January 8th, 2023
We made it to Da Lat around 6am Jan 7 with minimal bike damage and minimal sleep. My front fender is toast, but besides that the bikes are okay. We were dropped off at a gas station which happened to be 100 m from our hostel.
The hostel staff are incredibly nice. We just hung out on the couch since we couldn’t check in yet, and got a coffee. They gave us blankets in case we wanted to nap. Then we mustered up the energy to go exploring. Max found a motorcycle route around the lake that looked nice that we thought we could do by bike. We set out and arrived in the countryside of Da Lat - oh my gosh it was so pretty. There were farms of coffee and rice and strawberries, and the lake was beautiful, and there were flowers everywhere. Quite a few steep hills for biking, but we had fun. We went to the zen cafe which was so relaxing and beautiful. They gave us coffee and a delicious breakfast while we soaked in the views and flowers. We continued riding out to a lavender field which didn’t have much lavender, but was very pretty. Then onto the clay tunnels which were the most bizarre thing… they had statues everywhere made of clay that you could wander through, including the COVID-19 park which had viruses everywhere. We laughed and moved on, stopped for another coffee at a cable car place to charge up Max’s phone, then onto Dalanta waterfalls where we got to ride a rollercoaster along the falls. We hiked up to see more odd statues and another waterfall, then continued looping the lake to “Happy Hill” which was a viewpoint the motorbike guy recommended online. It was so much more than a viewpoint - we got hot chocolates and took photos at all the weird bridges and rope ladders, and found a PILE of tiny puppies that were so cute!!!! Overall, this day was pure bliss.
We went back to the hostel to shower, then upstairs for the hostel “family dinner” with like 18 people. We got to eat so much food and had beers with people and played games. Max was particularly terrible at a game called “arrogance” (haha just kidding). Our new friends were also horrified about our account of “kissing the toe” which is a shot you can do in the Yukon. So you know, keeping up the good canadian name.
Then we all piled into a bus that brought us to “maze bar” which was an actual maze with random bars and seating throughout. It was super, super cool. Good luck finding a bathroom in a hurry though… or the exit lol. We got home late and I just missed my step goal for the day!! Shoot. Max edit: she missed it by like 100 steps and she is quite upset about this, it’s quite extra :p)
The next day was rainy, but we were flying high from the previous day. We got breakfast and then went to the town in search of better tire irons for our tight tires, and a new water bottle for me.. We got some insanely cheap metal ones which should be perfect.
Then we loaded onto our bikes and went to a hike called lang biang mountain, which was super steep. About 11 km round trip with horses, and it was through a beautiful pine forest. Near the end it was pouring rain, so we didn’t get much of a view and it became quite treacherous picking our way up and down the steep muddy sections, but we made it. We cycled back to the hostel desperate for a hot shower, and learned that Max had accidentally faced one of his greatest fears, and had a leech! It must have been in all the mud.
We had another delicious hostel family dinner, but peaced out before the drinking got going. We went to the night market which was packed and had live music! We got socks and some hot soy drinks with donuts. Max drank both the soy drinks and got milk drunk. Overall, fun day, but we are whooped.
In general, I have really started feeling like we are in vacation mode the last couple of days- I have even stopped having nightmares about work! Ha. Two weeks into the vacation is a lot, but better late than never and we have five weeks left!
We are heading to bed early so we can get an early start tomorrow - we are going to try to bike to Saigon, over three days. There is a national park on night two with crocodiles that I am very excited for!
