Trip to Mui Ne

Still in a bit of a jet lag fog. It's slowly lifting though. In the meantime, if anyone is still out there, here's the details of our trip to Mui Ne, which is a beach town on the coast.

The trip from Da Lat to Mui Ne was about 4 hours. For about 2.5 hours we drove down out of the mountains going around hair-raising turns. Doug's not prone to exaggeration, and he keeps saying that they were 90-degree turns, which is how I would describe them. Our driver, Phu (I assume this is the spelling, it sounds like Foo), would just lay on the horn as we went around the turns because you couldn't see if anyone else was coming on the narrow road. It guess it's a way of saying, "Here we come, if you're driving, move over because we can't see you!" Audrey and I are bruised from bracing ourselves in the van. I have never gotten motion sickness, but I came really close with this drive. Very telling was that I didn't speak for most of the trip! Once we got out of the crazy turns, we just had extreme bumps for the rest of the way - potholes like you can't even believe! Calling them potholes is an insult to them!

Despite the turns, we did manage to have some fun. Phu asked if we wanted some music (1st time he asked this although we'd been driving with him for 3 days by now). Doug said, "Sure." Phu said, "France?" Doug, never liking to offend strangers said, "Sure!" Yes, he even said it enthusiastically. Now, we don't speak French. Audrey understand a little. So, we drove though crazy turns listening to music from France. I didn't need to understand the words to know that we were listening to some angst-ridden love songs (transcends all cultures, I believe). Audrey confirmed that in one of the songs, which had my favorite – speaking/singing (if you've ever head William Shatner sing, you know what I mean) the singer was saying, "I don't understand you, my love" (it was a male singing, of course - men not understanding women also transcends cultures). When the CD was finished, Doug asked, "Do you have any English music?" Phu indicated that he did. At this point I said, "OK, bets on what the music will be?" Doug quickly (too quickly, perhaps?) replied, "Barry Manilow." Audrey thought about it (too hesitant, perhaps?) and said, "Michael Bolton." I said, "Celine Dion." Within minutes we were embraced in the vocal stylings of none other than.......Celine Dion! Yes, we actually listened to an entire Celine Dion CD. First time for everything! Seemed fitting for a bunch of Canadians. Then, on the same CD, as soon as Celine was finished, the Eagles came on! Now, that was more our style. So, we finished the drive crooning to some oldies but goodies!

Mui Ne was really hot. I had to lie down to recover from the drive (seriously) and the rest of the gang checked out the ocean and the pool. After lunch we went sledding - yes, you read that right - sledding, tobogganing, choose you word, but we did it. Where, you might ask? On the White Sand Dune. Yup - big (and by big, I mean there were a handful of people) tourist attraction here - get a piece of plastic from local children who lead you up a hill of hot sand and you glide and slide....or....slowly jerk yourself in the sand until you've kind of gotten down but also kind of buried yourself in sand while laughing and getting a mouth full of sand. You pick. Audrey and I were busy contorting our bodies trying to get down gracefully (or really, just at all) and were stopped by an Australian who tried to give us some tips. Audrey was polite but after he left she was very indignant that an Aussie would be so bold as to give Canadians advice on sledding! Well, it's not like we had the flag emblazoned on us or anything, so how was he to know?

Doug and Norah also went down with more success (they actually went first). Audrey and I waited while Luke slept, Audrey drank water, I drank coconut juice, and we watched a monkey and turkey play together. Typical relaxing afternoon.

Those who know me best will be amused by the fact that I may have developed the first case of snow burn. Yes, Chera, I'm sure you're laughing (she calls me the Princess and the Pea due to my various "sensitivities" like being able to hunt down a scented candle in her house like a bloodhound - they make me sneeze). Once off the hill my legs and arms started stinging. Once we got the sand off later (it was caked on us), I noticed that I had a collection of sand cuts and red legs and arms. Lovely. Still have the souvenirs. Nevertheless, still well worth the experience!

