Sainted followers of
this whimsical travel blog know we here at Vacations From Home central are
serious about coffee and our next stop on our recent tour of Vietnam was to
Dalat a picturesque town in the central highlands. This is where coffee is
grown and the coffee culture in Dalat can leave one feeling jittery with
delight over the prospect of drinking weasel shit coffee at the source of its
excretion.
Yep, that’s what they
call it: “cà phê phân chồn” and it is expensive. The Civet is a type of weasel
that eats coffee beans. They pluck only the ripest coffee cherries, and the
actual coffee bean passes through their GI tract, partially fermenting the
beans as they merrily make their way from one end to the other. Industrious
Vietnamese who find food sources in a myriad of odd places, think partially
fertilized duck eggs or rats, discovered if they rinse off the crud and roast
the beans a very strong and flavorful coffee can be brewed.
We had read about this
odd coffee and wanted to sample it when given the chance. We were told Dalat is
the place.
coffee prep
As part of an add-on
tour with Overseas Adventure Travel, the immersive small group company we chose
for our adventure, we traveled by coach to the Me Linh Coffee Garden outside of
Dalat where we were invited to tour the grounds and enter the enclosure where
the civets are held. The large enclosure serves two purposes. The first is the
excreted beans are easier to collect and secondly it prevents the critters from
being poached by hungry Vietnamese. Afterwards we were all given individual
coffee Phins and relaxed over this strong coffee in their outdoor café that
overlooks the pastoral plantation. If needed sweetened condensed milk was
provided.
Hill tribe boys
While there we were
able to purchase coffee, and artifacts and textiles from one of the hill
country tribes of Vietnam. There are over 50 different “tribes” or ethnic groups
living in the hills of Vietnam. We visited their village and met with the
village elder, visited a Catholic church, watched kids playfully cavort about
to gain our attention and crashed a lively wedding. The people of the village are
Vietnamese but looked different than our local guides.
Also, as part of this
day-long tour we went to a flower farm where we were invited to select our own long-stemmed
Gerber Daisy, after first being taught how to grasp the stem at the base of the
flower to pluck it.
OVER THE MOON
Dalat is called the
city of the eternal spring, and the French colonialists would build summer homes
here to escape the tropical temperatures at the coast. It is often said one can
experience four seasons in one day in Dalat: spring in the morning, summer at
noon, autumn in the afternoon and winter in the evening. The homes are romantic
and reflect the French influence and there is a large lake in the middle of
town. Dalat is a popular destination for honeymooners. Because of the temperate
weather in Dalat a lot of crops are grown here like carrots, cauliflower,
cabbage and potatoes, as well as peaches, strawberries and bananas…and coffee…and
the surrounding hills are covered with fields.
Flower Farm Worker, Dalat
We only had two days in
Dalat and we didn’t really see the town, but the Sammy Hotel where we stayed
was French influenced and it was the first time in our visit to Vietnam where
we didn’t have the air conditioning running at full blast. We slept with the
doors to the balcony opened..
We were able to visit an
odd attraction down the street from the hotel. Hang Nga Guesthouse,
affectionately known as the “crazy house” looks like it was lifted from a Dr. Seuss
book. For a nominal fee one can walk the
grounds and climb the twisting stairs that lead to more stairs like an M.C.
Escher painting. Whimsical decorations are everywhere, like various animals and
sea creatures, mushrooms, spider webs and caves. It seemed out of place and
bizarre, but it was worth a visit.
Also, as part of the
OAT experience, we dined with a local family. Such dinners are arranged by OAT. Traveling is not just about seeing the tourist attractions, but learning customs and understanding the people of Vietnam.
Crazy House Dalat
Our 14-member entourage
was broken up into smaller groups and we went with another couple to visit a
young couple and their two children. Before dinner we engaged in some
conversation as we learned about their hopes and aspirations and shared some of
our culture. We were entertained by their young son who played hide and seek with
us and their daughter who played a piano for us and later we all posed for a selfie gathered in their living room.
During dinner we watched
with amazement as the mother would pick up individual kernels of rice to eat.
Our next stop on our
recent tour of Vietnam was the popular resort city of Nha Trang. A wide golden
sand beach curves for miles along the South China Sea with strikingly beautiful
islands in the distance. Palm trees line the promenade on glamourous Tran Phu
Street which brims with upscale resorts and restaurants.
