Di Linh to Da Lat - Easy Rider Trip
First stop was breakfast. This is called Hu Tieu, in Di Linh … it was really good. I am not sure if this is a regional name for this dish but it was kind of a combination pho.
These grasses were drying along the roadside for making brooms.
Mr Qua posing at the coffee plantation.
I am told that in Vietnam they call this the colour tree and the small seeds inside the prickly shell are used for providing colour to curries.
The coffee flowers have a gorgeous scent and as we ride through the countryside this scent fills the air. I prepared for the day with 2 jackets but it is quite warm and I am now back to a tee shirt.
We stopped in a field for Mr Qua to chat to a working lady from K’ho, the village that we visited yesterday.
It seems that we are taking the agricultural route today and seeing many things growing in the countryside 😀
Next stop was at the beautiful Pongour Waterfall.
Next I requested a coffee stop and we went to this beautiful garden.
It is cute that when you order coffee they bring you a side of tea as well 😀 You definately leave feeling refreshed and well hydrated too.
I took many photos at the coffee stop but I think that you get the idea … the gardens, music, ambience were all wonderful.
Next stop was to see the amazing budhas at Linh An Tu.
There are many things to see in the area of this very tall budha.
There is so much to see surrounding Linh An Tu … so much tranquility and beauty.
Families or individuals can buy these budha and they are engraved with their names. They wish for prosperity and good fortune. I think that the idea is that instead of having to visit the place too regularly, your budha is always there collecting your good fortune - I stand to be corrected on this but I think that this is the general idea.
Did the happy budha make me happy or is it the rice wine 😀
Or maybe it was the cute deer and rabbits that are evidently here for decoration that made me happy … no probably not 😀
Today is so long and we are not even at lunch time yet 😀 my bum is feeling it 🤣
We went for lunch after this and the restaurant overlooked Linh An Tu.
Next we went to the Cuong Hoan Silk Factory.
After the silk had been removed from the cocoons these ladies sort through the worms to choose those that are suitable for restaurant use.
Flies are walking on them … they should probably cover them so at least we can not see this.
So much to see here including silk weaving, carded weaving machines and A shop selling completed garments. It would make a great school visit.
Some silk worms had been deep fried for tourists to try. Despite just having seen them covered in flies I did eat one and it tasted ok in a nutty, insecty kind of way.
Our next stop was at Me Linh Coffee Garden where we saw the Weasel Coffee process.
The weasels are nocturnal and they live in these little houses. There were some weasels in cages but a sign told us that they were just in there while they adjusted to their environment. The weasels have a varied diet and not only the coffee beans. Evidently the weasels are better off here as they are hunted in the wild for their meat.
So the weasels eat the coffee beans as they enjoy the sweet skin around the outside. The beans are slightly fermented in the gut of the weasel but they are not broken down by their digestive system. So the weasel poop, above, is retrieved and thoroughly cleaned before being processed to make the weasel coffee. Evidently this produces a better tasting coffee.
This is an amazing place also. There are exhibits showing the life cycle of the weasel poop. It was beautifully landscaped and was just generally a nice place to be.
There is a coffee shop upstairs overlooking the whole area where I tried some of the coffee, there are three different blends of the weasel poop coffee that you can choose from.
The Da Lat area is well known for flower growing but I am thinking that this place we went to was a type of co-operative where the whole village worked with the flowers in the gardens.
Tet is coming soon so flower production is in overdrive in preparation for that. Tet is the Lunar New Year Festival and families gather at this time. This year Tet falls on 10th February 2024.
This large cactus was at the flower gardens … it was pretty cool 😀
Our last visit of the day was to Tuyen Lam Lake … it was very beautiful.
At last we are at our accommodation … it has been a long but wonderful day 😀
After a couple of rice wines and a relax we head out for dinner.
With so many drinks on offer it was hard to decide but I settled with ice tea 😀 I had already had enough rice wine to be feeling quite relaxed.
In a very lively restaurant we had Mung bean noodles and iced tea.
That ended the day.
Mui Ne Easy Rider contact details: Mr Qua on WhatsApp (+84)918643592 or Email quatourmuine@yahoo.com.vn
