...and one more makes four!: Da Lat Crazy House and Thoughts on Hotels

Another guest blog courtesy of Audrey, who was compelled to write by the crazy house:

One of our stops on Wednesday was the "Crazy House", that was something; constructed by the (obviously) eccentric daughter of the 2nd President, it reminds me a bit of Sticks & Stones House (Cornerbrook, Nfld.) meets Screaming Heads (Burk’s Falls, ON), not creepy like the Screaming Heads, but certainly insane. The woman is clearly loaded & off her rocker. It's typical Vietnamese, in that the rooms are small & cramped (for us larger North American folk), but what is atypical is the decor, each room is themed, featuring usually a smallish double bed and a statue of the room's named theme. Most of the themes are animals for instance the kangaroo room, the quail room, the bear room, the ant room, to name a few - yes there are tons more, not to mention the non-animal themes such as the gourd room (there is a large sculpture of a gourd in it - seriously). Apparently the woman still lives there, and the place is used as a hotel (costs 25-50 USD/night - I believe). Lisa thought it would be a terrible place to stay, I think kids would like it, but she's stuck on where the bathrooms are & where we would eat - so picky & pragmatic... though she has a point about the bathrooms, I haven't tried our full bathroom shower yet, that's next on the list…

OK so I did manage to take a shower & the toilet paper only got a little bit wet. A few thoughts have come to mind based on the receptionist’s comments about the baby crib the 1st night. For future travelers who may be trying to decide between a 4-5 star hotel and say 1-2 star (which with no actually ranking to be seen, I have to assume the ones we stayed in in Dalat & Mui Ne are).
Things that you do not find in a 1-2 star hotel:
Baby crib
Shower stall or even curtain
Face cloth
Toilet seat that is attached to the bowl
Dry toilet paper (part of that is my fault I guess)

Things that a 1-2 start hotel has to offer:
VERY close proximity to reception and kitchen, I could make a sandwich (if I could stomach the meat) and answer the front desk phone within 2 steps of my room.
WIFI (again… go figure)
10,000 Dong bananas & various other unidentified fruit valued at several thousand Dong in your room
A surprisingly bountiful and tasty breakfast buffet.
Toilet that may or may not flush (perhaps this is a water conservation thing?) Matching sink that may or may not (mostly not) drain; on the upside, since the shower is unenclosed & within easy reach, you can spit you toothpaste on the floor… camping style.
Shower gel, shampoo, toothbrush, “cotton ear buds”, and a comb, but no handsoap.

All in all, despite the less than ideal accommodation the trip was a blast. It was well worth whatever “hardships” we had to deal with to get out of the city and catch at least a glimpse of another side of Viet Nam.

Norah excited by our "Special" van that we took for our trip to Da Lat and Mui Ne

The bathroom - shower on the right, toilet (yes Chera, there was a toilet - my God, we're not animals!) in the left foreground - no curtain. Audrey's modest -I got the toilet paper wet (I think it was just to the right of the toilet), she didn't.

The bed we fashioned for Luke between our two single beds. Looks pretty cozy from this angle - he didn't complain a bit!

The room - note the "mini bar" of tea and fruit, complete with a thermos of hot water on the floor (came in very handy for bottle making). The prices were all in Dong so we were afraid of what it might cost to eat a banana or one of the unknown fruits. The cushions on the chairs later became Luke's bed.