January 21, 2007
To Dalat: Europa Hotel
At about 6am we carry our gear down. Patrick has to locate the light switches in the lobby and knock on the office door to wake someone inside to open the steel rollup doors and roll fence in the driveway and retrieve our passports.
We buy some baguettes and we're off, climbing almost right away. The first 18km are gradually up. We stop for coffee at a very friendly place, Rachel gets a picture of Patrick and the owner. We expect to see the famous concrete chicken of the Chicken Village, but somehow miss it. There is a waterfall at the bottom of the hill. It's a zoo with hawkers trying to sell anything from candy to toothpaste. Falls must be somewhat special in Asia because the countries make a big deal over pretty minor waterfalls. Maybe we are just spoiled....
Anyhow, we give this one a pass. The road splits, both sides are signposted to go to Dalat. Patrick thinks it's a choice between the old and new roads. We take the old road. It's a very nice 8km climb amongst pine trees and views of the valley's below. Patrick likes the smell of pine forest. We climb to just under 1600 meters, then there is a descent to Dalat at about 1500 meter. There is a man made lake and a sprawling city between the green hills.
Dalat is the honeymoon capital of Vietnam, more than 1 million domestic and one hundred thousand foreign tourists visit annually. Vietnamese people come up here to experience "cold" weather, temps can actually drop to 10 degrees. In the evenings we see people dressed as if they are going skiing. We find a hotel recommended in our guidebook. The people are very friendly and helpful, we get an awesome room on the third floor: views of the city, hot water, satellite TV, fridge, a couch and chairs, good bed and balcony. The only drawback are the flights of stairs, we have to haul our gear up. Patrick is still not feeling well, still cold symptoms.
We go out to the V Cafe, a restaurant run by an American and his Vietnamese wife. We have very nice green salads and share a highly recommended "grandmothers special": pork loin with a nice gravy, mashed potatoes and steamed veggies! Very nice! Patrick rests the afternoon away, we watch a movie and only head back out for dinner at another very nice place....they have flan!
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Today's ride: 32 km (20 miles)
Total: 4,522 km (2,808 miles)
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