We followed our sledding adventure with a swim before dinner. The South China Sea is like bath water! Sadly, it's also in need of a good cleaning. Audrey was attacked by a Ziploc bag while swimming as there were several pieces of garbage floating. I'm sure it was clean by the point it hit us, but still. We just imagined they were stinger-free jellyfish and enjoyed the waves.

We returned to HCMC the next day. Relatively uneventful drive, than goodness! Now the pics...

Lukey the cutey!

Military housing on the way to Mui Ne

Lovely toilet decorations - still a big shower stall, but this time we had a curtain

Beautiful towel and flower decorations on the bed

View on the way to the pool

Frolicking in the South China Sea

Fishing fleet in Mui Ne

Driving toward the White Sand Dune. There's a yellow one too, which we visited after the white one.

Doug and Norah going down a hill

Returning from sand sledding. So hot, Norah's hair is curly!

Monkey and turkey

Walking back up the hill after a slide (gives some perspective of how steep the hill was)

Graceful me - yes, there is a sled there if you look closely!

Audrey - marginally more successful than me (according to her, this was how I described her treck down the hill)

The 15-year old boy who rented us the plastic and took pictures of us the whole way - and a few of himself! Also got us to buy him some water when we returned. Very entrepreneurial!

Hanging out waiting for Doug and Norah before my sledding adventure.

Distant shot of the dunes

Norah and Phu walking back to the van (she loved to say his name and really liked him too!)

After the Hand that Rocks the Cradle, I decided to try out my own version of a new fmaily (at least that what Doug and Audrey were snickering about behind me as we were walking!)

Family at the Yellow Sand Dune

Shot of ocean in Mui Ne

Back in HCMC in our roomy digs - bit of role reversal for the kids

An Actual Brief Post from De Lat - with pictures!

Ok - so I lied. It's not actually a post from De Lat, it's a post about De Lat. We're leaving Vietnam tomorrow (how time flies!) and I'm trying to catch up! But there are pictures!

After a surprisingly quiet night (for being right where the action is in the hotel, it was much quieter than HCMC at night), we woke up early on our only full day in Da Lat and had a great breakfast. While eating, we met a couple from the US who were touring Vietnam with their 11-year-old daughter whom they had adopted as a baby. They had visited her orphanage and said that the nannies were thrilled to see their daughter and had kept all the letters and pictures they had sent through the years. Very cool. We then had a lovely personal tour of De Lat with our guide, Heng (who said he learned English from working in restaurants as a boy and listening to the tourists - made sense as he spoke with an odd French/Australian accent and every second phrase out of his mouth was "Oh my God!" or "Oh yeah!"). We took a cable car to a pagoda, complete with monks and gorgeous grounds. The view was spectacular from the cable car, but hard to capture with our cameras, as it was still a little misty. The mountains are beautiful and there are many farms in the valleys, with soil that is red, similar to Prince Edward Island.

Next we went to a place with a few waterfalls and the highlights there were Audrey, Luke and I riding on an elephant, which might just have been topped by Audrey riding an ostrich! We then went to a place called the Crazy House, which will have its own post. We had a great lunch at the hotel (amazing tofu!) and in the afternoon we visited an embroidery factory and the Valley of Love (our guide kept telling us that the French named it this) where many people go after they are married. The views there were also amazing. Da Lat is very lush and beautiful. Reminded us a little of Vietnam's version of Whistler (Audrey said the Alps). The weather was also much cooler here - we needed sweaters (come to think of it, only Audrey and I wore sweaters). It was nice to get a break from sweating. We also really enjoyed the food here. After dinner we bought some De Lat wine (strawberry and mulberry), which we packed in swim diapers (luckily, we brought too many) and hope to drink (or wear, depending on how the diapers hold up) when we get home!

