trang and Da Lat. It felt very much like a family trip - because apart from C and myself, the rest were family. There were W and wife, CV and mom, S and son. It was mostly an enjoyable trip nonetheless.

I went to KL ahead of my friends. I wanted to visit my nephew, B as I'd not seen him since CNY in Feb. I had so looked forward to playing with him once I arrived. Unfortunately, my plane was delayed and B had already fallen asleep when I reached the house. Heh. Nonetheless, I did spend a good 2 days with B and only went to join my friends on Sunday night after dinner.

We checked into Myhotel at Jalan Tun Sambanthan, just next to Old Town White Coffee. This was a budget hotel ...

The room

The room and en-suite bath and toilet were rather spacious. There's air-conditioner, coffee and tea-making facilities, a tv. I wished the room was cleaner though. It being just beside the road made it noisy - I could hear the booming rhythms of a singing event from across the road, and I could hear the traffic. Most annoying of all was that I could hear people come and go, open and close the doors,  and talk loudly in the corridor. I did not sleep well. 

We woke up early, checked out and proceeded to KL Sentral where we boarded the bus to the airport. I'd not taken the bus for a while. So now it cost RM12.00 for one way to KLIA2. The bus departed at around 6.20 a.m. I slept a bit in the bus to make up for the lack of sleep the night before.  

We arrived at 7.10 a.m. and dropped our bags at the counter and went to have breakfast at the food court, Quizinn. I did not know what to eat, so ended up having nasi lemak ...

Breakfast

The nasi lemak set was RM9.50 with a cup of coffee. I splurged on the fried chicken, which cost RM6.00. So that made the whole breakfast set RM15.50. Hmn .... Pricey nasi lemak, edible, though nothing really special about it; coffee was served in a badly stained cup .... it was a little off-putting.  

Our flight AK204 delayed slightly from Kuala Lumpur. I sat along the aisle, and next to me were a Korean father and daughter. Flight time was 2 hours and 25 minutes, and it was a rather turbulent flight. I was so glad when we landed at Cam Ranh International Airport, Nha Trang.

The current airport 

The airport was small and dated. We did not fill in any immigration card at all upon arrival. After we went past immigration, we collected our bags and headed outside, where we met with our guide, David and the driver. Since there were 8 of us this trip - and we were provided with a sprinter van. It was rather comfortable actually - C and I had the back row seats to ourselves, so we had plenty of room to put our things.

David was formerly a Russian language teacher at a high school, so he was excited to find out that we were all teachers. Heh. David was a nice guide, really accommodating. We all liked him.

The new international airport being constructed. It's located just next to the old airport. 

It took 50 minutes to get to Nha Trang from Cam Ranh ... and we could see much development along the way. There were many resorts and hotels being built here, it being by the coast and all. 

Loved the view of the bay here at Cam Ranh

50 minutes later, we reached Nha Trang ... 

Nha Trang beach and the city centre beyond

There were plenty of shops and hotels there .... and I thought the beach looked so beautiful

Lunch was at Nha Trang View Restaurant just by the sea. We were served with many good food every meal throughout the week. 

Left to right, top to bottom : crackers, Vietnamese salad, mustard and pork ribs soup, bok choy, French beans and carrot stirfy, stewed pork ribs, clams in spicy and sour broth, another type of clams, brinjal

Hmn ... I have no idea what species of clam is this ....

I find the vegetables to be fresh and sweet, and enjoyed all the food served to us. It was indeed a lavish meal to me. My favourite dish for this meal was the Vietnamese salad - there were only vegetables in the dish, but they were fresh and crisp and beautifully flavoured with lime and fish sauce. The toasted peanuts added a nutty flavour to the dish. Yums. I polished off the whole platter when no one else wanted to eat it.  

CV and mom are vegetarians and they had 4 dishes to go with their rice .... 

4 vegetarian dishes

After lunch, we proceed to Da Lat ... it was a 3 hours ride by car. Da Lat, located 1500m above sea level, had a pleasant climate. During the days of French colonial government, officials came here to escape the heat and humidity of the lowlands.

Before we began our climb uphill, we stopped at this rest stop called Ben Loi Quan. It had toilets, and a souvenir shop and a restaurant. We had an ice-cream here ... 

There was a river at the back of this premise ... 

After our short pit stop, we got going. As we climbed up, the air got cooler and cooler. Our driver turned off the air-conditioner, and opened up the windows so that we could enjoy the cool mountain air. 

Almost reaching Da Lat .... 

Lots of tents .... vegetables, fruits and flowers are grown in abundance here ... 

The streets of Da Lat

We reached Da Lat in 2.5 hours instead of 3 hours, and checked into River Prince Da Lat Hotel. This is a 3-star hotel ... and it seemed to be quite empty. Apart from a middle-aged couple, we did not see any other guests at this hotel. 

Our hotel lobby

Our room at River Prince Hotel, Da Lat

Spacious room with a spacious en suite toilet and bath; The room looked a bit old-fashioned, though it was clean. The room had no air-conditioner, but it was not needed anyway.

At 7.00 p.m., we had dinner a restaurant named Moulin Rouge ....

Tuna salad, omelette,  braised fish and roasted chicken
All the dishes tasted so good

Calamari rings, prawns, stir-fried cucumber and soup

I loved every dish served here at Moulin Rouge, and I think it was the best meal for the entire trip for me. 

Vegetarian dishes for CV and mom

Another dish cooked with black pepper for CV and mom

Cut fruits to share ....

