day 92 - Da Lat to Di Linh

Friday, 24 January 2014

Today we sailed down out of the highlands of Da Lat and made our way to the town of Di Linh. Almost 10km of our 80km ride today was spent simply rolling down from higher ground, which wasn't a bad way to ease ourselves back into cycling mode after a few days rest in Da Lat. The weather was fine and by late morning we were already starting to feel the sting of the sun. It really has a kick to it in the South, much like the strong sunshine we've experienced in Australia.

Given that a large part of our ride was either downhill or flat, we were making great progress and decided to visit a waterfall that was marked out on our map. We should have known something was up when the locals from whom we asked for directions seemed surprised by our interest in it. It appears there was once a resort of sorts at the edge of the falls, but much like the waterfall itself, the resort seemed to have dried up long ago and the only evidence of it's former life were the armless, legless and headless statues, dilapidated bathing huts and lonely picnic tables. Empty beer cans and cigarette packets on the ground suggested it still had the occasional visitor but we guessed they didn't come for the view.

(The waterfall that once was)

(The flags looked promising but not the run down little ticket booth)

We headed back out to the highway and continued on to Di Linh, stopping for lunch just outside of town. The Vietnamese couple who were sitting in the restaurant when we arrived invited us to sit at their table. The woman spoke to us a few times but soon realised we couldn't understand her and the rest of the meal was spent sharing the occasional smile as they passed condiments and utensils to us across the table.

In Da Lat we noticed many people appeared to be more well off than those we've seen in other cities, with bigger houses, more powerful motorbikes and fashionable clothing. However, today we passed through towns where people seemed to have significantly less. We saw many wooden houses and a lot of older, run down vehicles. We also began to see more people who we thought were of Cham descent, a minority people that were once a powerful ruling group in that part of Vietnam. As we learnt in Laos, the minority groups often end up being forced to live in areas that are less desirable to the majority and the land we passed through didn't seem to be as fertile or easy to farm as that of the lowlands.

(A woman turns over coffee beans with her feet outside of her wooden home)

We arrived into Di Linh by early afternoon and found it to be a large town with plenty of places to stay. We chose a hotel on the main road and the family who own the place made us feel welcome. As we were checking in, a neighbour dropped in and gave the lady owner a quick English lesson. The neighbour is an English teacher and he had a very authoritative manner about him, holding his index finger in the air to emphasise the correct pronunciation. She happily chirped away behind the desk saying "passapor, passapor". She was delightfully enthusiastic! 

We spent a lovely, lazy afternoon reading at a cafe before giving the bikes a bit of a cleaning and fixing yet another puncture. It's definitely time for new tyres! We've cycled nearly 4,000km on this trip so it does seem like time for a change. Tomorrow, we are aiming to make it to the coastal town of Mui Né for a final bit of beach time in Vietnam.

(The view from our hotel room and the direction we will be heading tomorrow)