A Cool Morning
We rose relatively early to a house salaciously filled with cool and fresh mountain air. The home we were renting was tucked so tightly into its city nook that most of the windows on the second floor, and all on the ground floor were blocked from direct sunlight. This had the wonderful effect of keeping the house incredibly comfortable day and night. I hadn’t been in air cool enough to keep from sweating simply by breathing in so long I couldn’t remember.
I thought briefly to not get up at all. To lay all day in the wonderful cool air of our open window room. But I knew the day was filled with adventure awaiting our discovery. So I crawled out of the bed and stumbled down to the kitchen. I popped a deliciously cold Pepsi and filled my veins with an appropriate amount of caffeine. Enough to dissipate the haze that often clouds a caffeine addicts morning brain function.
My sister in law Duyen was already stirring in the living room. I slid by the motorbikes stored inside and stepped out into the alley out front. It was so amazingly refreshing here. The cool morning, misty clean air, wonderful smells of breakfast in the air. I was in a mountain paradise and couldn’t have been happier. As I waited for everyone else to get ready I explored the pictures that decorated our temporary home. A collection of pictures taken a half a century ago of a few areas in Da Lat.
An Early Morning Walk
Luan walked by and asked me to take a walk with him. We were waiting on the girls to get ready so it could be awhile and I agreed. It was about 7:30 am and the city was very much awake. We passed a vendor heading to her perch nearby and made our way across the main road. Luan and I walked the parade ground again, this time in the early morning air. He pointed out a large mountain in the distance across the lake. It was the highest peak near Da Lat, and where we would be going today.
I just love things like that. To look off in the distance at some point that seems so far it’s another world. And to say today I’ll be looking to where I stand now from there. The mountain was almost invisible in the morning mist. Though I knew, as is usually the case in these mountain regions, the sun would fix that soon enough. We walked around for a few minutes and I couldn’t help but feel the husbandly notion that I was being looked for. Luan was in such a hurry to check out the lake in the early morning that I hadn’t taken the time to let Diem know I was leaving. I assured Luan that we had been gone long enough and so we headed back.
The Dandelion Perspective
Along the route back Luan stopped to look at a dandelion. He found great interest and beauty in this dandelion and I was not lost on this. It is a notion that I have come to realize more as I travel the world. What you watch on television, see in books and read about, view as exotic, unusual and incredibly unique and foreign. Is to someone else in this world, common, ordinary and not very interesting at all. I took a picture of the dandelion as I knew when I looked back at my camera roll to write this piece, that that dandelion picture would bring back this thought.
I find it amazing every time I pass a rice field and see a water buffalo grazing among its leaves. It seems so exotic and a picture of beauty to me. But like the dandelion to me, everyone here sees it as a part of life. Something that is ubiquitous and as normal as say, a dandelion is in a yard in Georgia. This notion has greatly shaped a different worldview for me in recent years. An evolution of my thoughts and perspective on this ever changing and beautiful world and how we humans interact within it.
A Ride For Breakfast
But I digress. We gathered the rest of our party, mounted our steel and plastic steeds and headed out into Da Lat. Since our arrival in Da Lat I have ridden on the back of Quan’s motorbike and not Diem’s. This was unfortunate for me as I always wanted to be on the back of Diem’s motorbike, but Da Lat was a different situation. Not the flat and open roads of Da Nang or even Saigon. Da Lat was filled with curvy mountain roads and quick elevation changes. My bulky American frame made this a bit more difficult for Diem to manage. So here I was acting as group navigator on the back of Quan’s motorbike.
Our little Moto gang pulled out onto the main road and headed down to the beautiful roundabout at the corner of the lake and main intersection of downtown Da Lat. We pulled over just past the roundabout for a little breakfast. A typical roadside eatery with those standard plastic tables and little plastic chairs. A woman squatted just off the street selling a pile of fresh locally picked strawberries.
My Quang
The view was absolutely amazing from the restaurant and I of course took some time to capture a few shots. The alpine influences were everywhere and it created this strange mashup of Swiss facade with a very noticeable Vietnamese backdrop. It is a bit strange to see majestic fir trees and French alpine architecture with the hammer and sickle in the forefront. The restaurant was attached to a shop which sold many of the local specialties Da Lat is known for. Strawberry jams, dried fruit, Da Lat red wine and local fruit candies. As I perused the offerings Diem called me for breakfast. I returned to the table to find one of my favorite dishes awaiting my stomach.
My Quang, a delicious sauced noodle with peanuts and rice crackers, is quite delicious. Da Nang is the home of My Quang, but Da Lat offered its own variation here. Coated with a thick tomato, peanut and chili based sauce with the classic turmeric tinted yellow noodles. It was delicious, warm and very satisfying. As we sat eating an old peddler walked up with a basket of snacks and tried to sell us some. I was currently in the middle of depleting my hunger and was not interested. However, I did find the woman intriguing and wanted a picture. I wasn’t interested in her offerings but asked if she minded if I took her picture and I offered her 10,000 vnd for the privilege. She agreed eagerly though offered me no smile for the photo.
