And the adventure continues ... in Dalat. Part One. Many pictures and videos.

It’s time. The time you’ve all been waiting for. The limitless installments of Asian Invasion BBB 2009.

You see, I’m without shelter for the next 36ish hours. I was let out of the meditation center at 11am, and I have nothing to do between now and 10:30pm tomorrow except get to Bangkok for a flight. Which normally takes around 8 hours on a bus. But since I have nothing but time, I decided to take the 14 hour train ride instead.

Read: no need for a guesthouse. Monies saved.

And time for blogging.

So, back to Vietnam.

After Ho Chi Min City, we decided to head to cooler lands, in the country’s central mountain ranges. Thanks to Mikey for not letting us overlook this awesome stop on the backpackers’ trail.

Had I not been completely drunk when I got on the bus, thanks to a crazy night in HCM, I might have enjoyed the beautiful bus ride a bit more. Dalat is an agricultural powerhouse, growing everything from coffee (!!!!!) to lettuces and more boring things.

It’s like the non-Vietnam – the weather is comfortably cool and the people are really really nice. Mostly.

We got off the bus and, typically, had no idea what we wanted to do or where we wanted to stay. A cab driver dropped us off in front of some random place we picked out of the Lonely Planet guide. Immediately, the greatest woman ever greeted us with smiles and welcomed us into her guesthouse.

While she didn’t have a room for us, we did go there for most of our meals, and she always greeted us by our names.

“Good morning, Lisa. Where Adam? Still sleeping?”

"Oh, no. He's jacking off in the shower. He'll be over here in a few minutes."

Within minutes of first arriving at her place we were eating delicious food, drinking amazing Vietnamese coffee and getting pitched by a guide for a motorcycle tour. They almost had us sold into a 6 day bike ride, but we managed to get ourselves back into day tour range.

The next day we set off on the back of gorgeous “big bikes” to see Dalat in all of it’s glory. The tour was sooo pretty, with stops to see scenic pine forests, hikes up little hills for higher views and some other agricultural sites. Photos included.

Oh, and the silk farm and factory, which was really cool. Those are the worms up there.

Here’s how silk is made:

And a pretty pagoda with beautiful gardens, also seen above.

Thhhhen came the waterfall hike.

As some of you may recall, I’m not very bright. Or coordinated. Sometimes I act like I’m four and get excited and fall-down-go-boom.

The waterfall was pretty, and I wanted to put my feet in. So I crossed the little stream. Successfully, at first, which you can see in this little video.

On the way back, I got a little cocky. And I (accidentally) rode that stream like an extreme waterslide.

A lot of people in Asian countries can’t swim, so when I fell in, a really kind gentleman started freaking out and threw me a really thin stick to hold on to. He didn’t realize that I was a strong swimmer, that the stick would break, and the current wasn’t so bad. I was just in total shock as to what I had just managed to do and was screaming my ass off.

Adam wasn’t worried. He just started taking pictures.

I had really wanted to swim anyway, so I was going to stay in for a while to make it all worth it.

“Umm, Lisa. Where’s your camera?”

“UUUUMMMMM. Dammit. It’s in my pocket.”

So that was the end of that camera. I’m pretty sure my 2 year expired warranty doesn’t cover Vietnamese river damage.

My very very wet jeans were not the most comfortable wardrobe choice for the remaining few hours of the tour. The tour guide tried to take me shopping, but there was nothing available that looked even remotely comfortable. He just drove me around on the bike really fast to help me dry off quicker.

Then we saw how they make rice wine, and how they use it to keep the hogs drunk so they get fat faster. Seriously. The hogs are in a drunken stupor 24/7. At least that's more humane than locking up sober pigs? If I had to live in a cage, I would want to be drunk too.

Lastly, we saw this really nutso hotel that was built by a famous Vietnamese architect in an Alice in Wonderland – type style. The hallways were confusing and curvy, and the rooms were decked out in an on-acid theme with mirrors above all the beds. I wouldn’t really want to stay there … but it was a cool site and the pride of Dalat.

And that was our first full day in Dalat. We ended the evening in the market, where we bought too many silk paintings. And some woman was a bitch and refused to let me see her jewelry and made me mad. I just want a ring for my mommy, you whore!

Ugh, Vietnam. Sometimes you piss me off.