Vietnam was once an
impoverished country, but Nha Trang shows how the government’s Doi Moi or
renovation project is working and very well.
THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING
Nha Trang is very popular
with Russian tourists for good reason.
From 1979 to 2002 first
the Soviets and then the Russian Navy maintained their largest naval base
outside the country in nearby Cam Ranh. Familiarity with this beautiful curving
stretch of golden sand beach and inviting waters of the bay have Russian travel
agencies booking packaged tours for their comrades.
NHA TRANG
Travel to Nha Trang
took off after the Arab Spring uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt in the early
2010s. Those were once popular Russian vacation destinations, but that area’s
instability had them shifting to Vietnam for travel. It’s easy for Russians to
travel to Vietnam. They don’t need a visa to enter the country, unless they
exceed 45 days, and now Nha Trang has become so popular with the Russians they boast
their own “snowbirds”, preferring to winter in Nha Trang to avoid the brutal
cold of the motherland.
WAIT! THERE’S MORE
Vietnam is also popular
with the Chinese and South Koreans, lured by cheaper costs and better weather.
The Chinese need a visa like US citizens that is good for 90 days, while South
Korean nationals can visit Vietnam without a visa for 45 days.
Before the COVID pandemic
and subsequent lockdowns up to 2,000 Chinese were flying in daily on package tours.
Today it is about 25% of that number.
Blackpink, K-pop
Vietnam is popular with
Koreans not only because the price and weather and the Korean food that can be
ordered in restaurants, but also because extremely popular Korean K-pop groups, like Blackpink, perform
there.
The Vietnamese also
come to Nha Trang, although the prices here are a bit steeper than in other
parts of the country.
There is the Vinwonders Water and Amusement Park on Hon Tre Island. To get there you take an aerial cable. There are plenty of beach activities in Nha Trang proper. Mostly the Vietnamese and Koreans are up very early and hit the beach before the day heats up and not wanting to get a suntan. White skin is more appealing to them and the Russians come later in the day. There is scuba diving and jet skis for hire. It all makes Nha Trang a very viable tourist destination.
WHAT’LL IT BE?
The influx of so many
tourists from so many different countries has led to menus that are printed in
several languages: Korean, Russian, English, Chinese and Vietnamese, so one
doesn’t necessarily have to point at the pictures to order. Standard Vietnamese
fare like Pho and Binh Mi are readily available throughout the city, which is renown
for excellent seafood, but there are some Russian enclaves in Nha Trang that Cyrillic
is all that is printed.
NHA TRANG
AMERICANS
To reach Nha Trang, our
tour company, Overseas Adventure Tours (OAT), had us fly out of Da Nang (another
resort town with high rise resorts and not far from Hoi An) to HCMC (Ho Chi Min
City / Saigon) on Vietnam Airlines. We then transferred to another plane to
reach the resort town. They were short flights, less than an hour for both, but
we got Delta Frequent Flyer miles for flying on Vietnam Airlines. I know, there’s
always some sort of angle with Vacations From Home.
We stayed two nights at
the Em ‘oi, a boutique hotel with a very expansive breakfast buffet. We didn’t
have a view of the sea from our hotel room, but we could see the Long Son
Pagoda where there’s a massive white Guatama Buddha statue on a nearby hill. According
to the Guiness Book of World Records this is the largest Buddha statue in the
world, so it wasn’t difficult to see.
We didn’t run into any
Russians, Chinese or Koreans when we first arrived; we would run into them on
our second day when several of us went to the beach and later that evening when
we went out to dinner. Our first encounter with the many languages on a menu was
right away though. After we stopped at a gleaming high rise shopping mall to
withdraw some Dong (and become a millionaire again…2,000,000 VDN = $80.00USD)
we got ice cream in the mall at Crazy Mango. Their various offerings like mango
ice cream were listed in several languages. While still in this mall we stopped
at a very busy and well-stocked supermarket for snacks and alcohol.
Dinner that first night
was on OAT and we visited a very local Vietnamese restaurant that served us raw
food like meat and calamari and vegetables that we would cook on charcoal
braziers on our tables. This place definitely did not have a website.