On the cable car

Another view from cable car

One of the waterfalls we saw

Bear attacking Doug (see the look of terror on his face?) and Luke (good father, he didn't even offer his baby to save himself)

Outside the pagoda

View from the Valley of Love

Elephant riding (we bought really good pictures that were taken of us for the whole ride - we went through water and everything!). This shot was taken by Doug who couldn't get very close or follow us.

And finally, the pièce de résistance...

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.

Interesting rules for staying in the hotel... Audrey especially appreciated that pets were put in the same category as weapons and explosives.

Luke sitting for his shower (the flip flops the hotel provided were too big for him)

Crazy house - did I really have to label this one?

More craziness

Walking up the really narrow and steep stairs to one of the really small rooms in the crazy house (never did see a bathroom in that place)

Doug and Luke in the Bear Room

Decorations in the Gourd Room (could you guess?)

Long Post from Da Lat - no pictures

Originally titled: Brief Post from Da Lat. I know, who was I kidding? Me? Brief? The two don't compute.

The day started out great. Our driver came to pick us up in a silver Mercedes Benz van that would have easily fit another family in it. The side of the van said “Special” and we felt it. The scenery on the way up was gorgeous – once we got out of the city it became plush and green and Doug commented that this is how he had always thought Vietnam would look like. Da Lat is in the Central and Western Highlands region of Vietnam. The road we travelled on was narrow – one lane on each side (not that anyone bothers with lanes here anyway), the road windy (as in snake-like, not hair blowing), and the ride BuMpY. It reminded me a little of driving through the Rockies with big drop-offs right beside the road. Except the mountains aren’t rocky, they’re plush and green. The kids were great – Luke cat napped and Norah had a small nap (so did Audrey – we had to insist as she can get so grumpy without her siesta).

Our first rest stop was interesting. It was quite a nice place, but you had to take your shoes off before going in. And there were many pairs of identical white flip flops that you put on to go into the bathroom, which didn’t have an outside door – the overall bathroom, I mean – the stalls had doors. There were two men whose job was to point people to take off their shoes and put on the flip flops (this stop is frequented mostly by foreigners, so it seemed). Then, once you were in, one of the men would turn your shoes around so that when you came out of the bathroom you could slide them right on. What service! This made for a very clean bathroom. Also unusual was that there was one roll of toilet paper that was at the top of a wall when you walked into the bathroom. Not the most intuitive spot to me, but once you know, you don’t forget.

The area is known for tea and coffee plantations. We passed many and stopped in a tea and coffee shop that had beautiful grounds, including a shrub trimmed to look like a giant tea pot. The whole drive took about 7.5 hours as we stopped several times. Our driver pointed out several things to us and stopped a few times so we could take pictures. It felt so good to be out of the noisy, crowded city.

When we reached our hotel, the idyllic picture changed a little. Maybe the storm clouds and torrential rain that led us into Da Lat should have been our warning. We pulled up to a motel and our rooms were on the ground floor. We’re talking right behind the front desk, which is right in the motel restaurant. Like if I spoke loudly right now while typing in my single bed the people could probably hear me. And I wouldn’t have to yell. Well, at least it was convenient for getting our bags in. The rooms seem to be the only two on the main floor, but they’re not beside one another. Each one is on either side of the front desk. We knew we’d have two rooms. We didn’t know the beds would be single beds, two per room. Now here’s the best part. When I asked at the front desk if they had a “baby cot” (what they call cribs here) they said, “No. If you want one of those stay in a 4 or 5 star hotel – they have them there.” Alrighty then. Clearly this place isn’t looking to win any service awards! And there’s another best part – the water isn’t working here. So, no running water. It was supposed to be back on at 10:00 PM (please let this mean that it would be FIXED at 10:00, not that it’s always off until 10:00 – that’s not even possible, is it?) but it’s 11:00 PM now and still no water. Oh, and one last thing about the rooms – the bathroom is one big shower! There’s a spout up on the wall and a tile floor and a drain on the floor, but no curtain, no divider between the shower and the toilet. Once big free-for-all shower. Too bad we may not get to try it out. I’m curious how the toilet paper says dry.

