French Colonial settlement in the Central Highlands

Many liken Da Lat to the Swiss Alps with its green forest covered hills and mountains.  The air is cooler up here and is a welcomed change.  We are staying in a lovely french colonial house called the Pink Hotel.  Why...because its pink of course!  The first evening we strolled into the city centre to take a ride on the swan paddleboats and visit the food markets.  Lots of fresh produce but a little bit smelly due to the meat and fish products lying out on the tables - not to worry - a little tiger balm under the nostrils does the trick!

The following morning we hooked up with the hotel owner's Cousin for a day tour around Da Lat and the neighbouring agricultural communities.  Very interesting visit to a silk factory.  Here we saw the silk being harvested from the silk cocoons.  The cocoons are placed into boiling water to disolve the resin that holds the silk threads in place.  The loosened threads are seperated and spun onto bobbins.  These bobbins of silk are then dried by respinning them onto large bobbins where they are then transferred to the weaving machines where the silk cloth is made.   Picked up two lovely silk scarves for $5 AUD each.

On our travels we also visited tea, coffee, pepper and flower plantations.  Vietnam is the 2nd largest producer of coffee in world after Brazil.  The coffee here has a peculiar taste....it has a smooth chocolate taste similar to a Mocha coffee and doesn't seem to give you that caffine buzz although it is very strong.  The Vietnamese traditionally drink the coffee with condensed milk....very sweet and very addictive..yummy!

For lunch we enjoyed a Vegietarian meal made by our guide's cousin who is a Buddhist nun, before setting off to visit the neighbouring miniority people.  We were invited into their home which was a basic shack made of wood with iron sheeting for the roof.  The lady living there had 5 children under the age of 5.  She lived with her parents as they were so poor that they were unable to pay the father the dowry of 2 buffalo and 20 chickens so that she could get married.  All in all a wonderful day through the scenic country side.  Decided to stay in Da lat one more day to avoid the searing heat in Ho  Chi Minh.