NHA TRANG
The next day we saw
more of local Vietnamese life by hopping on scooters for a tour of the city and
the surrounding countryside. The scooters were all being commandeered by
inhabitants of a village we would eventually visit. Before we left the city
proper though we stopped at a Birdcage café. This is where men come with their
birds in cages and they would hang them in the middle of what essentially was an
empty lot and as the men sipped coffee and chatted, their “girlfriends” as our
OAT guide called them also chatted between themselves. Presumably not in
Russian.
The village elder was
in the South Vietnamese air force and he and the rest of the citizens of this
village were all sent here by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam after enduring
reeducation camps after the war. We drank a lot of rum infused drinks and had
lunch as we were told the story of the elder and the villagers. Some of us ate
duck embryos. Fertilized duck eggs with partially developed embryos are boiled
and eaten from the shell. Janet tried eating it, but only got a bite or two. In
Vietnam this “delicacy” is called Hot Vit Lon. Avoid, even if it offends your
hosts.
YUM
Yes, I still kiss Janet.
PARTY ON
That night we first
went to a craft beer hall on the beach. The Louisiane Brewhouse served
respectable beers and had a full menu, but we were eating elsewhere. After a
round of brews we walked over to the very posh Sailing Club.
Open and airy and steps from the beach this
elegant place served great food at expensive prices and had a great mixed drink
and wine list. The place was filled with lots of different nationalities,
Koreans, Russians, and Chinese. The staff spoke perfect English. There was also
a stage set on the beach with a band playing music and lots of people were
dancing. No, we didn’t see any Russians dancing the Prisyadka, and not even a
Mazurka or a polka, but there was a table that was taking hits on a water pipe. I declined
an offer from a comrade who tried to wave me over speaking to me in Russian. I
had to say Nyet.
The next stop on our recent
tour of Vietnam was Hoi An, and it was like no other place in the country. Relatively
untouched during the war this UNESCO World Heritage Site was a major port on
the maritime Silk Road during the 16th Century and the lucrative
flow of silk, spices, ceramics and precious metals and stones like jade
attracted Chinese, Japanese, Southeast Asian and European merchants. Each of
these cultures are seen in the town’s architecture, customs and cuisine. The Chinese
built elaborate temples, and the Japanese constructed the eponymous Japanese Covered
Bridge, whose stylized outline remains the symbol of Hoi An. The European
influence is found in the many colonial-style buildings and shops that line the
streets of this old city in central Vietnam.
TO THE MOON
When the Japanese and Chinese
traders settled in this very lucrative trading port they brought colorful
lanterns to remind them of home. Over the centuries the Vietnamese have adopted
the lantern and today Hoi An is called the City of Lanterns. Lanterns are
everywhere strung up in front of buildings and overhead strung across the
street. It’s a beautiful sight during the day, but at night when the lanterns
are lit and glow with warm colors, Hoi An is especially enchanting.
One of the main activities
in Hoi An is to rent a boat or sampan and get on the Thu Bon River to catch the
sunset. Pleasure boats are festooned with colorful lights and lanterns adding
to the beautiful view of the lanterns on shore. People will float paper flower
lanterns on the river with a lit candle inside. According to local custom,
wishes will be granted. We got to enjoy this local attraction one night and we
made our wishes and floated our candles and the shimmering lights of Hoi An was
a beautiful sight.
On the full moon evening
of each month the Lunar Lantern festival is held and from 5pm to 10pm all
vehicles and electric lights are shut off and the narrow streets and waterways
of Hoi An are lit solely by these glowing beautiful magical orbs. It is a major
tourist draw.
HUNGRY FOR MORE
The many cultures that
have been a part of Hoi An’s history are also found in the local cuisines. Two
notable dishes are Cao Lau and Bánh Mi. Cao Lau is a fusion of Chinese, Japanese
and Vietnamese ingredients and flavors. Served with Japanese style Udon noodles,
Chinese char siu which is Cantonese BBQ pork and lime juice and Vietnamese chili
paste complete the meal.
