Dalat

I arrived in Dalat yesterday after having an amazing time in Bao Loc. Dalat is really cool city, and I mean that literally too. I would describe it as actually kinda cold right now; it gets a cooler climate due to it's elevation. The city itself is really pretty, and very European in feel. Lots of narrow, cobblestone streets, lined with cafes. The architecture is great, kind of like of the best of Hanoi in a small city. It's also very hilly, giving it a kind of San Fransisco feel too. My hotel is big, nice and cheap, which is also a great plus.

Yesterday I met a group of Americans that are also staying at my hotel; Lindsay and Pam are both from Ohio but are teaching English in Japan, while Eric is visiting them from New York. We ended up grabbing dinner and hanging out for the rest the night. We went to this place the Lonely Planet suggested, Da Quy, as well as a place right next door called the Peace Restaurant. Both were alright, the Peace Restaurant being kinda dirty but had good food. After that, Lindsay and Eric went home early, and me an Pam ended up going around town. Lindsay and Eric said that they all try to go to bed early - around 9:30 - but it was definitely obvious Pam wasn't quite on board for this regiment as they were. This was good or me, since we ended up having a really great time out. We walked around the city, going down these narrow alleys, and coming up to a place with the word "dancing" written on it with red neon. We walk in, and it's this small space with about 20 Vietnamese people of various ages, dancing in pairs to what I can only describe as polka-esque Vietnamese music. It was very old school, with the dancing pairs doing these waltz-like dances with very serious expressions on their face. Me and Pam ended up joining them, and it was clear we were the worst dancers in the floor. Later, a Vietnamese guy ended up dancing with Pam, while I ended up with a VERY embarrassed Vietnamese girl who got goaded into dancing with me from Pam's new dance partner.

After that, we walked out, and immediately across the street was a big building with "karaoke" written in neon. Well, fuck it, why not, we went, and rented a room. They had to scramble to find the English language book, which luckily contained no song written after 1990 in it. It was really an awesome time, nothing like doing a duet of Bon Jovi with a total stranger to break the ice. After about an hour of so, we ended up heading back. On the way, Pam said she was on the lookout for any place open with chocolate. It being late and me being a negative nancy, I told her I'll keep my eye open, but most likely everything will be closed. And walking down the street, that seemed certainly true, as what were earlier a series of boisterous streets were now completely dead, with all the stores shuddered and closed. Suddenly, right before we get to the hotel, Pam sees an open convenience store. We walk in, and see they do have a bunch of chocolate, but it seems like Pam has bigger plans. Then, we walk by the aisle of fully decorated birthday cakes in a refrigerated case. Pam stops, and stares, and we kind of joke how funny it would be if we bought a giant chocolate cake at midnight in small city in Vietnam. Quickly, we realize that this is now something we absolutely have to do. Pam's birthday was a couple days earlier - on the 31st of December - and we decided that we'll make it into a late birthday cake for her. We looked around to see if they had birthday candles, but ol' man Sokolowski told her he thought there was no way they'd have any here. Pam had memorized how to say "happy birthday" in Vietnamese, and said this to the woman behind the counter, pointing to herself. I thought the woman was simply going to think we're crazy, and would try to get us out of the store (imagine some drunk foreigner comes up to you in the middle of the night, pointing to themselves, screaming happy birthday) Well, the woman suddenly jumps with delight, and calls for someone to take us to the back of the store, where they have an enormous aisle of nothing BUT birthday candles. We get a whole bunch, and go back to the hotel. Since she wants Eric and Lindsay to be part of her new birthday cake, we decided to make a thing of it later today.

I love hanging out Vietnamese people, but there is an obvious language barrier that severely limits conversation. My Vietnamese is of course non-existent. Even people who speak good English like Phi and Hien can sometimes be hard to understand, and you still have to talk slowly and use a limited vocabulary. It's usually not a problem, but you definitely would like to just have a relaxed conversation with someone, so finding an English speaking traveler can be good. This sometimes can be a challenge, despite there being a ton of tourists in Vietnam. Most of them are generally lame, and seem kind of sour-faced and stuck up. Getting into situations where you can start a conversation with a foreigner can be rare. When they do come, I'll try to start conversations sometimes, but usually people don't seem to want to meet new people at all, especially couples. Usually, I end up meeting ex-pats, who can be hard to find. Meeting someone like Pam is great, since it's always to good to have someone around in a foreign country that has a sense of curiosity, wants to truly get to know a different culture, and is just down to do any crazy thing you happen to come across.

As for today, I did a good walking tour of the city by myself. Dalat is really pretty, and it's just fun to walk around admiring the architecture and scenery. I ended up checking out the Crazy House, which is the one main draw of the city. The Vietnamese are good at many things, but naming things is not one of them. Sandwich is "bread meat," and most of the names follow really caveman like simplicity. So, when some one builds a fascinating complex of really trippy and amazing architecture, the Vietnamese simple call it, you know, "The Crazy House." It definitely lives up to it's name though. I can't remember the history exactly, but I believe it was this sprawling building first started to be built by a Soviet ex-pat, with additions being added over the years. It feels like something out of Alice in Wonderland, and definitely worth checking out.