frisco-kid
Mon December 5, 2005 9:50am
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100_0001
This Catholic church was down the street from the hotel on the same hill.
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frisco-kid
Mon December 5, 2005 10:10am
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100_0017
There is alot of beautiful archetecture with french influence in Dalat. The french first started building the city about 100yrs. ago. At 5,000' elevation, it was an ideal spot to escape the heat of Saigon so they started building chateaus and resort hotels. It continues to be a resort town. Many of the rich Vietnamese honeymoon here.
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frisco-kid
Mon December 5, 2005 11:05am
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100_0025
Dalat was probably my favorite place of the whole trip. I think some of it was the weather. In the low 50's-mid 60's, it was a refreshing break from the humidity and heat of Saigon and the Mekong, and the wind and heat of the beaches. Pretty much light jacket/sweatshirt weather, it was alot like home now.
It has a whole different atmosphere from other cities in Vietnam. The pace is a little slower; the shop keepers aren't as aggressive; no street beggars; the orphan kids selling post cards take no for an answer the first time; as a westerner walking through it's streets, you don't turn too many heads or cause traffic jams. You don't feel stared at all the time. A pretty laid back place. It has a flourishing artist community with alot of picture galleries and many local crafts for sale. You can enjoy a good cheeseburger and beer at a sidewalk cafe and watch the people meander by without being disturbed.
Being a mountain community was a plus for me. While I enjoy a day or two at the beach, I've always enjoyed the mountains more. Lived in higher elevations most of my adult life. If I were to live in Nam, Dalat would be where I lived.
The girl in the picture is making a portrait, taken from the photo, entirely by hand embroidering with silk thread. We visited the factory and gallery of this famous local handicraft. Some of the pieces of art were breath-taking, many of them taking close to a year to complete.
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frisco-kid
Sat December 10, 2005 7:19pm
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6
Coffee....This is what alot of The Highlands looks like now. Not just around Dalat and Bao Loc, either. James and I saw mile after mile of coffee plantations around Ban Me Thuot, Pleiku, and Kontum, also.
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frisco-kid
Sat December 10, 2005 7:52pm
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20
After leaving Mui ne to the north, you go by some of it's famous sand dunes. You can hire dune buggies to take you out exploring them, but we didn't. As far as I know, they're not found anywhere else along the coast.
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frisco-kid
Sat December 10, 2005 7:56pm
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19
Just to the north of the beach resorts is a penninsula that shelters the fishing boats that sails out of Mui Ne.
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frisco-kid
Sat December 10, 2005 8:18pm
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102_0263
Retrieving washed away sandbags.
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frisco-kid
Sat December 10, 2005 8:28pm
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102_0255
Trying to save what beach they can.
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frisco-kid
Sat December 10, 2005 8:59pm
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102_0249
About a week before we got to Mui Ne, there was a big coast storm to the north. It caused some high surf at here. A few days later, there was a hurricane that struck the Philippines. It also caused a high surf at Mui Ne. Between the two of them, there was alot of beach erosion. It did make for some great body surfing, though. Reminded me of my teenage years on Ocean Beach at San Francisco, except you didn't need a wetsuit or treatment for hypothermia in Mui Ne  .
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frisco-kid
Sat December 10, 2005 9:34pm
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102_0220
After flying from Phu Quoc Island to Saigon, our guide and driver picked us up the airport and drove us directly to Mui Ne. Mui Ne is just a couple of miles NE of Phan Thiet. It is a very popular beach resort area to both tourists and the rich Vietnamese.
After checking in, we were shown to our bungalow.
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frisco-kid
Sun December 11, 2005 4:36pm
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100_0057
As I've said on many occassions, Catholicism is alive and well in VN. There's alot of Catholics in the Communist Party there. You can see this as you drive by huge mansions with catholic statuary on the balcony, or a catholic shrine in the courtyard. This is a not-too-subtle catholic shrine at a gas station that we stopped at. The gas stations are privately owned, but the government comtrols the flow and the price. Most of these stations sit on a good sized piece of real estate, with the owners usually huge house next door to it.
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frisco-kid
Sun December 11, 2005 4:49pm
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100_0053_2
We took an in-country flight from Phu Quoc Island to Saigon, where we were met by our driver and guide. We piled into the van, and headed directly for the beach resort area of Mui Ne near Phan Thiet. We crossed the Saigon River on the way out of town.
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frisco-kid
Tue December 13, 2005 6:25pm
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102_0202
After leaving the fishing village, we went a couple more miles north to an outdoor restaurant. We had a big plate of fresh jumbo shrimp lightly battered and fried, a green salad, I had a beer, and Kath had a fresh squeezed orange juice. Cost about $6 total.
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frisco-kid
Mon December 19, 2005 3:51pm
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101_0200
Phu Quoc is a mountainous island that's covered in rain forest. The whole interior is government property and a preserve. Not too many of these in Nam. During the war there was a POW camp run by the ARVN's on the island, so it saw virtually no fighting in it's interior. It's one of the few places you can go on a hike in the jungle and have a good chance of spotting monkeys and other wildlife. Also, not having to worry about left behind booby traps or ordinance. We were hoping to spot some monkeys on this short jaunt from the car. Didn't see any, but it was a beautiful spot none the less.
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frisco-kid
Tue December 20, 2005 9:53pm
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101_0157
We sample some of the local fruit.
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