On to sleeping arrangements: After briefly entertaining the idea of bunking with Auntie Aud, Norah decided that wasn’t going to work. So Audrey and I are with Luke in one room, Doug and Norah in the other. It made the most sense since Audrey, Luke, and I all go to bed later than Doug anyway! When actually going to bed, Norah begged me to sleep in her room. Now, after the Hand that Rocks the Cradle post (no comments on this BTW, did it creep people out? Audrey, Doug, and I have a shared strange – we think, good – sense of humor, so we were amused by it), there was no way I was going to report that Audrey, Doug, and Luke stayed in one room with Norah and I in the other! And sleeping with Norah in a singe bed is not an option. It’s not an option in a queen bed, she’s so restless. We fashioned a bed for Luke between the two single beds putting down the cushions that were on the chairs in both rooms and lodging them down by tucking the pillows that were on the beds under the beds. So far, so good. He’s sleeping right beside me, and Audrey beside him in the other bed. MacGyver would be proud of us!

We did manage to find a tasty restaurant for dinner and met a couple originally from Manitoba who has lived in Vietnam for years, which was cool. We bribed Norah to eat supper with the promise of ice cream and then couldn’t find anywhere that sold it. We hypothesized that it’s because it’s much cooler here than in HCMC. It’s about 20 degrees Celsius but people say it’s cold here. All the kids are wearing puffy winter coats and hats. All except mine, that is. My daughter wore a fancy dress to ride in the van all day. Upon arriving, she decided that she wanted to wear her pajamas, which are pants with a matching top. So we marched her all around Da Lat and ate in the first restaurant in weeks that had four walls while she was in PJs. And Luke, Sweatmeister that he is, still managed to be sweaty despite wearing short sleeves and shorts. It much have been the socks we put on him. We got chastised by the front desk people, who told us that he was cold. I said, “Oh, he’s not cold” (and I would know, having had him strapped to me for most of evening) and let them feel his arms. No argument from them – at least not in English anyway.

The plan is to tour Da Lat tomorrow and play it by ear with the hotel. If the water doesn’t come on, we’ll try to find alternate arrangements for tomorrow night. Did I mention that we already paid for the whole trip? In retrospect, booking with a company that caters to backpackers probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do! Clearly the money we spent went mostly to the van. At least we ride in style! And hey, free Internet. No water, but online access. Interesting trade-off.

Our Itinerary

We have now been in Vietnam for 2 weeks. We have one week left. Tomorrow we are going on a trip within a trip to De Lat and Mui Ne. We arranged for a private driver as we thought the long hours on the bus would be too much for the other paying customers...oh, and for the kids too!

So, stay tuned. Don't know if we'll have Internet where we're going. We'll be gone for 4 days and 3 nights and then we'll only have one more day in HCMC. Seems unbelievable that we will be leaving soon. And we still have so much to see and do! There’s so many things I want to blog about that I haven’t yet. Hopefully I’ll have time to do this later. We’ve had very little down time - it's been go, go, go! Poor Norah is trying to cope with this. The heat and the crowds really get to her – and there’s plenty of both to go around in HCMC! The people seem to love her and are constantly touching her - which she hates at the best of times. Today, a man picked her up in a store and tried to sit her on his lap. This freaked Audrey and me out a bit. He was harmless, but he didn't seem tor realize how traumatic that was for Norah. She's not enjoying the attention and will be glad to get home where the only people who touch her are friends and family! She is fabulous with Luke though - very sweet. Every night we say what we're thankful for and she says for "getting baby Luke yesterday." Ok, her time is a bit off, but her sentiment is spot on!