We went to the Da Lat night market after that. We drove back to our hotel and David walked us to the night market so that we would know how to walk back ourselves later on. 

The night market 

Strawberries

Caps and scarves

Lots of tea! 

Atiso or artichoke tea is a product of Da Lat

Each meal, we were served with Atiso. We liked the taste and wanted to buy some back for our friends ... 

Seafood

Chicken soup

The vendors did not allow me to take photographs .... so I wouldn't say that they are friendly at all. I did not buy anything .... and soon walked back to the hotel. 

Pe'an Waterfall @ Bengoh Dam

Today was an occasional holiday for my school as it was All Souls Day. Since a rare break such as this was hard to come by, a few of my colleagues and I decided to go to Pe'an Waterfall at Bengoh Dam, located along Jalan Borneo Heights at the Padawan area.

We started the journey at 7.15 a.m. and our first stop was Padawan, 10th mile Kuching. Here, we had noodles at a coffee shop called Swee Sen. Swee Sen was famous for serving their noodles with big prawns. I did not have that. Instead, I had the kolo mee special ...

 Kolo Mee special, RM6.00
Noodles, served with 1 prawn, 1 wanton, 2 fishballs, 1 meatball, and slivers of char siew. I ordered mine "pink" - meaning I wanted a little bit of the red char siew oil to coat my noodles.

Our noodles were served in a jiffy. I was disappointed with it the moment the bowl was placed in front of me. First of all, the portion was small. Then the taste was bland. I poured in the entire saucer of pickled chillies and its vinegar, but it did not enhance the taste of the noodles. My friends thought the noodles were just a tad uncooked and yet a bit soggy. Apart from the fresh prawn, the rest of the ingredients were ordinary. I did not feel satisfied at all with my bowl of kolo mee at all. So perhaps this shop was overrated. 

After breakfast, we drove to Bengoh Dam. We reached there at about 9.00 a.m. We had to register ourselves at the guard house upon entry to the dam grounds .... 

Bengoh Dam
This is a water catchment area, designed to secure water supply for Kuching and Kota Samarahan

The lake? The reservoir? Hmn ... I have no idea what to call this body of water .... 

 Small boats 

Ours was the first boat with the blue tarp - the one next to the yellow boat. We were charged RM60 per pax, and lunch would be included. 

We waited for our guide here; there were some locals here and they said our guide went to buy something .... we were to wait for a while. Soon, he arrived on a motorbike ... and we boarded our little boat. He couldn't start the engine of his boat, and had to borrow his friend's engine. Soon, we chugged off ... 

Some vegetation along the way ... 

Our boatman was Alex, a young and handsome youth from one of the villages in the area. The ride upstream was only 10 minutes long, though it felt like a long time. Maybe because the boat was slow-moving. Soon, we heard the loud gushing of water ... We docked, and trekked for 20 minutes to reach Pe'an Waterfall.

The trail wasn't difficult, as there were clear steps and a clear path. It was just that some parts were steep, so climbing upward left me breathless. Some parts were muddy .... so I had to watch my steps. The scariest part for me was crossing the bamboo bridge ... I was so slow because I was scared that I would slip and fall. I was really clumsy after all.

So I was so glad when we finally arrived .... 

Beautiful waterfall, which was pretty much unspoilt 

Some call it Curtain Waterfall but the locals call it Pe'an Waterfall. 

I took a video too!

The waterfall was beautiful. I was proud that we had such a wonder right at our own backyard. However, facilities were lacking here. No toilets, no changing rooms. There was only a shack with a long wooden table and 2 long benches. I did not bring any spare clothing so I could not swim in the cool water. So my friend AL and I stayed in the shack to chit chat, while the others enjoyed themselves soaking in the water.

Alex left us to hang out at the waterfall. He was cooking Ayam Pansuh for us, so he needed to look for his cooking utensils. He came back with a bamboo vessel, lighted a fire, and proceeded to cook for us ....

Very delicious and flavourful chicken which had been cooked in bamboo
The ingredients were minimal. There was only chicken, lemongrass, ginger and tepus .... and yet, the dish tasted so delicious. 

Packed rice which Alex got from his kampung 

Yummy! The rice was really nice - soft, chewy and so fragrant! I enjoyed it very much with the chicken ....

After lunch, we hiked back to our boat. It started drizzling as soon as we were settled in the boat. We were glad that it only started raining after we got out of the trail. Unfortunately, the rain became heavier and heavier ... the sky turned dark and there was even thunder and lightning. Rain sprayed at us and water gushed into our boat ... we were soaked to the skin. Our little boat slowed down and braved the choppy waters .... And none of us had life jackets on. There was none on our boat.

"Can you swim?" S asked me.

"Err, yeah ...," I replied. "But I don't want to swim," I wailed .... 

We had all thought of the possibility that the tiny boat might capsize. Heh. The 10-minute boat ride seemed so long and we heaved a sigh of relief when we glimpsed the concrete structure of the dam from a distance. We were drenched as we ran to the car ...

It continued to pour the whole journey until we reached town. Looking disheveled in our messy hair and our damp clothes, we went to Chang Swee Kang at Satok to have some snacks ... 

Belacan Beehoon, RM5.00 

The best thing about this belacan beehoon was the century egg. Otherwise, it tasted so-so ... 

Rojak, medium RM6.00

I liked the rojak .... the sauce wasn't too smelly and I liked that it was sweet and nutty

 ABC was of course yummy, RM2.50

Despite being cold and damp, we enjoyed our cold desserts and our snacks. It was sure nice to get home and get a warm shower though. It had been an interesting day. :))