257. DALAT & SAIGON

 

Vietnam is opening up more and more. There's direct flights from SG to Nha Trang in the South. Together with Dalat and Mui Ne, that stretch to Saigon is very accessible by road. The drive is pleasant and comfortable...

Dalat has become really commercialised with loads of Westerners chasing the sun. Many Russians and assorted Europeans looking for cheap places to vacation. Vietnam, after Thailand, are their fave spots. Cheap and good as we are so fond of saying in SG!

If Dalat gets too crowded they can move on to Mui Ne...

Up in the cooler hills, Dalat is a flower garden. It's the optics. The aesthetics.

What's this merlion doing in this park in Dalat? lol! Decorative

Hello kitties!

Pssst! she said, he said...

At this mud resort, one may soak in a mud pool

Lambiang - the highest point in Dalat 2147m

I hope to see a field in SG covered by these wild grass. Clumps of these are been mowed away by foolish contractors...

Incense sticks (left) - colours denote the fragrance...

In Nha Trang, these ruins are noteworthy...

Some members of an ethnic minority tribe performing prayer rituals on the site of the ruins complex which is Hindu in origin. Quite similar to what I've seen in Bali, a Hindu island, which by now would look more Islamic with more mosques and even more Indonesian muslims planted there...

Not quite desert country but this stop offers a different experience on those sand buggies. This trip is more experiential, more for those folks travelling for the very first time in their lives or their first time to Vietnam. It's not the real Vietnam, it's crass commercialisation. After several previous trips, the change in Vietnam is not great. It may be good for their economy and the livelihoods of their people, as is the case elsewhere, but that's about it. It's unlikely I'll come this way again.

Another stop just for the experience, which I don't recommend. Fairy stream is its fancy name. There wasn't much water so it's possible to see what I'm stepping on but when there's more water during wet seasons, one can't see what one steps on...which can be broken glass or any sharp metal objects. Although the guide claims it's cleaned/inspected weekly, some disgruntled person can sabotage the place. Moreover, certain segments have rocks in which one can twist an ankle or worse should one lose balance. At the end of the stream there's an interesting rock formation. Although I don't feel it's a good idea to walk this place, if it can't be avoided, aqua shoes are safer than been barefooted...

Made a stop at this art and craft center, set up to remind/show their young people their culture and rich heritage which is being eroded fast - as its the case elsewhere when tourism becomes an important focus of a country's economy and job creation.

Dying art - beautiful detailed embroidery using silk threads. I've seen framed pictures of such painstaking work, every piece a labour of love. 

Ditto for sand 'painting' what young person in the age of instant gratification, of short attention span, would have the patience to appreciate heritage like this, let alone learn it, practice it - they'll show you how AI does the job in double quick time...or a CD printer, or whatever new tech...

Their young women, after basic schooling, are encouraged by their parents to train for something marketable and leave Vietnam to work, chiefly in Singapore, where young women are safe. They're hairdressers, manicurists, beauticians. Some are in nightspots...

I believe the youngsters out on a field trip to this cultural center would rather play computer games! The music produced by those stones and bamboo is ethereal, almost like Enya's tune above! I doubt the youngsters noticed the band's instruments...nor were they curious. After this performance, no youngsters gathered around the stage to touch and try out the instruments nor speak to the performers. Sigh! Like Singapore's youngsters...

The old and the new - this hasn't changed for the older locals who are a hardworking lot

The Vietnamese aren't known as 'boat people' for nothing...this way of life is the real authentic Vietnam but only for the older folks who have gone through tumultuous times...

Floating resto, home cooking...

No place like home...

Boat people for a few hours...

No prices for guessing what this resto serves - no name displayed - I like its simplicity!

Arriving in Saigon (they're going back to this name than sticking to its other name of Ho Chi Minh city). I passed these colonial buildings of note...

Notre Dame Cathedral, Saigon

Opera house

City Hall

Here he is again, one on each side of the hotel's entrance...the hotel is named after a successful mall in SG - the Paragon. Methinks, a Singaporean or 2 might be involved in this hotel's ownership!

Checked out the night life. Not my scene!

It's beginning to look a lot like Singapore's waterfront and China's waterways. Same same but different...Singapore's more quiet, staid - Saigon and China's more garish...

This ceramic pagoda, Linh Phuoc, is my fave spot. The Vietnamese are really good at fine, painstaking work. I'll let my pictures here do the talking...

Reminds me of Gaudi's masterpieces in Barcelona, only this one appears more oriental in its dragons and phoenix and pagoda roof details - beautiful nontheless...

Every inch from ceiling to floor has work done to it...a labour of love...

A gown of dried flowers on Kuan Yin which is changed periodically

The new Vietnam has risen fast from the ashes of war and destruction. Commercial buildings are large and showy. Roads are good. There are more cars on the roads when it used to be tons of motorcycles and bicycles. But like Singapore in her early years of growth and development, its people lack discipline and respect for public facilities. There's litter in most areas, cleaners and sweepers are kept very busy. They have a smoking culture among the men especially and butts are strewn everywhere including crevices in between tiles and ceramic pieces of buildings. 

China was this way too, cig butts, litter, spitting. China did what Singapore has always done to enforce discipline - hurt them in their pockets, with fines, jail time where necessary, public campaigns, education. Singapore had a reputation as a FINE city. Today it's kept clean by armies of sweepers and cleaners so the litter issue is not completely resolved as it's about the human condition, not management.

local guide Hai

Some pics came from Susan, Hai and fellow travellers...