Promised for 'about' 7.00am, my bus for Da Lat (pop:298,000) finally materialised 'about' 8.00am--
this passenger clearly at the end of a long bus circuit around hotels collecting its fare paying passengers--almost entirely comprised of gap-year western Europeans. From my hour on the street corner waiting, I observed that the Russians in the large hotel opposite my spot, are all the packaged tour crowd---they eat Russian food in Russian restaurants, move together in large groups, shop at Russian convenience stores (I know this because of the large window displays of vodka)! Probably never spoke to a single Vietnamese the whole time they were in the country.
Anyway, the driver
made excellent (as in speedy and exciting) progress in an attempt to catch up time for his late departure from Nha Trang over the steep hills and switch backs of the south western highlands. Upon the descent into the high valley region around Da Lat it was possible to appreciate the intense agricultural activity in the region. Apparently the cool mountain air, a nice respite from the lowland heat and humidity, favours the cultivation of strawberries (no rice paddies at these altitudes)--did not see any strawberries in the road side stalls, but maybe it is not the season.
Dumped from my bus in the centre of town and just when I needed a motor cycle taxi man to find my hotel for me, I was unable to spot one. Settled for an
official taxi and wonder of wonders, found one with a working meter and for 60 cents, was delivered via a maze of narrow streets, to the door of my guest house. Finding the hotel in a strange city is always, it seems to me, the most difficult task of the day.
Contrary to promotional travel literature that describes Da Lat as being "small and cute", it appears anything but---very busy with an aggressive sense of commerce. The number of wedding shops, gift boutiques and wedding photographer studios do seem to support the claim that Da Lat is a favoured Vietnamese honeymoon location. Personally, I think that I would have preferred somewhere with much less hustle, bustle and noise.
It is much cooler in Da Lat compared to the coastal plains, I was tempted to wear an undershirt with my short sleeved sports shirt for my mid afternoon walk about. Heavy rain rolled in late afternoon which saw me ducking into restaurant for a chicken & rice dinner (not very appetising).
Buses:
Prior to embarking on this trip I did quite a lot of internet based research on bus travel in SE Asia, I plotted the locations of bus stations and looked at sample timetables and bus fare tariffs. Out in the 'real' world, what I have discovered is that for a western tourist travelling independently, there exists a
parallel bus system for tourists which is virtually separate from that used very widely by the local people. The streets of both small towns and larger cities, are dotted with travel agencies and hotel reception desks that sell tickets for private buses to all the destinations that would be of interest to non-package tour travellers. It works like this: purchase a ticket at one of these off bus station outlets and a minivan, in some cases a motor cycle taxi, will pick up (no extra charge) at your hotel and deliver you at a pre-arranged time to the "mother bus", Usually these 'mother buses', regular full size vehicles, or sometimes mini vans, tend to be more comfortable than the vehicles used by the local population.
It is true that the parallel/informal tourist bus system may be somewhat higher priced than chancing ones luck at the local bus station, which might be located obscurely, miles away, on the edge of town. Bus fares in SE Asia are very reasonably priced---a couple of days ago I travelled for 11 hours through south central Vietnam for $10 US.
 |
| Intensive green house agriculture.... |
Anyway, the driver
 |
| Three ladies shopped till they dropped...... |
Dumped from my bus in the centre of town and just when I needed a motor cycle taxi man to find my hotel for me, I was unable to spot one. Settled for an
 |
| Hat style for the fish lady.... |
Contrary to promotional travel literature that describes Da Lat as being "small and cute", it appears anything but---very busy with an aggressive sense of commerce. The number of wedding shops, gift boutiques and wedding photographer studios do seem to support the claim that Da Lat is a favoured Vietnamese honeymoon location. Personally, I think that I would have preferred somewhere with much less hustle, bustle and noise.
It is much cooler in Da Lat compared to the coastal plains, I was tempted to wear an undershirt with my short sleeved sports shirt for my mid afternoon walk about. Heavy rain rolled in late afternoon which saw me ducking into restaurant for a chicken & rice dinner (not very appetising).
Buses:
Prior to embarking on this trip I did quite a lot of internet based research on bus travel in SE Asia, I plotted the locations of bus stations and looked at sample timetables and bus fare tariffs. Out in the 'real' world, what I have discovered is that for a western tourist travelling independently, there exists a
 |
| Drives the bus with his feet.... |
It is true that the parallel/informal tourist bus system may be somewhat higher priced than chancing ones luck at the local bus station, which might be located obscurely, miles away, on the edge of town. Bus fares in SE Asia are very reasonably priced---a couple of days ago I travelled for 11 hours through south central Vietnam for $10 US.
No comments:
Post a Comment