Some more sights from our full day of easy riding in Dalat with Stefan:
We visited Elephant Waterfall, which involved trekking around some precarious rocks. Glad I was wearing shoes (I saw a few tourists attempting this in flimsy sandals).
I don't think this bridge would pass safety regulations in the US:
The waterfalls were next to a temple with a very jovial Buddha, as well as a strange Buddhist nativity-scene type thing.
We also saw a farm where tea is grown.
When you harvest the tea plant when it is very young, you get white tea. If you wait for the buds to mature slightly, it is dried and used to make green tea. Black tea is made from the plant when it is fully mature.
Our last stop was a silk factory. This visit made me very grateful that I don't work in any sort of factory. The women stand up all day, dipping their hands in the hot water and pulling the silk fibers off the cocoon and threading them into the machine.
There were also people putting chemical dyes on the silk and operating different machines. The guide told us that many people develop arthritis. The factory was noisy and dusty.
Overall, I was happy to see some unique sights in Dalat. The weather was a welcome respite from the oppressive heat we experienced everywhere else in Vietnam, and the food was fresh and delicious. It was also farther away from the tourist trail, since most people stick to the coastline and the touristy towns of Nha Trang and Mui Ne.
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