our tour through the mekong delta continued to
chau doc. close to the cambodian border we enjoyed an unforgettable day with mr. dung, a motorbike-driver. he showed us a khmer minority village. the khmer people make their living by producing palm-sugar and weaving beautiful silk-cloths. they live in simple huts and mostly are very poor. knowing that it's even more surprising how happy and welcoming they are. we continued our tour in this amazing area. never have i seen so many rice-paddies before - and wherever i looked, people were working in the filds. mr. dung showed us what rural life in this area is like and that it is really hard work.
on another day we made a boat-trip to the floating houses around chau doc. on the first glance they look like ordinary houses placed on the water. however, when you enter and have a look under the floor you see a big fish-cage with thousands of catfish. seeing all these houses and knowing that each of them is farming fish it's not surprising that this area is one of the biggest exporter of catfish.
before returning to ho chi minh city we stopped for two nights at
cao lanh. nearby is one of the last remaining natural forests of the mekong-delta. it might be not for it's natural but more for it's historical value that the forest hasn't been turnt into rice-paddies. during the vietnam war it was one of the most secret hiding places for high-ranking communist officials. the place still got some kind of a spooky feeling: dense forest, narrow waterways, bomb craters, bunkers, a minefield and the occasional mist waken-up ones fantasy...
we spent another couple of days in the economic metropole of vietnam, mostly because our visas had to be extended. we used the time to visit some museums, peaceful pagodas and bustling cholon (the chinatown of
ho chi minh city). after the peaceful life in the mekong and its cheerful people big citylife was almost too much for us and we were happy when we finally got our passports back and were able to hit the road again.
dalat is situated in the central highlands. it's famous for its refreshing climat. the french founded this place as a retreat from the humid and hot weather of the coastal region. they introduced many european vegetables and planted pine trees. today dalat is a pleasant hillstation popular with vietnamese and foreign tourists alike. in order to explore the surroundings we went on another motorbike ride, this time with the famous easy riders (famous, because they're a big thing in the guidebook). unfortunately the day turnt out to be very disappointing. the sights they showed us were all along highway 20 on which we had arrived just one day before. the only thing the easy riders seemed to be interested in was to sell us the central highlands tour - "the real easy rider experience". it's sad when fame turns people into money-devouring beasts...
however, had a couple of nice days in dalat. the cool weather seems to have some kind of inspiring influence on its inhabitants. during our stay we got to know two crazy architects, who both are creating a kind of jungle-environment out of cement, and a zen-monk, who actually is a painter. at the end of our visit pablo monk suggested us to do a little bit of painting by ourselves. the next two huge canvases on which a painting monk was outlined, were place in front of us. all we had to do was to put some color in. it was good fun and it might also explain why there are thousands and thousands of paintings in the compound of the pagoda;-)
from the mountains we went down to the sea.
nha trang is vietnams most popular sea resort. we were not after the party-boat outings or the bars on the beach but after some dives. the underwaterworld around nha trang wasn't that exciting but very peaceful, for there weren't that many divers. we had a couple of nice and relaxing dives and even discovered a seahorse! that was really special. unfortunately seahorses are considered an aphrodisiacum and therefore heavily hunted. when approaching the harbour loads of seahorses can be seen either in aquariums or dried hanging on a cord. sad, isn't it?
further north along the coast is
hoi an. it's a picturesque little town whose centre remains mostly like it was about a hundred years ago. from the 17th to the 19th century it was one of the most important ports along with melaka and macau. many chinese, japanese and even european traders had settled here and their influence can still be seen today. strolling in the small colourful streets is good fun. the longer you stay here, the harder it is to leave. hoi an got really a special flair.
another major tourist attraction are its many cloth-shops. whatever you want (from traditional vietnamese to modern fashion out of western magazines) is skillfully produced in a couple of hours. the rates are cheap and it therefore is no big surprise that many visitors end up sending huge parcels back home;-)
close to hoi an is
my son, the most important remaining site of the ancient kingdom of champa. unfortunately many temples had been destroyed by american bombs and the former glory has to be imagined. however, it still was impressive to linger around the ruins, which are settled in a breathtaking scenery. when taking a close look it was still possible to discover many examples of the splendid cham architecture (its indian influence is very obvious).
posted by christoph 13:43