Bánh Mi is a French baguette stuffed with pork or
chicken with varying degrees of spices, lettuce, cucumber and sometimes fried
eggs or pate depending on your whim. The late Anthony Bourdain proclaimed Bánh
Mì Phượng as the best in Hoi An, if not all of Vietnam. We were lucky enough
to get Banh Mi take out sent to our hotel.
making a wish in Hoi An
Another great eating
experience is the night market. There are several restaurants in the market, and
all are listed in one massive book. Servers take your order no matter which one
you’ve chosen and bring it to your long communal style table.
SHOP TILL YOU DROP
Fittingly because of
her history as a part of the Maritime Silk Road Hoi An is a great place to shop
for all sorts of trinkets and souvenirs. The small streets of Hoi An are lined by colonial-era buildings with establishments offering everything from tacky
t-shirts to leather goods, silver jewelry, lanterns of course and textiles. There
are several tailor shops in town where one can be fitted for a dress, suit or shirt
and depending on the difficulty of the piece it will be delivered in several
hours or a few days. I was fitted for an “Aloha shirt” at Yaly Couture and told
to come pick it up the next day. They had made the shirt with tails, instead of
a straight hem typical of Aloha shirts. We were leaving the next day, but they
remade the shirt that afternoon, had me check it and then delivered it to the
hotel that evening. Impressive.
For any purchases like trinkets
and lanterns and jewelry make sure you haggle over the price. I didn’t for my
shirt, but for every other purchase Janet made sure to haggle over the price
and got her asking price every time. Merchants expect the haggle. Don’t worry,
they make it up in volume.
MASS TOURISM
Four million tourists
descend on Hoi An yearly, overwhelming the 120,000 citizens. The delicate
balance of promoting tourism and preserving the cultural heritage has been a
challenge. Larger souvenirs establishments and tour groups are displacing local
artisans and craftsmen. Many of the boats that ply the river at dusk are
floating karaoke bars disturbing the serenity of the moment. Pubs and karaoke
bars are crowded.
We had to go to Yaly Couture in the early evening to inspect
my shirt after it was remade and were shocked by the crowds. Until then, our time in Hoi An proper
was during the day. Two men had something close to a dozen empty beer cans on
their table just around the corner from the Japanese bridge, and there were several
more “dead soldiers” joining the ranks when we returned. The night market was
crowded, and the shopping stalls became blurs after a while.
There is evidently a
fee to enter Hoi An’s old town, I guess as a way of limiting access to the
UNESCO site, but we were never challenged to show our “map” that showed we
paid.
NEARBY
We stayed at the Mulberry
Collection Silk Village Hotel for three nights while in Hoi An. It is a mile or
so from the old town. It was a comfortable hotel with an outdoor pool and
offered a lavish buffet breakfast and a head-scratching array of happy hour
prices at the bar. They also offered a shuttle to the Hoi An Silk Beach Club beach
complex, and we spent one morning splashing about in the green waters of the
East Sea rather than go on a tour of an archaeological ruin of the Champa
ruins. It was too hot, and the ocean was too inviting. The Chompa Kingdom were
the early rulers of this area of Vietnam.
the Dragon Bridge Danang
We were just a few
miles south of Danang and the famous China Beach, which was popular with American
soldiers during the war for in-country R&R. We drove through Danang on our
way from Hue and stopped for a photo op of the dragon bridge.
Usually I write something silly for my birthday. Like: "Today, my age, my IQ and my waist are all the same number. That means I'm getting older, wiser and fatter."
So, why should I change my habits at this advanced age, where there are more memories than aspirations? I'm not, don't worry. During my 67th year on this planet we've been to Spain, to England, to Barbados, to Vietnam, to Cambodia and to Philadelphia. We've stared into the abyss of Ronda, and into an emptied glass of sherry and into the blackened sky of a lunar eclipse. We explored a "secret" nuclear bunker in England. We've partied in Nantwich and Saratoga Springs and on our back deck. We explored underwater wrecks in Barbados and drank at the rooftop bar at the Sandals resort. We've imbibed Olorosso and Tinto Verano, craft beers in Barbados, local beers in Vietnam and Cambodia and a lot of Bourbon everywhere else.
Yeah, it's been a good year and now in my 68th year our traveling is not just watching the sun course the sky. We're not slowing down. Better not. At my age I'm liable to get buried if I oversleep.
I shall drink to your collective health on this birthday of mine.
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