Off To Lac Duong
After breakfast we loaded up again and headed north out of Da Lat. About seven miles from downtown Da Lat is the district capital of Lac Duong, the aptly named Lac Duong city. Lac Duong is a provincial district (county) that borders Da Lat city to the north. Lac Duong is known for three things, Its massive greenhouse fields, Largest mountain peak overlooking Da Lat named Lang Biang, and its feral horses. As we arrived in the district capital of Lac Duong at the base of the mountain all of these things were in view. The greenhouses seemed endless, the horses at times were wandering the streets of the district capital, and the mountain top loomed over us casting shadows through the city streets.
At the base camp to the mountain parked rows of vivid seafoam green jeep like vehicles. We had the choice of walking the 2 to 3 hour hike to the top, with an additional 2 to 3 hour walk back. Or we could pay approximately 15 dollars to rent a jeep and have it take us there in 15 minutes. The hike would have probably done me some good, but Diem wasn’t exactly in hiking gear, neither was I for that matter, and we were also hauling a toddler. We parked our motorbikes and loaded in the jeep.
Lang Biang
The drive up the mountain was very beautiful indeed. The altitude caused difficulties for jungle flora and fauna and I found myself in a north American environment once again. I know this to be the case when one reaches certain altitudes, yet I still find it unusual and surprising when I find these environments in Southeast Asia. Pine trees in abundance and the forest floor covered with a blanket of very familiar brown pine straw.
We chugged up the mountain of Lang Biang towards the summit known as Radar Hill. Passing a few hikers, several groups of meandering horses, wonderful views and settled down at the car park just beneath the summit. Immediately off the car park is a viewing area with the first offering of what one can expect from radar hill Lang Biang.
I can’t help but laugh at the places we visit in Vietnam as everything seems to be geared towards Instagram and Facebook. The summit offered countless props, swings, costumes and other accessories touting the perfect Instagram opportunity or envious Facebook post.
And Off On A Tangent We Go
Vietnam, and southeast Asia in general, had a revolution in 2008 that most don’t even think about. 2008 marked the year that the smartphone was released in Asia. The release of the smartphone offered places and regions in Southeast Asia an access to the world previously unavailable. In the early to mid 2000’s computers were still prohibitively expensive for Vietnamese standards and internet access was incredibly limited. In fact personal computers never took hold in Vietnam and apart from businesses few families possessed anything that valuable until recent years.
Gaming
Gaming computers are still quite expensive for Vietnamese standards so Gaming centers are very common today. There’s a gaming center next to our apartment building in Da Nang. Where for an hourly fee you can log into your accounts and get your gaming fix on. The smart phone however, revolutionized Vietnam and was the last piece of the puzzle needed to propel an already expanding economy into the stratosphere.
The Internet and Social Revolution
The Internet wasn’t widespread in Vietnam in 2008, but cell service was. It was the perfect recipe for a technological and cultural revolution that would transform Vietnam from an Asian backwater to one of the most robust and rapidly growing economies in the world. It’s success however, was also due to a leadership’s realization and understanding that they would have to allow a more open policy to their citizens. More open and free than the known oppressors of their communist cousins to the north.
Vietnam adopted a more progressive father like approach to its constituency. Unlike the authoritarian Chinese who blocked and banned everything from Facebook to Google, Vietnam allowed it all in. Though they monitor everything, and I’m sure they are monitoring my writings now, they at least give their people the ability to police themselves. Until that is, that they feel the need to step in. It’s not a perfect system, none are, but I think it’s a better example of how open market socialism could work than the authoritarian oppressive style of China.
The Cell Phone Explosion
What this cultural and technological revolution did for Vietnam is give the country access to the world. Everyone in Vietnam, it seems, is on Facebook. 89 percent of rural Vietnamese have a cellphone, 68 percent of those use a smartphone. In 2017 it was estimated that as much as 92 percent of all Vietnamese had a cellphone and 84 percent of those were smartphones. Shortly after the smartphone was introduced the government set out on a program to send internet access to the farthest corners of the country. At first the information was transmitted through cell towers, but that was expensive and often unreliable. Today internet access is everywhere and no matter how far out we go I’m always online.
Wrapping This Tangent Up
The point of all this information is that the smartphone is king in Vietnam. People work on them, communicate with them, and access information from around the world. I know that seems not unusual for us Americans, but you must realize that as recently as 2005 only 29 persons per 100 had access to a phone of any kind mobile or land line. And only 16.14 percent of the population in 2006 had ever accessed the internet. Today social media has given Vietnam a new life. The ability to exist and participate in the global community. And believe me, they love it.
Vietnam and its people love being a part of the global community, they love being in the conversation, they love expressing themselves and participating in the world. And it’s wonderful to exist, even if only briefly, in a place and time where people are just happy to be there. I think the world in general could learn something from the childlike wonder and joy Vietnam seems to get out of just being here. Especially as the rest of the world seems bent on tearing itself apart. And on that note we go back to taking pictures.
