Dalat, May 29

Right near the center of Dalat are large plots of farmland where the soil is incredibly rich. Out in the fields groups of women are harvesting vegtables. Never before have I seen farmland and town so close together.

Later in the morning I met Mr. Loc. He is part of a new cottage industry of motorcycle tour guides for the backpacker. I had never hired a guide in my travels before but his timing and sincerity (not to mention his excellent English) caught me at the right moment. We agreed on a half day rate of five dollars and off we went.

About ten miles on our way out of town we passed a small yellow Buddhist temple. It turns out that Mr Loc's niece lives here with nine other young girls. Their spirtual teacher, an elderly women, invited us in to see some Buddhist statues and drink tea. Her smile radiated pure kindness. Before leaving she brought out a letter in the most exquisite-looking handwriting and asked that I mail it for her to a relative in the States. Posting a letter to a foreign country is prohibitivly expensive for most Vietnamese. I ended up leaving the country with over 20 letters in my bag.

Dalat, May 30

The trip is beginning to take on a rhythm of its own. If I had more time I could easily stay a couple of weeks in Dalat. Since my trip is only three weeks I am moving at a fairly quick pace, a few days in each place. There are times I wish that I didn't need to sleep so as not to miss anything.

Because Dalat is such a big tourist attraction and many Vietnamese don't own cameras, there are over 500 local photographers snapping kitschy pictures all over town. For about 40 cents you can have your photo taken, wearing a cowboy hat and sitting on a donkey . This afternoon I met the manager in one of the eleven mini-labs around town. Business was brisk, mostly with photographers rushing in and out examining their film and ordering prints.

Saigon
Dalat 1 | 2
Nha Trang
Hoi Ann
Hue
Hanoi 1 | 2
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