Norah enjoying a break at the playground

Doug and Lance went to the Cu Chi Tunnels. The rest of us indulged in a fine dinner of Kraft Dinner and tropical fruits. We went to a local market and pointed and then sampled them at home. We especially loved the "eyeballs" or Rambutans if you want to get all technical on us.

Audrey and Norah had some nail art done on their toes.

Audrey and I are getting tailor-made outfits. We are getting the exact same outfit because we both fell in love with it. We promise never to wear them at the same time! I also got a traditional Vietnamese ao dai made at another shop. In case anyone else is trying to find a place to get this done, one place is called Hoang Silk on 201 Dong Khoi St. (not too far from the Post Office) and the place Audrey and I went to is Vietnam Silk on 03 Bui Vien St., just out of our favorite alley (175) in Pham Ngu Lao. We pick up our things on Friday when we're back in HCMC. We're excited to see how they turn out!


Group shot at La Cantina (in the aforementioned alley). Last time we'll see Lance on this trip.

Looking for the gecko that scurried up the wall at the restaurant (very common at most of the places we eat)

What I Like About Luke...

He keeps me up at night
Never wanna let him go
You know he makes me feel alright
Keeps on babbling in my ear
Makes all the cooing sounds that I like to hear
Cuz it's true - that's what I like about Luke!

So, the song inspired me to write a little post about some of our favorite Lukeisms so far:

• When we sit him down but he’d rather be held, he starts crying and looks really dejected and puts his head down in a very dramatic manner, as if to say, “Oh the horror!”
• He moves around A LOT in his sleep. He can go from vertical to horizontal to the opposite vertical in a few seconds. Sleeps with his legs outside the crib bars, his hands hanging out, etc.
• Hates to sit on anyone’s lap for more than a few seconds. Loves to be held while you’re standing. Should make for an interesting plane ride home!
• Falls asleep on most cab rides.
• Has a little “freak-out” right before falling asleep. He squirms, screams, and arches his back for a couple of minutes and then he’s sound asleep. There’s no transition – screaming to sleeping without pause.
• He bonks his head MANY times daily. He gets excited while sitting sometimes and it seems the weight of his head is too much (No jokes please! His large head is supposed to indicate that he is intelligent and stubborn according to Vietnamese culture – so Loan tells us.) and he falls over backward! Bonking his head seems to be part of our bed-time routine. He invariably falls over backward, has a good cry, and then is asleep within about half an hour.
• LOVES Norah. Literally looks at her and giggles. And he has a sweet little giggle.
• Is obsessed with the kitchen in the hotel room and trying to open drawers. So far he hasn’t closed the door on his fingers as big sister is there keeping them shut to protect him.
• Is very grabby – quick like lightening he can grab your hair, your bowl, the flesh on your arm, shoulder, or face – or pretty much anything he can get his hands on.
• Loves the garbage can in the kitchen. Likes to move it across the room daily.
• Sweats like a fiend. Instantly soaked when he cries or when we go outside. Hold him for a minute and you’re soaked too!
• Only drinks out of the small bottles. We may not be able to break this habit. He’s used to drinking only 5 oz max at a time, 5 times a day and 2 times in the middle of the night. A large bottle, fewer times a day seems so much more efficient to me (but then I’ve never had a problem sleeping though the night!).
• Pulls himself to stand constantly, which is often what precedes the head bonking. Can stand for a very long time and usually does the splits when landing.
• Nuzzles his head into the first available object or person when he’s tired. I think this is how he gets scratches on his head – he really nuzzles hard and if the object of his affection isn’t soft…
• Does a little unexpected lurch when you hold him sometimes that completely takes you off-guard. Usually accompanied by a squeal of delight. Audrey calls it his dolphin kick.

Not many pictures - busy day without a lot of picture-taking.

Getting down to the Latin music at one of our favorite restaurants, La Cantina. Nothing like Mexican food Vietnamese style!

Action shot of Luke playing at the hotel playground

Pretty pleased with himself for standing up