Back to Lang Biang
The view at the summit was wonderful. It wasn’t as majestic as the view had been in Doi Inthanon, Thailand. Though the mountain peak here was 7,000 feet high, it sat on a plateau some 5,000 feet on it’s own so the surrounding area wasn’t that far below. To put all this into a little perspective, the highest point east of the Mississippi river is Mount Mitchell in North Carolina. It sits at 6,684 ft. It was still a beautiful view and the sea of greenhouses extended far into the distance.
At one point we came to a horse which you could mount and get more of those perfect Instagram photos. Diem and Quan both took turns, though I passed on the opportunity. The horse wasn’t a very large breed, half pony really, and I just didn’t have the heart to place my hulky mass on his tiny frame. I did however, get great joy out of watching Diem and Quan, get great joy, in being a cowboy for a few minutes. A cowboy you see, is a novelty here and an era of American mystery and history as foreign as the history of say Aboriginal Australians are to us.
Native Attire
At one point we made our way to a tribal house that offered a local native who would rent her traditional clothing for even more of those Instagram shots. I had become used to being Diem’s personal photographer and if you look at her Instagram or Facebook there is a good chance I took the picture. I actually quite enjoy being her photographer as I get much joy from her joy in feeling special and capturing those moments that will no doubt offer us years of conversation in our old age. “Do you remember that time you rode the horse on top of Lang Biang?” I’ll say. “Wasn’t that a wonderful day?” I’ll add, and we’ll go off into a reminiscent conversation of a wonderful day together.
Diem, Duyen and our niece donned native garb and we walked around for some good shots. The hillside just off the summit was reminiscent of hillsides in Austria and had a very Alpine feel to it. There were quite a bit of horse offerings that we had to maneuver through which showed the extent of the horse population that was somewhere nearby.
As Diem posed for a few pictures in the swing and on the sloping hillside the weather began to change. On the mountain next to us I could see rolling clouds boiling over and covering the valley below. Within minutes the thunder could be heard echoing between the mountains and it was clear that rain was coming soon. It was time to go.
Heading out of Lang Biang
We headed down the mountain past horses and views that were once sunny and open, but were now dark and ominous. It was clear that the weather was not going to cooperate and we had a 6 mile laborious motorbike ride back to the house. This could get ugly. We unloaded the jeep in earnest and retrieved our motorbikes. There was a brief discussion of lunch, but it seemed best to get something near the house or at the house as rain was coming quickly.
We left Lang Biang behind and as it was barely in our mirrors the sky opened up. The temperature immediately dropped and the rain was heavy and cold. Diem pulled up beside us and there was a brief conversation while we rode. My vote was to press on, we were already wet and I could man up, but I felt bad for Diem. Wearing a dress and with no poncho or any visible place to get one I asked if she was ok. She nodded in approval and she sped on. She is one tough woman.
I must say that just two days ago I was praying for air conditioning, cool water, or anything to relieve the days of heat we had sat in in Saigon. It appears my prayers have been answered and I can only say to be very careful what you pray for. After about 5 minutes of freezing downpour the rain began to let up. As we rose and fell around the hills and mountain roads we managed to separate ourselves from the storm. The ride became much more manageable at this point and our pace quickened.
Dinner and The Night Market
We all made it back to the house relatively unharmed and everyone lined up for a shower. Our afternoon was quite relaxing and I did a little prep for dinner. Some friends from An Lao who lived in Da Lat were coming over to join us this evening for some good food and conversation. I was cooking a rather Americanized menu this evening. Chicken wings, pork tenderloin, barbecued shrimp and grilled broccoli among other delicious treats.
Exploring the Market
Before our guests arrived we decided to head down the street to the famous night market in downtown Da Lat. Each region and city in Vietnam has a night market and each one has its own unique items, themes, and its own charm. The night markets in Da Nang were full of shoes and seafood, here it was all it’s own local fare. Being the temperate farming capital of Vietnam it was all fresh dairy products, strawberries, temperate vegetables, flowers and winter clothing.
I was looking for a weatherproof hooded jacket in case I ever got caught outdoors in the rain at 6000 feet again. It was definitely in the realm of possibility. To my amazement I found an Adidas Jacket that actually fit and all for the reasonable price of 6 dollars. Diem procured us two cups of fresh yogurt to snack on before dinner. It was some of the best yogurt I’d ever eaten. Rich, full fat, tangy, just sweet enough and so fresh it had never been refrigerated. It was sublime.
Winding Down the Day
We continued to explore the many booths of the market and rather enjoyed the view of the mountain city center. But evening was drawing in and we had guests coming in a couple of hours. We loaded back up and headed across the lake and back to the house. I grilled over the open coals and enjoyed a beer as if I was grilling in the spring air back home. I was after all, in the city of eternal spring. We enjoyed dinner and our company and it was a fun and enjoyable end to a wonderful day. Tomorrow we had more adventures on the horizon. When it was time for bed sleep came quickly in the cool mountain air. Sleep was filled with peace, tranquility and the promise of a bright future.
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