vietnam bike I

"As an American asked to serve, I was prepared to fight, to be wounded, to be captured and even prepared to die, But I was not prepared to be abandoned!"

* Moped Tour Da Lat *
(5 days)

Day I: Mui Ne to Dinh Linh

When we started our first tour, the first highlight just waited for us right outside of Mui Ne:

* The Sanddunes of Mui Ne *

On our way to Dinh Linh, we got to know about the different fruits and plants, like the dragon fruit, mango, coriander and avocado. We saw the oven for the production of coal as well.
The landscape, we passed when we reached the mountains, was stunning. Also, after a heavy rainfall it didn't loose any of its charm.

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Day II: Dinh Linh to Da Lat

This day had several interesting stops like the little home made production of glas noodles or the farm of maggots to get the popular silk. And we found the pepper which grows everywhere. We visited the 'Chicken Village' with its enormous statue of a chicken and its inhabitants, a Minor Native Group in Vietnam, who live from farming and weaving.

* The Waterfall Ponguor *

* The Temple Linh Phuor in Da Lat *

The Temples "Hell" & "Heaven" is integrated in the shop to obtain your own "buddha".

After "Heaven & Hell" we went to the main tower to climb up the 7 stages of Buddha. The work of the mosaic pattern was astonishing and so colorful.
Each stage was with its own altar of a Buddha and from each floor you had an amazing view on the rest of the temple.

Writing our wish to the various Gods and sticking to the bell, we walked over to the huge Staue of Godship which measures a height of 25-30 meters. To its left we entered an enormous and huge hall with more deities and incredible mosaic work done all over the place!!!

* The Crazy House in Da Lat *

After a long day we went back to Da Lat and had a beautiful Vietnamese dinner with our tour guides and new friends...

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Day III: Da Lat to Lac

* The Temple Vanh Anh in Da Lat *
In the morning we visited the Temple Vanh Anh in Da Lat. The building is on top of a hill and a 15 meter high Buddha statue is watching over Da Lat.

Medicine has an important role in the Vietnamese life. The people still believe in the old traditional way of making good medicine. So, snakes and iguanas are the most common ingredient besides herbs, trees and plants.

On our way to our next goal , we stopped at the factory of silk. There they take the silk from the maggots and produce lovely clothes and utensils out of it.

* The Elephant Waterfall by Da Lat *

* The Temple Lin Han by Da Lat *

We got to know more plants and fruits, passed by rivers and artificial lakes and visited a market..

* Floating Village Dam Drong by Lac *

Celebrating Birthday in Vietnam.

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Day IV: Lac to Buonmethuoc

The ride in the morning around the lake in Lac was a pleasant trip. If you like, you can do excursions on the back of elephants..

Again, we made a few interesting stops like the stone builders and viewed a very old cathedral.

* The Draynur Waterfalls *

Everywhere you look are huge rubber plantations. The people who live here are another minority Native group and speak their own language (like the boy we met with Felipe on the foto).
In the afternoon we reached the Ho Chi Minh Highway, the modern version of the "trail" which takes us to Buonmethuoc.

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Day V: Buonmethuoc to Nha Trang

Today, we walked through a cacao plantation, watched the process of making sesame rice tortillas and got to know cassava, sugar cane and cashew nuts. The landscape we passed on our route was amazing.